If you’re the kind of person who pays extremely close attention to our updates (and our route), you may have noticed from our previous “journey update” post that I (Mike) mentioned our next stop on the road would be Granada, Colorado. I’d just like to point out that sometimes even average writers such as myself make mistakes. After leaving Hasty, Colorado, our next stop was actually Lamar, Colorado. This is important to note because Lamar treated us marvelously and it would be a shame not to give credit where credit is due.

After packing up bright and early and setting out from Hasty, we made a nice 21-mile push to Faith Friends Church in Lamar. The pastor, Galan Burnett, and his son, Micah, had been at the Bible study in Hasty the night before (if you missed that post, you can read about it here), so we were excited to get to see them again so soon.

Even though it was a 21-mile push, we made good time and got to the church with a little time to stretch out and relax before dinner. We also found out Galan and Micah were providing dinner for us, which was a wonderful blessing. We met some members of their church as well as another guest named David, who is doing missionary work over in Ireland. It was just a fantastic night of good food and even better fellowship, and we’re always thankful for fellowship.

Although we should have left the next day, our friends from La Junta had encouraged us to connect with the pastor at the Presbyterian Church in Lamar. We decided to give it a try, and were happy to find out Rory Gillespie (the pastor) was willing to let us sleep in their church if we wanted to stay in Lamar an extra night. We took Rory up on his offer and planned to stick around. We spent a few hours watching movies, grabbing showers, and hanging out with Micah Burnett, then moved on down to the Presbyterian church.

Rory and his wife, Karen, treated us to a delicious dinner at the local truck stop (I promise, it was better than it sounds), and then Lindsie and I got ready to get some sleep. Of course, that wasn’t until after Karen had taken Lindsie to Walmart to stock up on supplies. Seriously, the kindness of the people in this part of the country is just overwhelming sometimes.

The next day we said goodbye to Lamar and made our way to Granada, Kansas. Thanks to Pastor Kathy Leathers, we had a church to stay at in town. Kathy also pastored the Methodist Church in nearby Holly, Colorado, so we were on our own for the evening in Granada, which ended up making for a nice, relaxing night.

We got up early the next morning to make a strong push to Holly. Kathy had told us there was an outdoor church service that morning if we could make it in time. We made the short 10-mile journey to Holly and got there just in time for the service to start. We learned that the service was being led by former-60s-and-70s-pop-star-turned-pastor Frankie Valens and his lovely wife, Phyllis. Before it started, they introduced themselves and insisted we stay at their church in Syracuse, Kansas, when we made it to Syracuse. We were thankful, particularly because Lindsie had just finished praying we’d get in touch with a church in Syracuse we could stay at. Once again, God was providing for us.

The town of Holly treated us wonderfully. First, Sherri, one of the congregation members at Holly United Methodist Church, gave us a gift card to Subway (once again, a blessing, since Lindsie had seen the Subway sign when we arrived in Holly earlier that day and mentioned she’d LOVE to have Subway soon). After that, Kathy brought us to her and her husband Dennis’s house for showers and laundry—always a blessing on the road. Finally, Kathy invited some great kids from the youth group to come talk with us about our journey, the work God is doing in our lives, and the blessing our relationship with Christ has been. And there was pizza for dinner. Needless to say, it was a fantastic night.

We woke up early the following morning and began the push to make our way out of Colorado and into Kansas. Few things feel as good as crossing another state off of our list, and we waved goodbye to Colorado as we made our way into the Sunflower State.

We made it to Syracuse that same day, and Frankie and Phyllis were SO excited to have us there. After showing us around the church, Frankie showed us the “guest room” we’d be staying in. We had our own bed, comfortable couches, two fans running on high, and our own bathrooms and showers. Talk about a blessing.

As I mentioned, Frankie is a former pop star—some of his hits include “This Magic Moment,” “She Cried,” and “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”—and he and Phyllis also spent about twenty years doing traveling ministry work. Needless to say, they were familiar with life on the road and they went above and beyond to make sure Lindsie and I were taken care of.

Unfortunately, there was a heat wave rolling through Kansas right when we got to Syracuse, and the predicted temperatures for the following days were 108°, 109°, 107°. Although Lindsie and I wanted to make progress, the temperature was hitting the low-to-mid-90s by about 9 o’clock in the morning, meaning most of our day would have been spent in extreme heat. As a result, Frankie and Phyllis were able to convince us to stick around for an extra couple of days. Then they went above and beyond and offered to pick us up after a day of walking and bring us back so we wouldn’t have to camp on the side of the road the next night.

All in all, our time in Syracuse was fantastic. We were incredibly well-fed, we met TONS of great church and community members in Syracuse, and our time with Frankie and Phyllis was unforgettable. PLUS, we got to enjoy a special Father’s Day performance from Frankie and Phyllis at the Syracuse V.I.P. Center, which was a real treat.

If you’re ever in Syracuse, Kansas, on a Sunday, definitely stop in at the First Christian Church and check out a service. I guarantee you’ll enjoy it.

Sadly, we eventually had to say goodbye to Frankie, Phyllis, and the lovely town of Syracuse (despite their best efforts to convince us to move there permanently). We made our way on down the road to Lakin, Kansas, where Frankie had called ahead to find us a place to stay. We connected with Michelle Brookman who works at the Methodist Church in Lakin, and she invited us to stay at her family’s house. That meant we’d have a nice bed to sleep in, a tasty dinner, and a fun night with new people to meet.

Once we got to Michelle’s, I noticed right away that they had comic book storage boxes lying on the floor. I made a comment about them, and Michelle smiled and said, “If you like comic books, you’ll probably enjoy staying here.” Sure enough, Michelle’s husband, Richard, is a HUGE comic book fan. He even has his own podcast that focuses on comic books and pop culture. While Lindsie took a lengthy recovery nap, Richard, Michelle, and I discussed our walk, as well as Richard’s and my mutual love for comics, and plenty of other stuff. Then I got to take a look at Richard’s impressive comic book collection and equally impressive Star Wars action figure collection. It was definitely a change of pace compared to our usual routine, and I enjoyed getting a chance to talk comics with someone besides Lindsie (who doesn’t exactly enjoy talking comics).

As evening rolled around, Michelle whipped up a tasty dinner, and we enjoyed a meal with Richard, Michelle, and their son, Logan. Then we went to sleep and were incredibly thankful to be inside as a massive windstorm began raging outside. Once again, the Lord was taking care of us.

Up next on the map was Garden City, Kansas, where a friend of mine from college had offered to let us stay. Getting to see a familiar face on this walk is a rare opportunity, so Lindsie and I were excited to set off to Garden City. Along the way, we noticed TONS of fallen tree branches, some of them massive. The storm that had torn through Lakin definitely did some damage. We said an extra prayer of thanks that God had kept us indoors for the night, since our tent would probably have been ripped to shreds by the wind.

Anyway, our adventure into Garden City will continue with the next post. When the next post goes up, we should finally be caught up again, and I might be able to go back to slightly shorter posts than these. Until then, thanks for your patience, thanks for reading, and thanks for your prayers and encouragement. These past few weeks have left us feeling overwhelmingly blessed by God and His provision for us. I can’t imagine how we would have made it this far safely and soundly if He weren’t guiding every step.

Luke 6:38 tells us, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” If that’s the case, there are a ton of people in eastern Colorado and western Kansas who should be getting plenty back, as they’ve given us more than we could have ever hoped for.

Thanks again for reading, and we’ll be back with more soon. Until then, we hope you’ll be blessed.

-Mike, Lindsie, and Jaeda