Dan and I have motored deep into pastures of peace. The hospitality of our friends. Mike and Donna Coons, who we enjoyed on the sunny social Florida scene, have now welcomed us on their farm of 750 acres where quiet meets contentment. We are near the tiny historical town of Hannibel, Missouri, home and imaginaive playground of Mark Twaine, and just across the river from Illinois.

 The great Mississippi River winds herself around fields and hills, carrying her stories deep within. We could see her flow, interrupted only by locks allowing boats and barges to pass through, from Lovers Leap where the panoramic view of her size and strength were as ominous as her beauty. 

This morning I rose early enough to join the sun to greet the birds, ponds, and dew along rolling hills of grass, corn fields, and soybean crops. I could sense the Lord stretching His arms and smiling at the loveliness of the land, decreeing across the generations, "These are the green pastures of peace I promise to bring nto my Kingdom." How humbled and grateful I feel to have this view of the heart of the Creator.

Inch by inch, yard by yard, the miles we have traveled (not quite a thousand yet!) have peeled away my anxieties exposing me to whatGod promised He would show me. The months of planning, mapping, and calculating Dan spent on designing our Trip West is evolving from destinations to vistas, adventures to appreciation. My sense of urgency is melting as we journey deeper into the country. In the soft breeze from the clearest sky I hear whispering, "Told you so!"