Praying for Todd, Part 1

Josh Campbell's hair had begun to show more than a few strands of gray since he had been ordained into the ministry over two decades ago. In fact, after every haircut his wife, Leanna, observed that there was more gray than black. He had always been rather vain about his dark hair, he had to admit, but he rather liked the distinguished look that the gray hair provided.


He had started in the ministry when he was in his early 20's and back then his youthful looks were a hindrance to being taken seriously. He felt that most of the older folks in his congregation had difficulty seeing past his youth. But now that the gray had begun to take over the black in his hair, and he was no longer a “kid” but “fortysomething,” he believed that more folks accepted him as a mature and seasoned minister.

There were some folks, however, who didn't have respect for a minister no matter how much gray was in their hair, or how many candles were on their birthday cake. A new family had been present at Sunday's service, and today Josh had planned to stop by their home for a visit. Cindy had shown up at worship with her two sons: Billy, about 14 or 15, and Jake, about 8 or 9. It no longer surprised Josh when a woman showed up alone for worship. It was becoming more and more the norm, and not just at his church.

What Josh had discovered in his brief conversation with Cindy after worship was that she was married, but that her husband, Todd, wasn't much of a “church” person, as she put it. Again, that was not a surprise. What was a surprise was that her husband wasn't only not a “church” person, he wasn't a “preacher” person either.

Josh had unwittingly chosen to visit this family on a day when Todd was home from work. Todd was a construction worker and the rains the past several days had forced all of the workers to take some time off until things dried out. Todd was already unhappy to be off work and when Josh, a preacher, showed up at his door, he was even more unhappy.

Cindy very reluctantly invited Josh into their very modest home. It was a rental house with the usual marks of a low-income rental property. The carpet was thread-bare with the requisite stains where it had been anointed by a toddler bearing a cup with no lid, and a few burn spots where cigarette ashes had fallen on it. The drapes looked as if they had been there since the house was new, and had probably never been washed.

Todd fit in perfectly with his environment. He was a rough-looking sort with long dirty-blonde hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. His eyes were a dark brown that made his unsmiling face look even darker and more sinister.

Cindy introduced Josh. “Todd, this is Josh Campbell. He's the preacher from the church we visited last Sunday.” “Preacher, huh?” Todd said. “Don't know why in the world anyone would want to be a preacher. All that salvation stuff is just a bunch of crap.”

Josh immediately realized that he had walked into a hornet's nest. Rather than getting into an argument over religion and “salvation stuff” he chose to focus the conversation on lighter subjects like work, places lived, raising children, schools, etc. But no matter what the subject of the conversation Todd always had a derogatory comment; one that usually included a cutting remark about Cindy, his boss, or Billy and Jake. By the time Josh left it was very clear that Todd was a man who had experienced the worst life had to offer and as a result had become very bitter and angry. Sadly, his family were the first to feel the sting of his wrath.

A few days later Cindy stopped by the church office to see Josh and offer her apologies for the way that Todd had behaved and the things he had said. It was obvious that she was embarrassed by Todd's behavior, and explained that he is that way with everyone, even strangers. He had been known to insult complete strangers at the grocery store. Josh explained to her that he was not offended and that she didn't need to concern herself with apologizing for Todd. Instead they would pray for him, and hope that he would turn his life over to God. As they prayed together for Todd, Josh silently hoped that the change would come sooner rather than later.
(To be continued)