The Heartland

Rocky Ridge Farm, Missouri

Tomorrow (6/9) the car trip through the heartland of the United States ends.  Fourteen days, over 4,000 miles, ten states, eight beloved families' homes.  My heart is sad knowing it will end, but my aching body and weary mind long for the same bed more than two nights in a row.

Here is a brief synopsis:

Gray Family Reunion, shopping in Hardy, AR

We stayed with two cousins, transplanted friends from our So Cal church, and "reunioned" with fifteen of my mother's family (four generations).  Two nights were with Smitty's mom and her sister, one night with a new friend we will serve with at Black Forest Academy.  Our soul mates from our first home group shared their home with us, and then a couple we met several years ago in Paris housed us last night.


We stayed in homes (one about 100 years old) in small towns and cities, a cabin by a lake, and apartment high-rises.

Joan & Mari Ellen, Greenville, IL

Mitchells, Janesville, WI

Driving through the countryside gave us the opportunity to see cows, pigs, goats, horses and llamas.  We witnessed some of the devastation of the Joplin tornado, visited Laura Ingalls Wilder's Rocky Ridge Farm, swam in a lake in the Ozarks, toured Lincoln's home, watched an adult softball game, marveled at the beauty of Madison, Wisconsin, and searched the horizon for Chicago from the shores of Lake Michigan.

Wisconsin Lake with Stig and Dorothy

What a gift this trip has been to us.  Saying goodbye, praying with some, loving each and every person we encountered has been the privilege we shared together these last two weeks.  God has granted us the freedom to leave these loved ones and this great country as He continues to prepare us to love others in the country soon to be our home.  No matter how weary or sad we become, living in the will of God is right where we want to be.