Puck smiled at Coo. She was taken by that smile. They married soon after. At first married life seemed good, but after their second son was born, life began to unravel.

Puck was good at selling drugs because of his smile. He needed to sell the drugs to finance his own drug habit. Coo did not want him to use or sell drugs and feared what might happen. When Puck’s smile and words could not smooth out the conflict with his wife, he resorted to blows. These became more frequent as the pressure and the danger of selling drugs increased. Finally, Coo had had enough. She filed for divorce and left with her two sons. She kept her location secret so that Puck could not find her. She was relieved to hear that he had been arrested and put into prison.

Coo needed work to provide for herself and her sons. She found work with a missionary family, and after spending time listening to and watching them, she embraced their faith. Coo enjoyed the love, the kindness, and the encouragement she experienced in the church. But there was pain and anxiety in her heart about Puck. How could she forgive him? What if he got out of prison and found them? Could she pray for him, and what if God answered those prayers?

Prison was hard for Puck. But losing his family was harder. Puck was put into a rehabilitation program with a chance of getting out, but he despaired, as he had no family to return to. When Puck received the final divorce papers, he tried, but failed, to kill himself. He wrote to Coo, pleading for her to reconsider. Coo was not ready to get back together with him, but she encouraged him to turn to the Lord Jesus.

Puck found a Gideon’s New Testament in prison. When he tried to read it, the stories and ideas were hard for him to understand. One day a group of Thai Christians came to the prison, and he was allowed to talk with them. He started to correspond with them, and this helped him understand a bit more about Jesus. When Puck was released from prison rehab, he returned to his empty home. He thought about taking his life again. Instead, he prayed to Jesus, asking to be reunited with his family.

Shortly after praying, Puck started driving toward where he thought Coo was living. On the way, he had a terrible accident which destroyed his car, but miraculously left him alive. After this, he found another group of Christians, and they prayed with him about reuniting with his family. They also counseled him toward humility and patience.

Puck started to open his heart to deal honestly with his sins, his failures, his attitudes. He found a way to correspond with Coo. He humbly apologized, confessing his sins against Coo. In time, Coo saw a genuine change in Puck’s life. His smile was different. No longer a mask for his selfish intents, it was a smile of genuine concern for others. Puck and Coo were remarried and are serving the Lord with joy.