ND from the outside

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend a ladies retreat sponsored by Living Stone Chapel in Fessenden, ND. The teachers, friends and family of the pastor's wife, came from New York. One of the teachers is a blogger and posted about her trip (http://www.4herhome.com/my-trip-to-north-dakota-a-state-with-friendly-people-living-a-life-of-simplicity/) When I first read about this my ND pride was defensive...we do too have paved streets and stop signs and paved sidewalks and flower gardens...but God addressed each of these with qualifiers....We do too have paved streets (at least Main Street) and stop signs (at least two) and paved sidewalks (Main Street again)and flower gardens (three months a year). But then I read her post with the gratitude and love she intended and realized she got ND. We are welcoming, we are friendly, we are grateful for the people in our lives...oh yeah and we ARE farmers. We wave at others on the street. We stop and talk to our friends...or just people in stores and on the street. It's what makes us who we are. People first. In the light of changes to our state, oil boom, move ins, rising crime....I realize that this is what we need to cling to. If we can stay focused on who we are as a people we can be the light to those that haven't yet seen it! By the way...I'm a once-upon-a-time outsider too. I moved to ND in college and never left. I always thought I'd see the world, be a big city girl (my husband thinks in some ways I still am). I have traveled, I have seen the city...guess what? I learned that my world is right here in these borders. My home is flat and treeless (again see 4herhome.com) and I like it that way. Trees, skyscrapers, mountains have their place, but my heart has found a home right here on the plains of ND. So welcome to my new friends, don't be strangers. And when you do come back...I have a feeling you will...wave at someone as you go by, stop and say "hi." And maybe take some of ND home with you in spirit.