What is all this but Merry Durability and Cheering Strength? Isn’t that being sturdy? Isn’t that doing hard things with a smile on our face? Isn’t that being the round, worn, safe place for our people? Being a woman, wife, mother, homemaker requires more grit than our aprons, ruffles, and nurturing of little things imply. This grit takes time to grow, but I want to grow it. I want to be sturdy so I can be a helper. I know that I’m dependent on my husband, family, friends, and church, but I want to be as sturdy in that dependence as I possibly can, so that when war comes, my man can answer the call. But also, so that when plants die, drought comes, chickens get sick, a friend needs a meal, or my own health declines, I can carry on happily. I want this for me, and I want it for all of you in your homes.

We don’t deny that the world is full of risk, darkness, and death just waiting to rend apart our homes and our people. We don’t deny that at all. It’s true. What we deny is its power to intimidate us into panic or apathy. We look it squarely in the eye, our candle gleaming brightly in our hands, and we endure.