How Great Thou Art! - Our trip part two

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,

Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
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Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

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I love this beautiful hymn, How Great Thou Art, with lyrics by Carl Gustaf Boberg

and Stuart K. Hine.

As we traveled 2,349 miles through parts of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming the melody and words of this hymn kept running through my mind.

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As I viewed the pictures posted by Marie at http://ayearatoakcottage.blogspot.com/ of the beautiful English countryside, and by Cinderelen at http://cinderelen.blogspot.com/ of the lovely scenery in Greece again this hymn played in my mind.

I am in awe of the beautiful world God created for us.

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When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur

And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

The raging rapids of Wyoming's Snake river

The beautiful scenery in Wyoming and Idaho

The rolling pastures and farm lands in the valleys of the majestic Rocky Mountains of Utah

(This sign says "Welcome to Utah" in case you can't read it.)

The beautiful Virgin River Gorge in Arizona

And even though I prefer the sea shores or mountains, the sprawling deserts of Nevada and California

Testify to me of the greatness of our God and His wonderful creations.

I know that this beautiful world could not have come to be by chance or accident. I know that a loving God made this world for us and placed us on it. I am thankful for it and appreciate it in all it's diversification and splendor.

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We traveled the 2,349 miles through these states in the comfort of our little Toyota Prius going 70 to 80 miles an hour, with the air conditioning running, bottles of cold water in our cooler and our favorite CDs playing on the stereo. Stopping for food or convenience whenever we wanted to. Enjoying the view and the ride as we sped from place to place.

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As we traveled we saw historic landmarks all along the way. I thought of the thousands of pioneers that traveled on foot, a few miles a day, in the blazing heat and freezing cold, in covered wagons and pulling hand carts often with little food or water. ( This is a picture of my daughter Erin as she and Patrick went on a handcart trek this last June.)

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We celebrated Pioneer Day on the 24th of July in Utah. I am thankful to those pioneers that did so much and set such a good example of faith and courage for us to follow. When I start to grumble or think my lot is hard, I hope I will stop and remember the sacrifices made by our forefathers.( and "foremothers") I hope I will realize how easy and comfortable my life is and how blessed I am to live in this amazing day. When the pioneers left family and friends it was usually forever. Now my family and friends that live in other states are only a plane ride, car trip or blog click away. What a blessing!

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I feel grateful and blessed that we have had the health, strength and means to make this trip, see these beautiful sights and enjoy being with our dear family. I will share a little more about our trip in a future post.

I send my love to all of you. I hope that you too are enjoying our beautiful world where ever it is that you live. Until next time may God be with you. (((Hugs))) Grammy Lura