Drake woke up at 6:20 and climbed out of bed. He tiptoed to the door because he didn’t want to wake Dee up. She had been stressing over the rapture since yesterday, so he decided to let her rest. He went to Natua’s room to check on her. But she wasn’t in her bed. He then went downstairs and found the child in the family room with Joel watching Dora the Explorer.
Joel looked up with a sheepish grin on his face as Drake walked into the room. “Glad to see you. I was getting worried that you and Dee Dee had been raptured up and I’d been the one who was left behind.”
“Oh, so now you’ve got jokes,” Drake said, as he sat down with his father-in-law.
“I thought it was funny, but seriously, how is she doing?”
“She’s still asleep. I thought it best to let her get some rest.”
“You two seem to be getting along pretty well,” Joel noted, approvingly.
“Yeah well, it’s after six o’clock, so we’ll see if it lasts once she realizes that we are still here.”
“Where’s your faith, son?”
Drake knew that he shouldn’t be so worried about his relationship with Dee Dee. He had faith. Didn’t he trust that God’s word was true and that no man would be able to predict the time of His return. So, why was he so nervous about what his wife would do once she woke up and discovered that he was still here—still loving her and still needing her in his life. Would she reject his love, or would she finally see that he was the man for her? Drake hated that he was feeling the need to guard his heart again, but he could feel his wall against Dee Dee growing.
He couldn’t explain his feelings to his father-in-law so he changed the subject. “Hey, did I tell you about the progress I’m making with my new production company?”
“I wish you would let me invest in this venture of yours,” Joel protested.
Shaking his head, Drake told his father-in-law for what seemed like the hundredth time, “I will not be the cause of further friction between you and Dee Dee.”
“How can there be any friction, son? Your production company will be promoting the good news of Jesus Christ. I put my money behind projects like yours all the time, so what’s the difference?”
“The difference is that Dee Dee thinks you should back some of her films.”
“I have backed her films in the past. But I cannot support what Dee Dee wants to do now, and I will not put my money behind it.” He said those words forcefully, and then added, “The Lord has been good to me. It is because of His good graces that I am a wealthy man and that my children are blessed. So, I think it is only fitting that we give back. That’s why I asked my children to set up those charities. Can you understand that?”
“Yes, I do. I think God is smiling down on you and your children for the many lives that will be blessed because of your generosity.”
Joel smacked his knee as he sat up in his high-backed chair. “Then it’s settled. You’ll let me help you?”
“Not financially, but I do need your advice. You were in this business a long time. And I need your advice if I’m going to run my company the right way.”
“All right, shoot. What do you want to know?”
For the next hour, Drake picked his father-in-law's brain about set locations, set designs, how to find actors willing to do Christian projects and so on. Natua was engrossed in her cartoons, and the two of them were so enthralled in their discussion that they forgot all about Dee Dee sleeping the day away.
***
Dee Dee’s eyes flickered open with the knowledge that she was alone. She bolted upright in bed and scanned the room. She lifted the covers looking to see if Drake’s clothes were lying next to her, without him in them. But his clothes weren’t there either. She picked up her cell phone and looked at the time. It was 7:30.
“Oh my God, I slept through it,” she screamed, as she jumped out of bed and ran to Natua’s bedroom.
The child wasn’t in her bed either. Dee Dee covered her mouth and put her hand over her heart as she backed out of the room. She went into Drake’s room to see if he and Natua were in there, but that room was empty also.
“I’m too late. I’ve missed them. Oh God, what have I done?” she chastised herself for being too stupid and stubborn to accept Christ into her life when she had the chance. She ran downstairs toward her father’s room. When she reached his door, she knocked. No answer.
She checked the knob. The door was unlocked, so she opened it and went inside. Her shoulders slumped and the tears flowed as she realized that she was, indeed, alone. She trudged her way to the family room to turn on the news station so she could see what they had to say about the devastation that had just occurred in her life. As she got closer to the family room, Dee Dee began hearing chatter. Had her father left the television on? As she kept walking, she realized that Drake and her father were talking about Drake’s Christian production company.
She’d never given Drake’s idea much thought before, but the sound of his voice was like such sweet music to her right now, that she could do nothing more than stand there and listen. As Drake and Joel continued to throw ideas around, Dee Dee realized that the production company would be no different from what she was used to working with— well, except for the fact that Drake would be promoting the Gospel. Her husband had real vision, and she admired that.
Wiping the tears from her face, Dee Dee tried to compose herself as best she could before joining them in the family room. As she stepped into the room, Drake stopped talking. His eyes had been energetic and glowing as he discussed his business venture with her father, but as he turned to her, Dee Dee noticed that his eyes lost a bit of the glow. She was confused by that, especially since they had been getting along this weekend, but she’d address that later. Right now she wanted to give Drake and her father a tongue-lashing for allowing her to sleep so long.
“Why didn’t you wake me?” she asked Drake.
“You were tired. I figured you needed your rest.”
“But you knew I would be worried when I woke up and couldn’t find you. I’ve been running around this house like a crazy woman, thinking that I was all alone.”
“We told you not to believe that man’s prediction,” Joel reminded her.
Dee Dee turned to her father and said, “But since I was a child, you taught me to believe in the rapture. I just don’t understand how you and Drake weren’t at least a little concerned.”
Joel grabbed his Bible off of the coffee table and flipped through the pages. When he found what he was looking for, he said, “Sit down next to your husband and read these passages in Matthew, chapter 24:36-44.
Dee Dee grabbed the Bible, sat down next to Drake and began reading aloud:
“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark. And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the son of man be.
Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doeth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the son of man cometh.”
Dee Dee closed the Bible and then sat it back down on the coffee table. She turned to Drake. “So is this why you weren’t worried?”
He nodded. “I tried to tell you that the Bible tells believers that no man would know the day of the Lord’s return, but the Bible also tells us to be ready, because He will come in a time that we don’t expect.”
She lowered her head and put her hands in her lap, as she said, “When I woke up and thought that you all were gone, I worried that I’d missed my chance to be ready for God.” She let out a small, bitter laugh as she lifted her eyes toward her father. “The funny thing is, I never thought I wanted anything to do with God. But now, I’m not so sure.”
“Sweetheart, I’m thrilled to hear you say this. If it took a man and his false prophecy to get you to see that you really do need God, then this was a worthy experience,” Joel said.
She grinned sheepishly and then said, “Well, now that I know I have time, I’d like to think about this a little more.”
Natua came over and sat on Dee Dee’s lap. “Mommy, I want to watch Dora. Change the channel.”
“Dora’s not on right now, honey. But don’t worry, God willing, you’ll have many more years to watch your favorite show,” Dee Dee said, and in her voice, was the sound of renewed hope.