Derrick Crane, 46, is a wealthy financial expert who begins to experience serious reversals when the economy hits his clients hard. They begin to sell more than buy and Derrick soon finds himself out of work. Derrick is a heavy drinker and hits the bottle even more frequently when he not only loses his job but his marriage to Nichol goes south.

He soon winds up homeless and with the very people he used to ignore and mock. His next stop is at a mission and it is here that, surprisingly to him, his life begins to change for the better. In fact, despite first thinking that reading the Bible is “crazy” he begins to seek God and has an encounter with Christ which radically changes his life. Ultimately he and Nichol cross paths again and she sees a different man. Derrick is soon given another great work opportunity but he learns that his old life is not what he wants any more.

This is a powerful and compelling story and I found the character of Derrick to be fully fleshed out and that he is a complex and interesting character who does an about-face. His character in the end of the story is much different than the one we see in the beginning. We are pleased to award the manuscript our Dove “Family-Approved” Seal for ages 12 and over. Despite several drinking scenes, we see the change in Derrick’s life by his turnaround in the story’s ending. In fact, he wants to, as he says, “put some heaven in this place.” This fantastic script features themes of the downfalls of materialism, the potential for change, and the need to remember that when we see the homeless and down and out, that “there but for the grace of God go I.”