Meeting Mrs. Sperry

The five of us left Flagstaff early June first, driving toward the sun.

Our destination was a VOM conference in eastern Oklahoma, but it seems God taught me as much on the journey, as He did at the destination.

Lu volunteered her 2006 Trail Blazer for our trip.

Sign at a place in Joseph City where we made a pit stop.

Of course there were trains running parallel to us.

In the unlikeliest place, we found a stunning collection of antique cars.  The tiny town of Endee, New Mexico, has a Russell's Travel Center.  What seems at first to be just a very nice truck stop also includes a chapel and an assortment of exquisite old cars, beautifully showcased.  Here's a video tour:

While I find it appalling that anyone would squander that kind of money on paint, steel, and glass, it did provide an illustration of the lavish grace God pours out on the unlikeliest of people.  Including me.

It was nearly 8 PM before we pulled into Amarillo.  We stayed with a Christian widow none of us had ever met before, and I felt bad that we arrived so late.  She had prepared dinner for us, and had waited to eat it with us.

But she proved to be incredibly gracious.  Her house felt like "home" within just minutes.  If you've seen the Christian film, "The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry", her house (and hospitality) reminded me a lot of Mr. Sperry.  Even down to serving us vanilla ice cream, which of course I had to sample!

She has a lot of roots in Amarillo, having lived in this house for 42 years, through raising three children and the death of her husband.  She told us how her father was converted as young parent, and how Jesus changed his life.  This legacy has now been passed on to her grandchildren.

"Mrs. Sperry's" neighborhood

Breakfast the next morning proved to be just as delicious, with eggs, hash browns, fruit, and bacon.  You can "sit in" on the conversation with this video:



Honestly, I don't think Jesus would have gotten better treatment in her home than we did.  It was a great lesson to me on the power of Christian hospitality.  And not the last I would get on this trip.