January 1, 1866—Claudia Rose and Clary Pickett are still on the family farm with Paw and Aunt Minnie near Bloomfield, Missouri. They and everyone around them are struggling to overcome the horrors and the losses they experienced during the Civil War. All around them are reminders of those losses.

Emotional and spiritual healing comes slowly, and there’s still much anger toward those who fought on the opposing side. But as they begin to rebuild their lives, trusting in God to give them grace, they find themselves moving toward a more hopeful future. They’re able to plant and harvest gardens and crops. Hard physical work contributes to the healing of the inner hurts. It takes longer to replace livestock because money is scarce. But slowly the farms build back up. No one has forgotten the years when they were hungry all the time, and they’re grateful for every blessing they now enjoy.

The little church builds back slowly, and the members are thankful when a young minister comes from Georgia on his way out west and stays a while to be their pastor. Friends fall in love, get married, and have children. Two and a half years after the war ends, there’s still a long way to go before healing and renewal will be complete, but Claudia Rose, Clary, and their friends are moving forward.