‍Each season of life, each day has its own troubles and struggles. It can seem easier to just throw up our hands and accept the stress and franticness of our day and age, especially in seasons of high need – teenagers with jobs who can’t drive yet, summertime activities, community commitments, health crises, caretaking, etc. It is difficult to believe that a slow start and slow finish are worthy of protecting when the to-do list is so long. But if you can live this way, even a little bit, it can calm your nerves. No matter what you face throughout the day, you will have some gentleness to enjoy, to strengthen your heart and mind and body. Isn’t it a funny thing that gentleness is what strengthens women? It seems a bit counterintuitive, but most women find courage, strength, and endurance in gentleness.

‍We homemakers are the front line in emergency situations, whether with pets or children or husbands or friends. It is often we who realize the situation has turned into an emergency, and it is we who start the emergency tending even before the EMTs arrive. It is vital that we acknowledge and accept this truth.

Instead of feeling like I’m also trapped in a cage, it’s given me a reason for my slow living. I need to go in and out today so that I can keep a close eye on the hens' location. I need to take this break so that they can run around a bit. I need to make sure I’m not gone all the time because these creatures depend on me. What I thought might be a hindrance has proven to be a liberty.