Hey there! My name is Stephen Carpenter. I’ve been blogging off and on for the past 15 years or so. I enjoy putting my thoughts out there and hearing how some people relate to them or disagree with them. My hope is that this blog will encourage as well as challenge those who read it. In this blog, I intend to write about personal interests, faith, and family while also trying to convey to you (and myself) that love isn’t always clean cut and neat.

Growing up, I always thought of Christianity being like a clean room (which I knew nothing about). The desk was nice and straitened, the clothes were folded and neatly put away, and the bed was always made. As I grew older, I saw that my faith was more like my messy teenage room after all. All my junk spread across my desk, unfolded clothes stuffed into a drawer, and sheets halfway on the floor. God’s love for the wretch of a man that I am is anything but clean cut. It’s messy, it doesn’t make sense, and it’s just ugly.

I hope you will come alongside me on this journey as I try to discover more about myself, and my faith.