By: redtentwomen October 2, 2020 Monthly ThemesTheme to consider: The Bitter EndLeave a Comment

The Bitter End

For the month of October the women of Red Tent Living will be considering the theme, “The Bitter End”. We hope you will join us by reading, or perhaps by choosing to host your own Red Tent Dinner.

Our Story

The idea for Red Tent Living started more than a decade ago with a book by the same name. The Red Tent, the best-selling historical fiction novel by Anita Diamont, retold the story of Dinah from the book of Genesis.

Writing Guidelines

Red Tent Living is a community of women from across the world reading, writing, reflecting, and responding to one another daily as we reframe what it means to be feminine. We welcome you to join in the conversation and submit your own work!

Hosting a Red Tent Dinner

Purpose: Once a month gatherings for 6-8 women that include enjoying a meal together and taking time to share pieces of their lives with one another. It is a place where believers and non believers in Jesus can experience community as they find connection in unexpected ways with one another.

The Right to Vote

By: redtentwomen October 30, 2020October 25, 2020

Femininity, Monthly Themes, relationships, WarriorGender Equality, Grandmothers, Legacy, Tracy Johnson, Voting2 Comments

The day was gray and the air was colder than expected for early November in Ohio. The rain was beginning to turn to snow, making the street and sidewalks slick. My great-great-great-grandmother Franny, her daughter Nettie, and her 23-year-old granddaughter Vivi (my great-grandma) stood side by side trying to keep warm as they waited in line…

The Haunting

By: redtentwomen October 28, 2020October 25, 2020

Day to Day, Intentional LivingEliza Cortes Bast, Identity, navigating conflict, Tension4 Comments

Like much of America, we got a Coronatide puppy, long-legged and rambunctious. It is my job to walk him first thing in the morning so he doesn’t chew the table legs while I’m conference-calling. It’s a work-from-home season, and he doesn’t understand I have four more Zoom meetings to go.

A Civic Sacrament

By: redtentwomen October 26, 2020October 25, 2020

Day to Day, Monthly ThemesEarly Voting, Election 2020, Susan Tucker, The Great American Experiment, Theodore Hesburgh6 Comments

The morning hints of a crisp fall day that we Southerners dream about during the dog days of summer—clear blue sky, a chill in the air, and tinges of color appearing on the tips of oaks and maples. This reality stokes the energy I already feel tingling beneath my skin as I sit behind the…

Bitter/Sweet

By: redtentwomen October 23, 2020September 23, 2020

Day to Day, Intentional Living, Monthly ThemesBitterness, Growth, Mallory Redmond, new beginnings, Restoration, The Election2 Comments

Almost every day my oldest daughter drinks a chocolate shake out of her green Paw Patrol bottle—one she loves for the dogs, not the characters. This shake is, of course, not just any chocolate shake. It’s packed full of various greens and nutrients, with a couple of vitamins crushed into it because I’m an opportunist.

The Wounded Healer

The wounded healer arrives on the scene not a moment too soon or too late. She is ready and anchored in the flow of love to lean into the other’s deep pain. She heals with her eyes, her heart, and her hands, using words of comfort and care. She knows how it feels to be…

Turning Words

By: redtentwomen October 19, 2020September 27, 2020

Day to Day, Faith, Intentional LivingDivorce, God's goodness, Hope, Jill English, St.Julian of Norwich10 Comments

I walked through the grocery store, loading my cart as if it were a normal day. The white paper cup in the cart cup holder was stained with dribbles of coffee that had seeped from underneath the white plastic lid. Ruby lipstick residue garishly proclaimed the cup mine. I had just set it down when…

The Sweet Beginning

By: redtentwomen October 16, 2020October 13, 2020

Day to Day, Intentional Living, Monthly Themescourage, Fear, Freedom, oppression, Safety, Secrets3 Comments

What felt like the bitter end was really the sweet beginning. The sweet beginning to a new life. The bitter end to oppression. The bitter end to patterned, repeated, intentional, and willful systematic oppression. The sweet beginning to freedom from suppression and systemic fear.

An End to Bitterness

By: redtentwomen October 14, 2020September 15, 2020

Day to Day, Faith, Intentional Living, Monthly Themes, relationshipsbelief system, Darling Mom, Growth, Kindness, Shandee Mikesh5 Comments

Lately, I feel like I did as a child, when I would spin and spin in circles until I fell to the ground with dizziness. As a little girl this was fun. As an adult, not so much. In the past five years I can’t seem to find a single thing that I haven’t examined.…

Brave and Honest

By: redtentwomen October 12, 2020October 6, 2020

Day to Day, Intentional Living, Monthly Themes, relationshipsaddiction recovery, Alcoholism, Bravery, Heather Medley, Serenity Prayer, Truth Telling2 Comments

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” This was the prayer that I recited each week for one year in a little metal building with the letters AA discretely stamped on the door. I was…

An Ending of Sorts

By: redtentwomen October 9, 2020October 8, 2020

Faith, Intentional Living, Monthly Themes, Uncategorized, Warrior, Wholehearted2020, Black Lives Matter, George Floyd, Haley Wiggers, Justice, March, Pentecost, protest, the bitter end, the spiritLeave a Comment

I stepped on the downtown pavement for the first time in months, surrounded by masked bodies holding make-shift cardboard signs with words written in paint or permanent marker, saying things like, “I CAN’T BREATHE,” or “NO JUSTICE NO PEACE,” or “SAY HIS NAME—GEORGE FLOYD.”