How Do You Spell RELIEF?

It has been a pleasant nine days away from work, seeing sights we’ve never seen before and encountering people we’ve never met before.  We took a trip to Western and Northern Colorado last week, an area we’ve never been to before now.  Oh, we’ve been to Colorado.  But we’ve been in the Colorado Springs/Denver area almost exclusively, and had no idea what the west slope looked like.  So we decided to go.

Heading West out of Wichita on Highway 54 on Saturday morning, we traveled to Bucklin, then headed cross-country to meet up with Highway 160 north of Sublette.  We would take this road all the way to our first major destination, Durango.  However, we had a stop for lunch in Ulysses first.

We decided that we would try to eat at places we normally wouldn’t be able to patronize in Wichita.  That meant no McDonalds, Applebees, or other chains.  So in Ulysses, we drove downtown a bit and found a Mexican place on the west side of the street.  Going in, we found most tables empty, and found a comfortable spot.

The wait people were helpful, and the place was clean.  The food was excellent.  In fact, I told the waitress that the food truck that delivered Mexican food to all the restaurants in Wichita did NOT stop in Ulysses for a delivery.  Homemade everything, it appeared, including the refried beans.

The land changed noticeably from about Ulysses on to our intermediate overnight destination of Trinidad.  Drier, more arid, and much less tilled agriculture became the norm.  The distance between towns (or wide spots in the road) became greater as well.

Leaving Walsh, we went on for awhile, but as we went, both of us needed to find some facilities to use.  In that part of the country, there isn’t a Quick Stop around every corner, and even wide spots in the road don’t have more than a few old buildings  and maybe a post office.  We headed into Kim, Colorado, both of us needing to find a place to stop.  We were disappointed that there were only about a dozen buildings in the entire community, and no commercial ventures of any kind.

As we went through (it only took about 30 seconds to go from one end to the other), we noticed a Church of Christ on the East side of the road and a house beside it.  Thinking the house was a parsonage, I had an idea.  Turning around, I parked in front and knocked on the door of the house.  A man answered.

“Excuse me,” I said tentatively, but with some confidence.  “We’re members of the church from Wichita, Kansas, and we are needing to find a restroom.”

The man pointed to the building and said, “The doors are unlocked.  You can go there.  We keep them unlocked so people have a place to go.”

I thanked him and we both found relief in the building, which was older, but adequate.  I then went to the front of the building, found the offering plates under the communion table, and left $10 in the plate.  Going on our way, we found Trinidad and our motel about an hour later.

More on the trip later.  But for now, I want you to remember the tiny church in Kim, Colorado, and their ministry of an open door (literally) to allow people to find physical as well as spiritual relief.  May God bless them.