Good morning from the Ozarks. Drinking coffee and watching the morning news was great until the last levee broke at Winfield, MO. The scene of the water finding a breech and rushing through is sad knowing there are farms and a city in it’s path. The efforts of people from all over had worked tirelessly to save the area from flooding to no avail.

I am always proud of the mid-section of America when disaster strikes. I was born and raised with a good work ethic and the admonition that life could hit you in the face at times but you were to get up, get going and get over it! No one gets a free ride.

Once on my own I learned to value lessons gleaned from my parents. Life can be downright unpredictable and mean……..fairness is not a required element for precautions we may make. However, there is always an end to the worst and a life lesson in each episode. I am a purist with a simple philosophy. There are reasons for everything to our own good.

Do not look back. Do not look around at the devastation whatever it may be. Look forward at all times and enjoy the blessings of the day. The Bible is full of stories about ordinary people who lived through perilous times…..I have never been asked to sacrifice my sons, build an ark, jump into a lions den, walk into a firry furnace or kill a giant…..the list is endless and brutal. When we look at the last page of their story, they come out victorious and better off. Not so for the predators, however.

In a perfect world we would never have to face any adverse obstacle……that world is not now….it is the world to come.

Essentially Esther