As a young girl, I loved the story of Pippi Longstocking. For me, there was something so intriguing and inspiring about Pippi’s love of adventure, her unwavering self-confidence, her quirky approach to life, and, of course, her gravity-defying pigtails. The thing I loved most about her, though, was how strong she was. After all, who wasn’t impressed with her Herculean strength and all of the zany ways she protected her home, friends, pet animals, and treasure? She was the kind of girl you wanted on your side!
After participating in my first Time Out for Women at Logan, Utah, in September, I unexpectedly found myself reflecting upon this favorite childhood heroine again. No, I hadn’t met a disproportionate number of redheads or sisters with pigtails in Logan—although that would have been fun. I had simply encountered a unique concentration of women with incredible strength. They were remarkably strong, in fact. It was nothing short of moving to witness the power that is generated by 2,000 women laughing and applauding together, the power of women crying and feeling the Spirit together, and the distinct energy that radiates from valiant women coming together for good purposes.
During the breaks, I was both touched and humbled by the personal stories women shared with me. In those one-on-one moments, I was struck by how seemingly ordinary women were facing gut-wrenching difficulties with extraordinary faith—making them anything but ordinary. Naturally, it was troubling to learn of how many women in our faith community are grappling with the destructive impact of pornography in their lives, but I was encouraged by the number and nature of the women who are striving to tackle this issue with Heavenly Father’s help.
As sweet as it was to be reminded of a childhood heroine, it was even sweeter to be reminded of how strong daughters of God are when they know they are daughters of God. These are definitely the kind of women I want on my side.