Red Tent Living

Relational Crops

By: redtentwomen March 22, 2019March 21, 2019

Day to Day, relationshipsAging, Family, Frienship, Pat Sloan, relationships, Wisdom6 Comments

It was the fall of 1976, and it is likely I was wearing a “wrap skirt” that day when I showed up to help with hot lunch at the small Christian Reformed grade school where my children had recently started attending. In that kitchen, making hot dogs, I met Barb for the first time. Her…

The Ministry of Proximity

By: redtentwomen March 21, 2019March 20, 2019

Day to Day, Intentional LivingBeth Bruno, Dismantling Privilege, Homelessness, Hospitality4 Comments

I sit between two tables covered with butcher paper. On my left are my own girls, laughing and playing hangman with a family of 4. The kids are little and they are delightful; well-behaved and contentedly eating dinner. Their mom is shy and preoccupied, but their dad is friendly. He wants to talk. He just…

Triumph

By: redtentwomen March 20, 2019March 20, 2019

Day to Day, Faith, LiteratureMarit Krueger, Poetry, SpringLeave a Comment

Against odds spring’s first sign comes winter’s coldest day. Against odds this delicate bloom breaks earth’s strong barrier. Against odds pure, white light shoves the darkness away. Against odds spring cannot come without enduring winter’s cold. Against odds she, like me, was created for this. Marit Krueger has lived in the Seattle area all her…

Wild Flower

By: redtentwomen March 18, 2019March 18, 2019

relationshipsBethany Cabell, Bluebonnets, First Hair Cut, Mother Daughter Relationships, Raising Kids, Texas2 Comments

My son was four years old the first time he had an opinion about his hair. His thick blond hair bounced up and down as he ran, and it brought me absolute delight. When he asked to shave it off, my heart sank. I allowed myself to explore the unusually strong feelings I was experiencing,…

Finding Shalom in the Seasons

By: redtentwomen March 15, 2019March 14, 2019

Monthly ThemesChanging Seasons, Janet Stark, Seasons, Shalom, Storytelling, wholeness3 Comments

Never have I known more clearly that I am a lover of changing seasons than the Christmases we lived in Northern California. Everything I loved about the season seemed intrinsically tied to cold and snow, which makes sense, given my Michigan upbringing. The flocked trees available at the local Christmas tree stand were nothing like…

Season’s Call

By: redtentwomen March 14, 2019March 12, 2019

Day to Day, FaithChanging Seasons, Freedom, Growth, Julie McClay, Spring3 Comments

I exit an evening exercise class to daylight. Contrasted with the darkness of prior weeks, the streaks of pink in the sky invite me to hope. I feel a brightening in my spirit. The light always returns! This season, my soul mirrors the winter weather pattern of the valley where I live. One day all…

Burn Out

By: redtentwomen March 13, 2019March 12, 2019

LiteratureJaime Roop, Life Seasons, Ministry Burn Out, Poetry3 Comments

We poured ourselves out cupful, bucketful streaming, gushing pumping it out every last ounce

Narrative in the Seasons

By: redtentwomen March 12, 2019March 12, 2019

Monthly ThemesBirth, chapters, Grief, Infertility, Mal Arnold, Motherhood, nursery, Seasons, Writing4 Comments

I have always viewed each passing season in my life as chapters in my ever changing, ever growing “Book of Me.” Each chapter tells stories of joy, pain, loss, curiosity and progress. Some of these chapters are filled with angst and ennui, some chapters are full of new found passions, others speak of various heartbreak…

What I Didn’t Expect When I Was Expecting

By: redtentwomen March 11, 2019March 12, 2019

Day to Day, Faith, FemininityAslan, C.S. Lewis, Jessie Filicicchia, Mothering, Pregnancy, Prince Caspian, Recovering from Abuse, Recovering from Trauma, The Chronicles of Narnia6 Comments

“It is hard for you, little one,” said Aslan. “But things never happen the same way twice.” —Aslan, the Lion, to Lucy, the child, Prince Caspian, C. S. Lewis Things never happen the same way twice, dear one. I am a thirty-one year-old woman (Jessie), I have been married to my husband (Mikey) for almost…

Flooded

By: redtentwomen March 8, 2019March 9, 2019

Day to Day, FaithChurch, Church pain, February Rain, Mark Twain, Rain, Spring Rain, Susan Tucker, The Allender Center7 Comments

In September I began the Certificate Program at the Allender Center, and I took with me one overstuffed suitcase, one tender story, and one eager heart. I quickly discovered that my time in Seattle would include joy and sorrow, frustration and fear, barriers and breakthrough, isolation and community. At times it has felt like the…