On the ship to America, Norwegian immigrant Amalia Gunderson makes a solemn promise to a dying mother, vowing to watch over her five-year-old daughter, Ruth. Together, Amalia and Ruth trek to Iowa to claim the farm and former boardinghouse that Ruth has inherited, despite opposition from a difficult cousin. Struggling with an empty house and scarce resources, Amalia resolves to return the boardinghouse to its former purpose, aided by the kindness of strangers and the resilient spirit of her young charge. As Amalia and Ruth fight for their new home, a trail of orphans shows up on their doorstep, and Amalia makes a promising friend in Absalom Karlsson, the magistrate's son. With each challenge they face, Amalia and Ruth find hope in believing that faith and determination can overcome even the most daunting of trials.

When Lynn Lunderg, a widow for two years, decides to try out a new way of living --- where single women share responsibilities as housemates --- she thinks she has found the answer to her prayers. Soon she meets two ladies with whom she could begin this journey: Angela Bishop and Judith Rutherford, both of whom come from different walks of life. These three women seek a place to grieve, to laugh, and to be renewed. But coming from such differing circumstances, will the new challenges they face undo their plans?

Just a few short weeks into her year-long training at the Blessing Hospital, Miriam Hastings is called home to Chicago, where her mother is gravely ill. With siblings to care for, Miriam pleads to be allowed to finish her training in Chicago. Her nursing supervisor grants her a brief reprieve but extracts a promise that Miriam will return to Blessing and fulfill her one-year commitment. While in Chicago, Miriam has tried to get Trygve Knutson and Blessing out of her mind, but his letters make that impossible.

Miriam Hastings intends to complete her training to become a nurse in Blessing, North Dakota, and then return home. But her growing attachment to local Trygve Knutson soon has her questioning all her future plans. Torn between love and family duty, will Miriam find a way to honor both?

Scientist Dinah Taylor's orderly life becomes wonderfully complicated when she begins a friendship with a seven year old boy who shows up one day, a scruffy dog by his side, in front of her office building. Dinah knows nothing about kids and even less about animals, but after she buys him breakfast, he shows up the next day...and the next. She tries to learn more about him, but he's remarkably skilled at evading her questions. And then, late one night, he calls her in a panic --- his dog has been injured. Dinah rushes them to a clinic, where she meets Garret, a veterinarian with a passion for drawing. Though Jonah takes to Garret right away, Dinah and Garret just don't mesh. But for Jonah's sake, their lives continue to collide, and slowly the relationship between these three strangers begins to change.

Twenty-year-old Ingeborg Strand is certain she is destined to be an old maid. She's had several suitors but none she deemed worthy of spending her life with. That is, until she meets a university student from Oslo, and feelings stronger than friendship begin to develop between them. But tragedy strikes, and the future begins to look bleaker than ever.

Eighteen-year-old Ingeborg Strand feels destined to remain single --- until she meets a university student from Oslo. But tragedy strikes, and her dreams evaporate. At her mother's suggestion, she decides to leave Norway to start afresh in America. But who will accompany her? Is widower Roald --- an honest man with a young son --- the answer to her prayer?

As U.S. Border Patrol agent Ben James rushes an abandoned baby to the only clinic in the area, a storm strikes with unexpected fury. Esther Hanson, who runs a second-rate clinic, struggles to help her patients during the storm. The event triggers a long-suppressed memory, and Esther must come face to face with the reality of her past and learn to forgive herself. Brought together by the life of a child, Ben and Esther become each other's reason to change.

Keira Johnson discovers a life-jarring fact her late mother kept hidden all her life. Kiera was born out of wedlock, and the man she had always known as her father had adopted her as an infant. Meanwhile, Keira's niece, Kirsten, has just discovered an unwanted pregnancy. As the family comes together for a reunion, Keira and Kirsten struggle with their fractured pasts and jumbled present.