Questions for the Prairie Lady on My Wall

Dear South Dakota Prairie Woman,

I look at you often and wonder what you are thinking.

I see you gathering beauty and teaching your children to as well.

That makes me want to know you, and to be like you.  

How do you gather beauty in a foreign, near desolate land?  

Are you thinking about the coming winter?

Wondering where your husband is?

Taking stock of the land and how best to use it?  What needs to be done first?

You look confident, like the lady of Proverbs,"When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet."

Are you thinking of God's provision, confident of his care for you and your family?

Are you a pilgrim, making a place of springs the Valley of Baca?

Or is it just a strange cloud in the distance, the possibility of a tornado?

I can tell you have a heart.

Are you missing your home and family?

Do you wonder how they are?

Or are you looking to the future, at those who will come after you?

Could you be looking north?

Knowing that even years and years later, women would journey to your land, seeking to make a home there.

Did you know one would be me?

Thank you for your courage; it helps me have courage, too.

From another woman on her way to make a home in North Dakota.