Opportunity Knocks

Connie interviews Tom Riley on Kids' Radio about the Timothy Center. Questions about a planned gymnasium and outdoor chapel force Tom to admit that both projects have been postponed. Several groups have canceled their visits, money is tight, and the center's future is less secure than he intended anyone to know. Connie's startled questions broadcast the financial trouble before Tom can stop her.

The transmission is repeatedly interrupted by test signals from an unfamiliar company called Novacom. Whit decides to investigate the illegal interference. Connie hopes her accidental announcement will inspire donations, but Tom does not want the Timothy Center treated as a charity. Even Bethany's offer of her savings embarrasses him, and he asks everyone to stop making the problem into a public crisis.

The shortage is real enough that Tom tries to repair his own car despite having little mechanical skill. Ben Shepard has already learned about the problem from Bethany and offers help. He and Ellen have begun praying, believing the dry spell may remind everyone that the center cannot survive by human effort alone. Connie agrees about prayer but insists that faith should lead to action.

News of another large cancellation convinces Tom to let Connie help. She begins planning a two-night fundraising celebration with volunteer speakers, musicians, donated food, and almost no operating expense. Ben agrees to lead worship. The Shepards also spread the prayer request, although Aubrey worries that prayer looks like doing nothing while the family's jobs and home seem threatened. Bethany creates increasingly impractical plans to conserve money.

At City Hall, Whit learns that Novacom has recently applied for a broadcasting license and purchased buildings throughout Odyssey, including the old Stellar Hotel for its headquarters. Dale Jacobs had tried to investigate, but the company that now owns the Odyssey Times told him to abandon the article. The scale and secrecy suggest that Novacom is much larger than a new local radio station.

Arthur Dent of Novacom approaches Whit and apologizes for the signal interference. He praises Kids' Radio and presents Novacom as a broad entertainment company involved in television, film, radio, satellites, and the Internet. Odyssey will serve as a test market for family and children's programs that may later reach national and international audiences. Dent even asks Whit to advise a program modeled on the Imagination Station.

Dent then shows Whit a map. Novacom wants to build a broadcast tower on an unused piece of land outside the city and will pay generously to buy or lease it. Whit recognizes the property as part of the Timothy Center. Dent knows Tom owns it before Whit mentions his name, explaining that company researchers have already examined the sites and owners.

Tom treats the offer as a remarkably quick answer to prayer. The land is overgrown and unused, the center urgently needs income, and Novacom is prepared to move immediately. Whit gives him Dent's card but warns that something about the man and company feels wrong. Tom agrees to meet Dent and judge for himself.

The meeting goes smoothly, and Tom accepts the arrangement. Construction begins almost at once. At the same time, Connie's fundraiser attracts about fifty volunteers before she has even advertised it widely, revealing strong community support that may raise more money than expected. Within days, a center that appeared unable to survive for long seems financially secure.

Whit remains uneasy when he notices a fence surrounding the new tower, a detail Tom does not remember in the agreement. Tom found Dent pleasant, and every practical fact supported the decision. Since he had prayed and the opportunity arrived at the perfect moment, he asks whether that is not how God answers.

Whit cannot claim to know exactly how God works, and he admits that he might have made the same choice. The agreement is finished, so endlessly second-guessing it will accomplish nothing. Tom can only watch, continue praying, and trust God to work even if the decision proves mistaken. Yet both men know mistakes still have consequences, and Whit sincerely hopes his uneasiness is wrong.