The Hidden Stories of the Movies I Never Saw
Looking back at the movies that defined the year I was born, I realized how many of them I never really knew at all. What began as a simple trip through film history became a deeper reflection on growing up in a conservative Christian culture where entertainment was expected to reinforce a carefully curated moral world—and how the stories we avoid can shape us just as much as the stories we embrace.
What Do We Do With Them Afterward?
A viral image of pastors praying around a golden Trump statue initially seemed laughably absurd. But beneath the irony lies a harder question: what happens when a political movement built on idolatry, fear, and spiritual compromise finally collapses?
Why I’m Calling It ‘Life’ Now
Fourteen years ago, I named this blog Randomly Rudimentary Faith Stuff.
The writing—and the writer—have changed.
I’m calling it Life now, not because faith matters less, but because I’ve come to see faith and life as inseparable.
When Faith Chooses Sides: Praying for Victory or Praying for Peace
Pete Hegseth prays for the destruction of American enemies. Pope Leo says God won’t hear that prayer. Same faith tradition. Same Bible. Two completely different conclusions. This isn’t an exclusively ‘Christian’ problem, but…if every religion produces both compassion and extremism, what does that say about religion itself?
When the Pack Moves On Without You
What do you do when you can’t keep believing like you always have—but speaking that truth costs you your place in the community that once felt like home? This is a story about faith, doubt, honesty, and the quiet grief of losing the pack.
Still Here, But Not Necessarily at Home
I used to feel proud to be a Texan and grateful to be American. These days, I feel like an exile in both. Still here—but no longer at home.
Not Your Formula: What a ‘Personal Relationship with Jesus’ Really Means
A “personal relationship with Jesus Christ” is meant to be intimate and unique—but too often, evangelical culture demands that it follow a formula. What if personal really means personal?
When Faith Wears a Flag: Why I Can’t Make Sense of Christian Nationalism
As fireworks light up the sky this Independence Day, I’m reflecting on something harder to celebrate—the way faith and nationalism have been fused in American churches. This post asks whether the Jesus you claim to follow ever asked for national loyalty in the first place.
What to Grasp Onto When You Don’t Know What to Grasp Onto
When someone you love is hurting—and maybe you are too—it can feel impossible to know what to hold onto. This is for anyone searching for something real in the middle of the fog.
Randomly Rudimentary Life Stuff 
Divinely Inspired Coat Checks (and Other Things We Probably Don’t Need to Turn Into Doctrine)
I was brought up in a religious culture that maintained that everything in the Bible was ‘God-breathed’. But if every sentence carries identical eternal weight, then we probably need a church committee for lost-and-found cloaks and medicinal merlot.