Jim's words stung Sam like a swarm of mad hornets. " Sarah's been dead for eight months now. For crying out loud, Sam, get a grip! It's time for you to snap out of it before you get one of us killed. You have to get over it and get your mind back on your work." Forced to take time off from his successful construction business to recover from his wife, Sarah's death, Sam encountered six foster kids in a remote desert oasis that gives him a whole new awareness of the struggles and challenges of unwanted kids. This is especially true with a seven year old philosopher and theologian named Aaron, who thinks that a person should pray with their eyes open so that God can see what you're thinking. Sam's confrontation with a drug addict and kidnapped teenager results in him winding up being badly beaten and left for dead in a deserted, rat infested barn. Only his rage over his unseen assailant and his desire to not become rat food energized him to escape and go after the one who assaulted him. Sam took a trip to find some kind of healing for his grief. In the end he finds not only the healing, but also discovers that a kidnapped and abandoned teenage boy worked a miracle of change in his life.