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In March 1968, Barbara and Bill's second oldest son, Steve, joined the Marines and headed to Vietnam. At the end of July, Steve's entire company of 65 men were killed.

But not before Steve had read a loving letter from his mother that had arrived that morning. Barbara assured him that "he was safe with Jesus" no matter what happened. The letter came back with Steve's body—a message written to comfort a soldier in combat comforted the family, too.

As Barbara said good-bye to Steve, she felt that with "one deposit in heaven," life had to get better.

Then Tim, the Johnsons' oldest son, completed his training at the Los Angeles Police Academy in 1973, but decided to spend the summer working in Alaska with two friends before beginning his career in law enforcement.

A couple of weeks into the adventure, the trio hadn't found steady work, and they were ready to turn around. Stopping at a gas station in Anchorage, the Californians, crammed in a blue Volkswagen, met a caring Christian who ran the station. Ted McReynolds sensed their spiritual neediness and invited them to a home-cooked meal.

A one-time dinner invitation turned into a five-week stay. Tim and his friends, Ron and Al, couldn't resist the enthusiastic faith of the McReynolds family. They became involved in church. Tim and Ron recommitted their lives to Christ; Al gave his life to Christ for the first time.

The letters Tim wrote home reflected his transformed life. Barbara couldn't wait to see the glow on his face.

After two months, Tim and Ron decided to pack it up. Tim phoned Barbara on August 1 from the Yukon Territory to say how real God was in his life; he had so much to tell her when he got home.

They never made it. Five hours after Tim's phone call, a drunken driver veered into their lane, killing both of them instantly. In the same morgue where she identified Steve exactly five years before (a morgue that handled bodies of people who died outside the United States), Barbara cried for her first-born son.

The grieving mother angrily asked God why. But at the funeral, Tim's evangelistic zeal emerged in stories of those he had touched. His commitment had made a difference.

With two sons gone, what more could happen?

The day before Father's Day in 1975, Barbara was heading to the airport to pick up her sister Janet and brother-in-law Mel for a family get-together. Halfway out the door, she heard the phone rang. A friend of Barbara and Bill's 20-year-old son Larry wanted to borrow a book.

Barbara scanned the bookcase in Larry's room, then opened a drawer in Larry's desk. The book lay on a stack of magazines. Barbara caught a glimpse of some pictures and magazine covers, nearly getting sick on the spot. Larry's drawer was full of homosexual-related material.

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