reframing femininity
My name is Holly, I am an addict. It does not really matter what my addiction is. What matters is my addiction was what I chose to fill the God shaped hole in my life. My addiction kidnapped my heart, my soul and my mind. But God. God ransomed me. I used my addiction to…
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I grew up in the aftermath of WWII. Our town was in the early stages of being discovered by everyone looking for warmer weather and a place to take their ailing sinuses. Our skies were blue and you could see for miles. That was Phoenix, Arizona in the early days of the 40’s, 50’s. My…
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I asked God for a memory I wanted to understand me
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Defeat is not bitter unless you swallow it. —Joe Clark How do you help a friend who never asks for help? Women are incredibly strong and delicately resilient. We move through life like the well worn pages of our favorite chapter in the Bible, coupled with unique wrinkles, markings, and creases. Many of us glide…
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These days I spend a lot of time staring out of the window. As I’ve aged, I’ve become more of an internal processor. I balance all of the competing priorities in my life: person, wife, mother, daughter, doctoral student, executive, friend, minister. So, while sitting in front of the window, I entertain a carousel of…
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The night my husband and I found out we were expecting, I was drifting to sleep, dancing between consciousness and my dream world. Suddenly, my husband’s loud and insistent voice snapped me back to reality. “You’re getting an epidural!” he said eagerly, clearly falling asleep to thoughts about my impending pain 8 months later. I…
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“The heart has its reasons, whereof reason knows nothing.” Blaise Pascal There are many days in this season of life where I am at my wit’s end. But that doesn’t seem to keep me from pressing forward expecting reason to catch up to my confusion. The Spirit seems to be prompting me to acknowledge that…
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For the month of May Red Tent Living is considering the theme of Passion (cult following, stress response, wit’s end). Join us by reading or by hosting a Red Tent Dinner around your table to consider this theme with a few friends.
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I have a vague memory from my early years — perhaps I was 3 or 4 — of swimming with my siblings and cousins at my aunt’s apartment pool on a golden summer afternoon. At some point amidst the fun, I went from sweet and splashy to exhausted and unwound. Having the self-awareness of the…
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“You know I absolutely adore you.” His words return to me vivid and tender. An evergreen glistened with tiny white lights as raindrops pelted the brick landing of the retreat center before I boarded the airport shuttle. I picture the wild hair and dancing eyes of the kind man holding my face in his hands…
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