Keep hoping. Keep smiling, even through the tears and heartache. Keep your eyes fixed on love, even when it's impossible to feel love. Paint good landscapes for your kids so that they don't grow up feeling like the world is hopeless. Control what you can control, in your little circle, even though it might seem like it's a drop in the bucket. That's YOUR fight right now.

Those kids of yours, they're your mission. Remind them they're fierce, unique, humble, proud, compassionate, and capable of amazing things. Your job is to pile as much kindling around their hearts as possible, kindling that will create an enduring, blazing fire for the rest of us to see, and trust that when the time comes, that kindling WILL be lit up.

That's how I'm approaching my duties as a parent. I'm being real with my kids while doing my best to fortify their character and keep them from falling into despair. It's a fine line to walk, but walk it we must. They are our most valuable resource and mission #1. There are a lot of battles to fight now and in the future, and those battles are part of the larger war, but mission priority, in these years that we have them, are the kiddos.