Red Tent Living

What If I Don’t Understand

By: redtentwomen October 18, 2019October 16, 2019

Day to Day, Faith, relationshipsAnxiety and Sensory Diagnosis, Bethany Cabell, Parenting, Releasing Judgment, Special Needs Child4 Comments

Growing up, our family of four did life with many other families of four. Each relationship held unique traits, and yet a few core identifiers overlapped. There was a dad, a mom, a daughter, and a son. One family in particular stood outside of the predictable family dynamic: they had a son with a genetic…

Bewildered

By: redtentwomen October 17, 2019October 16, 2019

Day to Day, Faith, FemininityHealing, Heather Medley, Home Invasion, trauma, Trauma Recovery3 Comments

It was the week of my 23rd birthday, and I was haggard with exhaustion after months of little sleep and relentless flashbacks. Just four months before, I had been violently awakened in the middle of the night when six men invaded my home and held my roommates and me at gunpoint. I had begged these…

The Mystery of God’s Love

By: redtentwomen October 16, 2019October 15, 2019

UncategorizedAsh Wednesday, Childlike Faith, Faith, God's Grace, Madeline Bialecki8 Comments

Why God chose me is a mystery—inexplicable and unimaginable, really—but a truth I have known my whole life. Visions, dreams, and intense prayer experiences have all revealed God’s presence in my life and the depth of his love for me. Living with mystery—accepting it and embracing it—is the invitation God extends to me every day.…

Sex and Chicken

By: redtentwomen October 14, 2019October 13, 2019

Day to Day, Femininity, Monthly ThemesJohn and Stasi Eldredge, Love and War, Rachel Blackston, Sex11 Comments

I have a fear of raw chicken. The FDA recommends storing uncooked poultry for a maximum of 1-2 days in the refrigerator. My husband Michael is looser. He feels comfortable waiting a few days past the sell by date. We are at odds.

A Blank Slate

By: redtentwomen October 11, 2019October 11, 2019

Day to Day, Faith, Monthly ThemesClaudia Hauer, Letting Go, Mothering, Prayer, Raising a Son2 Comments

When he was a young child, my son’s body felt like an extension of mine. His nuzzling, nursing lips on my breast, his feel, his smell, his desires—all of it was an extension of me. Even now, as a teenager, his desires and motives are astonishingly transparent to me when I consider how hard it…

Orion Is A Mother

By: redtentwomen October 10, 2019October 9, 2019

Day to Day, Literature, Monthly ThemesLiz Nelson, Poetry8 Comments

Orion will teach me the answers to questions I ask through chattering teeth. Diffused along the smoky veil of my condensed breath, diluted among the ragged inhale of subsiding sobs. Barefoot under the thin shadow of a moonlit dogwood tree I endure the sharp winter air. My small body squatted, legs tucked inside my pound…

The Courage of Not Knowing

By: redtentwomen October 9, 2019October 8, 2019

Day to Day, FaithGrad School, Janet Stark, Radical Grace:Daily Meditations, Richard Rohr, Second half of life3 Comments

“It’s not a mystery, it’s only been two days since I brought this here! Something was not fixed correctly,” my husband, Chris insisted. The young bike shop employee was not convincing in his assessment that sometimes tires “mysteriously go flat” on their own. Sensing Chris’ unlikeliness to back down, the employee investigated further, discovering another…

How Could He Just Leave Us Like That?

By: redtentwomen October 7, 2019October 6, 2019

Day to Day, Faith, Monthly ThemesElisabeth Klein, Questioning God, Recovery from Abuse, Transitions2 Comments

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” Isaiah 43:2 (NIV) Let’s imagine a few scenarios: Chrissy’s husband left her, with…

Panic on a Plane

By: redtentwomen October 4, 2019October 4, 2019

Day to Day, FaithAnticipating Change, Anxiety, Faith, Fear of Flying, Kelsi Folsom7 Comments

If there is anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. But this was shown: that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same precious love. — Julian of Norwich The whole world closes in…

It Began With A Shooting Star

By: redtentwomen October 3, 2019October 2, 2019

Day to Day, Faith, TravelBeth Bruno, Falling in Love, Love Story, Saying Yes, Taking Risks5 Comments

Encased in mummy bags borrowed from our host, we lay side-by-side beneath the stars. Nine teenagers, journeying across the U.S. to various Colorado camps, adventuring to the tutelage of a wanderlust trio: our chaperone and her twin girls. This trio enveloped us with their memories of this wild landscape, eager for us to experience epic…