The Struggle to Believe

NOTE: This is Part 2 of a true story about Ben & Kathy and their journey to Christ. If you haven't read Part 1, Listening-In On The Home Team Huddle, you can do so by clicking here.

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The sun was just starting to set as we pulled up to Ben & Kathy’s house. It had been a long drive across the western plains. The kids were tired and we had to get right back on the road the next morning, but tonight was going to be a special time with old friends.

After completing their tour of duty in the U.S. Marine Corps, Ben & Kathy returned to Ben’s home town in rural Nebraska, population 300, and we arranged to spend the night with them on our long trek across the country.

It had been 5 years since we last saw them; 6 years since we first met at the seminar.

We kept in touch as best we could over the years – that is, as best one could while living in Japan during the days before the internet – and this was our first chance to really catch-up.

The last time we saw them, they were getting ready to board a plane for their next duty assignment and Kathy’s parting words to me were: “Sorry, Bill, I just don’t buy it!”

Listening-In On the Home Team Huddle

“Can we have a private word with you?”

“Sure, let’s go outside and talk.” I replied, as I folded up the easel and gathered my materials.

Week 3, of my 12-week seminar, had just come to a close and I was feeling pretty good about things. The discussion was lively and most of the 30 or so participants seemed to be enthusiastically tracking with what I was presenting.

Most everyone, that is, except for one couple – Ben & Kathy – who had not uttered a single word the entire three weeks.

Since this was a public seminar offered by the Chapel at a U.S. Marine Corps Base, you never quite knew who would show up. Often, at an event like this, the participants themselves were meeting each other for the first time, and it was only natural to assume that some people would feel awkward opening up in a new group.

“No doubt that was the case with this couple – they’re just shy! Yes, that could be it,” I thought to myself as I closed my briefcase, “but you don’t ask to speak to someone privately just because you’re shy! I’ll bet they’re having a problem with the material I’m covering and want to give me a piece of their mind......ugh! But what could it be?”