cultivating the beautiful ordinary by sharing our tales and our tables
There was a season of life when my faith was as fragile as a newly unfurled leaf, when all I could do was wait, observe, and cautiously hope that I would experience the faith I once had. I felt far removed from that passionate and zealous girl who once lived overseas and realized a dream…
Read More
“Life is decided by inches and seconds.” A wise friend once shared these words with me, asking if I ever wondered about the “what-ifs.” Your beloved dog runs into the street and the oncoming car stops just in time. Another inch, another second, and everything would be different. Your newly-minted 16-year-old casually tells you about…
Read More
“This is so amazing that we go to a church like this,” my husband whispered, as he slid a few papers stapled together across the table to me. I had just settled the kids into Godly Play and snuck into the service, and I was surprised to see the words printed across the top of…
Read More
This January was filled with work, family, friends needing support, colleagues reaching out to share, and a significant, out-of-pattern ice storm in central Texas. On most days I felt overwhelmed, tired, and unmotivated. Some concerns shared with me by friends and colleagues weighed heavy on my heart. I had to relearn how to practice self-preservation.…
Read More
Eternity pauses in the middle of this moment. In this creaking chair in the corner of this coffee shop with its cream brick and rounded windows on the north end of Main Street. From southeast Wisconsin, glaring winter is mostly gone. Faded ivy climbs the wall of the building next door as buds cling to…
Read More
Our oldest burst through the front door, wailing in pain. Since he’s on the autism spectrum, I have to remember that sometimes his reactions are incongruent with actual events, yet very real in his own lived experience. He’d taken a spill on the driveway while shooting basketball and was holding his hands limp in front…
Read More
What is a lifetime? If one averages a human life to 75 years, that is 27,375 days, or 657,000 hours, or 39,420,000 seconds. Those who served in the infantry during a war often say their time is 95% boredom punctuated by 5% terror. For most of us, our days are daily, ordinary, tick-tock time punctuated by occasional moments…
Read More
In honor of the tenth anniversary of Red Tent Living, we are featuring a monthly legacy post written by one of our regular contributors from the past decade. Kelsi Folsom joined the Red Tent writing community as she and her family were living on a small Caribbean Island. Her perspective as a young wife and…
Read More
For the month of March the women of Red Tent Living will be considering the theme, In The Nick of Time. Please join us by inviting some women in your community to join you in sharing stories around this theme. You might host a Red Tent Dinner, or just gather at a coffee shop. And,…
Read More
Getting older is not for the faint of heart. I am keenly aware of this today as I feel the pain from a chain of events that started with an old knee injury. I’d been concerned after experiencing pain and decreased range of motion twice in the past six months, but each time I chalked…
Read More