The Joys of Road Trips

One of the great things about road trips is that you see unexpected things.
And if you are not in a hurry, you can stop to investigate them.
While just outside Omaha,
we saw this cool structure.
At first we thought it was a barn being raised,
but then we saw the fine woodwork,
and the glass windows,
and then lastly the crucifix in front--
and we realized it was a church!
So we pulled off at the next exit.
And lo and behold, a sign saying "Holy Family Shrine, 3 miles."
So we followed the signs, and came out onto this:

Not only is the church and the site stunning,
but the landscaping is sensitively and exquisitely done.
The sense of peace and calm that radiates from this spot is just incredible.
The church interior is nothing short of heavenly:

The glass walls and fine attention to detail
(even the light fixtures have crucifixes in them,
the floor is smoothed chunks of local limestone)
make this a wonderful, relaxing, spiritual place.
Outside, the cross image is also wonderfully done:

Christ's eyes are actually open,
and His cloth is fluttering the direction of the predominant wind blow
(we could tell, it's plenty windy up on that hill).
It's more of a Resurrection than a Crucifixion scene.

We spent a very happy hour at this site!