Pearson - Thats a great question : what to say when your faith is challenged

A s we pulled around the corner onto Linwood Avenue, my wife, Annette, and I could hardly contain our excitement. The months of waiting were over and we were about to park the large yellow rental truck that contained all our earthly possessions in front of our very first housemodest though it was. Thankfully, it was early enough in the day that our clothing had not yet fused to the trucks deluxe vinyl seats, but we knew wed be plenty uncomfortable by the end of the day anyway because of all the lifting and hefting. But we didnt care. This was the beginning of a brand-new chapter in our lives.

I had just finished my grueling two-year masters degree program at Ohio State University that made the challenge of balancing the national budget seem like a simple Sunday afternoon task. Annette spent those two years working for an apartment management company whose ethical standards were only slightly higher than those of Hannibal Lecter from the movie The Silence of the Lambs . We went into the experience knowing that it would tax us to the max, but we figured we could hold our breaths for two years and make it through.

But all that was behind us now. We were moving from Columbus to its archrival city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I was to start my first job in my chosen field of health-care administration. Besides that, we were awaiting the arrival of our first child. And now we were about to join the ranks of weekend do-it-yourselfers. So the excitement meter in the Pearson family was at about 9.8!

We quickly settled into life in Ann Arbor, one of the truly great college towns in the country. Beyond the concerts, athletic events, special programs, and great restaurants, what we enjoyed the most was getting to know our neighbors and church friends in what was one of the first adult situations of our lives. We were no longer students, no longer transitioning from something. We were beginning a normal lifestyle in a great place to live.

We especially enjoyed becoming good friends with our next-door neighbors Steve and Jan Hamann, with whom we shared many interests. So we were disappointed a few years later when they announced that they would be moving to Chicago. Even though our friendship survives to this day, we knew then that things would inevitably change.

However, we were pleased to learn that the new family moving in was a young couple with a son, Tommy, who was almost exactly our son Andys age. The Browns were the quintessential Ann Arbor family: Bill worked in the information technology center at the university, and Susan worked in one of the professional departments at a local hospital. They were well-educated and friendly professionals riding the growth curve of their respective careers. Both were devoted to Tommy, their only child, and they made sure he had only the best resources, as well as a stimulating environment in which his emerging curiosity could flourish. The Browns encouraged anything that furthered creativity and imagination: visits to the local hands-on museum, dozens of educational books, imaginative play activities, and anything else a wonderful city like Ann Arbor could offer. Andy and Tommy spent many afternoons doing typical boy things, and it was great to have a built-in playmate so readily available.