Last weekend as I was driving home from Iowa to Minnesota I was reminded of the beauty of the Midwest heartland.  No big looming mountains, no expansive oceans, no rugged red rocks.  But there’s a vastness of the land that spreads from horizon to horizon.  Here’s the area responsible for much of the food that’s delivered to our tables, and this land goes through the temperature extremes of freezing, thawing, flooding, and drought.  While I was driving on the interstate I kept one eye to the western sky and the colors that were building up to sunset.  As the pinks were glowing I pulled off onto a county road; the smell of soil and cool winds came wafting through the car’s open window.  This one field was between seasons with some snow still clinging to the cold earth, the soil that was thawing, and the ribbons of water and puddles that were reflecting the last light of a beautiful day and sunset.  So much to be thankful for in this spring season of hope and renewal!