Dealing with Hardship

What do you do to help you through hard times? In my novel I am writing that is a big theme that runs throughout the book. Here is a conversation between James and his wife Jennet as they discuss waiting and suffering during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812:

James told her, “Tis true that the waiting part of the war is as hard as actually fighting the war. I remember the stories my mother’s friend Mary Foster told me about their lonely vigils during the last war.”

Jennet smiled and tucked her arm through his as they sat on a fallen log and watched the sunset. She looked off at the sunset as she thought and said, “It seems to me there are many different types of physical and emotional hardship. There’s also the hardship or pain you face with death. A person can die fighting, suddenly or slowly- that’s physical. The other kind is to die inside, a little bit at a time when loved ones suffer or die. Thank goodness God can revive us at our low points. I hope Johanna realizes that, when she thinks about Jake.” Jennet turned and looked at James, her big green eyes serious, “Do you think Jake is still alive?”