Sokol, whose mother's home in New Orleans was destroyed by Katrina, was used to obstacles. Throughout his short tenure in a large church, he often stood face-to-face with a host of hardships that became his burden, silently eroding belief. There were deaths, suicides. A friend — a single mom, not even 40 years old, with two young daughters — was diagnosed with terminal cancer. When he prayed for them, he wondered: "Is there really this good and loving God when this mom and her two daughters are suffering like this?"