Trygve Knutson has been promoted from well drilling to heading a construction crew for the fast growing town of Blessing, North Dakota. Though devoted to the land and his family, he sometimes dreams of other horizons. But is he willing to leave Blessing permanently? Miriam Francini hopes to become an accredited nurse in a large city hospital. She is simply tolerating her assignment at the hospital in rural Blessing because it will give her the experience she needs to accomplish her goal.

After three long years of scrimping and saving to buy tickets for their passage to America, Roald and Ingeborg Bjorklund, along with their son, Thorliff, finally arrive at the docks of New York City. It was the promise of free land that fed their dream and lured them from their beloved home high above the fjords of Norway in 1880. As they join the throngs of countless immigrants passing through Castle Garden, the Bjorklunds soon discover that nothing is as they had envisioned it.

Thorliff's dream of becoming a writer is within reach. Working for a newspaper in Northfield, Minnesota, he is busy writing articles and stories to pay his way through college. But his idyllic world comes to a sudden halt when a catastrophe hits the town of Blessing, North Dakota. While waiting to hear if any of her applications to medical schools are accepted, Elizabeth takes a nursing position in Chicago. Then a devastating experience on the hospital ward puts her faith in God and her very life on the line. 

Joshua Landsverk left Blessing two years ago, but he's never forgotten Astrid. Returning to town, he seeks to court her, and love begins to bloom. When the opportunity opens for Astrid to go to Chicago for further training, she finds it difficult to leave home and Joshua. They agree to correspond, but after receiving only one letter from him, she learns he's left town again. Believing Joshua no longer loves her, Astrid makes an impetuous, heart-wrenching decision.

It is 1893, and the first generation of immigrants who came to America for the promise of free land and a good life for their children have finally achieved their dreams. They labored hard on the land and now have a bountiful heritage to pass on to the next generation. However, many of the young people aren't interested in becoming farmers - they have aspirations of their own. Thorliff Bjorklund has been writing stories and plays since he was a young boy and longs to attend college to study journalism. But his father has other plans for him and refuses to agree.