Adventures in Odyssey

Focus on the Family: And now, Adventures in Odyssey.

Whit: Whitonia is as fantastic as ever, Renee.

Whit: You have created a beautiful setting.

Renee: Thank you, Mr. Whittaker, but it is not the world I want you to see. It is the Whitonians themselves.

Renee: Like this two.

Whit: Well, they seem very peaceful.

Renee: Oh, they are that all right.

Malabatoos: I desire refreshment.

Malabatoos: Mm.

Whit: Oh, that is an interesting touch. Fruit just appears on the trees when they want it.

Renee: Aye, aye, but that is not what I want you to see.

Malabatoos: This froto is fulfilling.

Whit: Did you modify their language parameters?

Renee: I expanded their capabilities. I wanted to see how they developed it themselves.

Renee: I wanted to see how they developed it themselves.

Kiria: My shelter is in need of repair.

Whit: And buildings build themselves.

Renee: Yes, yes, but that is not it either. Watch.

Whit: Renee, is something supposed to be happening here?

Renee: I, and that is the problem. Nothing is happening. Nothing ever happens.

Renee: The Whitonians do not do anything. They have not built a community.

Renee: They do not work together or help each other. In fact, they do not work at all. They are not advancing.

Whit: Well, why would you expect them to?

Renee: Well, because I gave them desire and intelligence. Everything they need to thrive.

Renee: But instead of growing, they just sit and eat.

Renee: I built paradise for them, and they are wasting it.

Whit: Well, Whitonia is your idea of paradise?

Renee: I have supplied all their basic needs. They did not need to worry about anything.

Renee: They have everything they need to survive, but survive is all they do, all they want to do. Nothing more.

Renee: Oh, what am I missing?

Whit: Well, if that is your goal for them, then it sounds like you have given them everything they need to achieve it, except the most important thing.

Renee: And that is?

Whit: Purpose, meaning, goals, a reason to thrive.

Whit: You have made things too easy for them.

Renee: I just wanted to take away all of the petty distractions of being alive so they could concentrate on accomplishing greater things.

Whit: Well, work is not a petty distraction, Renee. Adam had to work in the Garden of Eden even before the fall. We were made to work for our wants and needs.

Renee: All right, the Whitonians need purpose. Good.

Renee: Anything else?

Whit: Hardship, obstacles to overcome, risk of failure, and rules.

Whit: It will make them better and stronger.

Renee: All right, Mr. Whittaker. Let us get to it.

Whit: Wait, let us, as in let us, as in me?

Renee: I, I need your help. Oh please.

Whit: All right. Let us get to it.

Whit: Another refill, Darcy?

Darcy: No thanks, Mr. Whittaker. Is Renee coming today?

Whit: Well, she is supposed to. She called and said she is running late.

Whit: So, I hope she has not caught the Connie bug.

Darcy: The Connie bug?

Whit: She tends to run late too.

Darcy: Oh. It is just that I have not seen her all week long.

Whit: Yeah, well, she has been pretty busy lately.

Darcy: I wanted to show her my new bike.

Whit: Oh, well, I think you are about to get your chance.

Renee: Oh, I am so sorry I am late, Mr. Whittaker.

Whit: No worries.

Darcy: Hi, Renee.

Renee: Oh, hello, hen. Oh, it is so good to see you. Hey, I spied a shiny new bike in the rack out front as I came in. Is that the one you were talking about?

Darcy: Yep. I have been trying to get used to it. It is a little bigger than my old bike.

Renee: It is beautiful. I love the color.

Darcy: Sky blue.

Renee: And a shiny bell on the handlebars too. Hey, why are we standing around? Let us go out to the park and you can show me how fast you can ride.

Darcy: Oh, I cannot. My parents are expecting me home in a few minutes.

Renee: Oh, dear. I am sorry I have not been around for you this week.

Renee: Look, next week should lighten up and I promise we will spend as much time together then as we possibly can. Deal?

Darcy: Deal.

Darcy: Bye, Renee. Bye, Mr. Whittaker.

Whit: Bye, Darcy.

Renee: Oh, be sure to put on your helmet.

Darcy: I will.

Renee: Such a sweetie. I really hate letting her down like that.

Whit: Are you all right, Renee?

Renee: I, I am just a bit frazzled. School is driving me batty.

Whit: Why?

Renee: I got an email that one of the classes I need for my degree has been canceled for next semester.

Renee: And they will not offer it again for another year. Just canceled.

Whit: Yeah, I recall when I was in graduate school, there was one course I really wanted to.

Whit: What was that? Sounded like a scream.

Renee: Darcy?

Renee: She has been hit by a car.

Whit: It is taking off.

Whit: Call 911.

Whit: Renee, call 911 now.

Renee: I do not understand what is taking so long.

Renee: It cannot be good.

Renee: I just keep thinking of how she looked when they put her in the ambulance.

Whit: Yeah, yeah, I know.

Renee: And who are all these people?

Whit: Well, they are from the Odyssey Community Church. They came to pray for Darcy.

Renee: Of course they did. Do they even know who she is?

Whit: I am sure they do. Pastor Knox certainly does.

Renee: Pastor Knox was here already. Is not that enough?

Whit: Enough what?

Renee: Never mind.

Whit: Renee, I know you are upset. We all are, but we need to.

Renee: No, do not tell me we need to have faith, Mr. Whittaker. I really do not want to hear that right now.

Whit: I was going to say that we need to wait and see what the doctor says.

Renee: Oh.

Shelly: Whit, Renee.

Renee: Shelly.

Shelly: Mrs. Plasky.

Shelly: Everyone, thank you for coming.

Whit: How is Darcy?

Shelly: Stable.

Shelly: She has a broken arm and a fractured leg along with lots of scrapes and bruises and and a severe concussion.

Renee: Oh, thank God she was wearing a helmet.

Renee: Can I see her?

Shelly: She has not woken up yet and only family is allowed in right now. She is in the ICU.

Shelly: This would happen while Howard is out of town.

Renee: Oh, I am so, so sorry, Mrs. Plasky.

Shelly: Thank you.

Shelly: And I especially want to thank you and Whit for keeping cool and staying with Darcy.

Renee: Well, it was Mr. Whittaker who kept his cool.

Whit: Is there anything we can do for you, Shelly?

Shelly: Keep praying, please.

Shelly: Darcy is in God's hands.

Shelly: Oh, I need to get back. Excuse me.

Renee: Oh, I feel so helpless.

Whit: Do you want a coffee?

Renee: No.

Whit: Sure. I mean, we have been here for hours.

Detective Polehaus: Whit, Renee, you have a minute?

Whit: Of course, Detective Polehaus. How can we help you?

Detective Polehaus: You two were the first on the scene when Darcy got hit. Can you tell me anything about the driver?

Whit: Well, actually, I think Renee saw more than I did.

Renee: Oh, I could not see the driver. I was too far away and the car's windows were tinted.

Detective Polehaus: Tinted windows. Yeah, did you get a look at the license plate?

Renee: No, no.

Detective Polehaus: How about the car itself? What can you tell me about it? Make, model, color?

Renee: It was a dull silver gray. I do not know the make and model, but it was a four-door. It looked newer, but oh, I cannot be sure.

Detective Polehaus: Anything else you can remember?

Renee: No, I am so sorry. I was focusing more on Darcy.

Detective Polehaus: Well, how about you, Whit? Can you add anything?

Whit: Nothing more than what Renee has said, I am afraid.

Detective Polehaus: Hmm.

Whit: Do you have any idea who did this, Don?

Detective Polehaus: We have had several reports of a car matching that description getting into some close calls all over town.

Detective Polehaus: This is the first time anyone has been hit though. We think it may be an impaired driver.

Renee: Impaired? Do you mean drunk?

Detective Polehaus: Yeah, it looks that way. If either of you can think of anything else that might be helpful, please let me know.

Whit: We will.

Renee: I, of course.

Detective Polehaus: Thanks. Everyone at the station is praying for Darcy.

Renee: For all the good it will do.

Whit: Prayer is the most powerful tool we have. It will do a lot of good.

Renee: That is what they said when I was a kid and my dog Kogito died. Prayer did nothing for him, nor is it going to do anything for Darcy.

Renee: All these people have been praying for her and she is still will not wake up, Mr. Whittaker. So where is your God now?

Whit: He is not just my God.

Renee: Oh, I forgot. He is everybody's God. All-powerful and all-knowing.

Renee: Well, where was everybody's God this afternoon when Darcy was hit? Asleep?

Renee: Or maybe he just did not care. Is that it?

Whit: Of course he cares.

Renee: Then why would he let something like this happen? Darcy did not deserve this, did she?

Whit: No, she did not.

Renee: And you think God could have prevented it, right?

Whit: Yes, yes, I do.

Renee: Then why did not he? You keep saying he is all good. So how could a good God allow this?

Whit: I do not know, Renee.

Renee: Well, I have a few ideas about it. Like maybe he is not so good. Or maybe he just does not exist at all.

Whit: Ah, it has been a long day. We should go.

Renee: I apologize for being so emotional, Mr. Whittaker. You know I am not normally like this.

Whit: No, no, no, no need to apologize. We are all on edge.

Whit: We will know more tomorrow.

Whit: Come on.

Renee: I am going to walk if that is all right. I need some fresh air.

Renee: I will see you at Whit's End in the morning.

Whit: Okay.

Whit: Two steps forward, three steps back. Darcy is not the only one who needs prayer.

Whit: Morning, Renee.

Renee: Any word on Darcy?

Whit: I talked to Shelly a little while ago. No change.

Whit: Darcy is still stable, but she has not woken up yet.

Renee: This is so frustrating.

Whit: Well, perhaps staying busy will take your mind off it. It always helps me calm down in times of stress.

Renee: I thought praying did that.

Whit: It does. I am doing that too.

Renee: Well, the work part sounds good. I need to check on my Whitonia experiment. It has been running all on its own for the past couple of days.

Whit: All right. Well, I am interested to see how that has turned out myself. May I join you?

Renee: I. Let us go.

Whit: Wow!

Renee: Look at this place. It is so different.

Whit: Is that a bad thing or a good thing?

Renee: A little of both, I think. There are a lot of structures now.

Whit: Well, you wanted them to build a community.

Renee: I, but there is a lot less jungle and vegetation.

Whit: Looks like a flood came through here.

Renee: Well, weather events were part of my new programming.

Whit: Oh, what was that? Sounded like someone in pain.

Renee: Oh, it is him, the one from before.

Whit: Oh my.

Renee: He is so thin and emaciated. Looks like he is starving.

Kiria: Malabatoos.

Malabatoos: I am here, Kiria.

Kiria: I am bringing you froto.

Malabatoos: It is past time. I am dying from emptiness.

Kiria: You are not. You exaggerate.

Malabatoos: Mmm.

Malabatoos: Oh.

Kiria: Rudeness. I see your lesions are mending.

Malabatoos: They still hurt greatly.

Kiria: You would not have them if you had left when the great waters came.

Whit: Ah, so there was a flood.

Renee: And apparently he decided to stay.

Kiria: The creator punished you for your stubbornness.

Renee: No, no, no, no, that is not it at all. I was not punishing anyone.

Malabatoos: I have not gone against the creator, but my trees stopped bearing froto, and many were washed away. My earth was destroyed. Why? I did nothing. Now I am empty and hurt.

Kiria: You will not be empty if you seed the earth as we do.

Renee: Seed the earth?

Whit: I think the Whitonians have taken up farming.

Kiria: Seed the earth, produce much froto and other fair when we seed it.

Malabatoos: I do not want to seed the earth. Why did the creator make things different?

Malabatoos: We were smiling before. Now we smile never.

Kiria: You exaggerate. We smile much during seeding and collecting.

Kiria: Seeding makes us powerful. It makes living joyful.

Malabatoos: Joyful for Kiria, not joyful for Malabatoos.

Malabatoos: My earth is gone. Seeding is beyond possible.

Kiria: Not beyond possible. Hard? Yes.

Kiria: Much tilling is needed, but very possible.

Kiria: Maybe that is why the creator erased your earth to make you strong, to make you great.

Renee: She is right. Listen to her.

Malabatoos: Or the creator just wants to do harm to me. Maybe the creator likes hurting Whitonians.

Kiria: No. The creator is not that way. The creator wants much joy and smiles for us.

Malabatoos: Then maybe the creator is not good. Maybe the creator is bad.

Kiria: Bad? No, bad. The creator is good.

Malabatoos: Not for me.

Kiria: Malabatoos.

Malabatoos: Go away, Kiria. Leave me alone.

Renee: All I wanted to do was make my creations better and now some of them think I am evil, or that I do not even exist?

Renee: I need to tell them. I will turn off stealth mode and explain.

Whit: You sure you want to do that?

Renee: You do not think I should?

Whit: Well, it could undermine the very thing you are trying to accomplish.

Renee: But it would make Malabatoos believe in me.

Whit: Would it be better if he came to that realization on his own? You gave him the ability to choose.

Renee: And he is making the wrong choice.

Whit: With choice, that is always a possibility.

Renee: You knew this would happen, did not you?

Whit: I had an inkling.

Renee: How do you always know?

Whit: I do not always know, but in this case, it was because you agreed that Whitonia should be like real life.

Whit: And this is what happens in real life.

Renee: It is not real life though. It is virtual life programming.

Whit: Yeah, but the Whitonians, as you have created them, do not understand that it is just programming.

Whit: For some of them, their world is falling apart. And for no good reason. Just a lot of random badness.

Renee: But there is a reason. It is not just random. And if Malabatoos works hard and waits long enough, he will see it. Just like Kiria did.

Whit: Well, maybe, but not everybody does in real life.

Renee: Touche.

Whit: The thing is, you cannot tell if a system is random from inside the system.

Renee: What do you mean?

Whit: Well, I have seen entomologists take whole colonies of ants and transport them to the lab where they are studied and released back into a place much better for them.

Whit: But when the ants are being moved, they may think it is a completely random act.

Whit: They are not capable of understanding that it is not a random act at all, but a purposeful act by a superior intellect.

Renee: I see where this is going. It is the same with me and the Whitonians.

Whit: With us and God. God is not in our system, but he is in control of it in ways that we cannot see.

Whit: Even when the things that happen around and to us seem completely random. God has a greater purpose.

Whit: He is the ultimate good and we need to trust that everything that happens is for his glory as the ultimate good.

Whit: And is also for our ultimate good. Even if we never see that good in this life.

Renee: End program.

Renee: Maybe that is true for ants and a computer adventure, Mr. Whittaker.

Renee: And maybe even for events in real life, but I cannot believe there is some ultimate good in a little girl getting hit by a car.

Renee: If there is a God and he is in control, then that seems a cruel and unnecessary way to achieve his purpose.

Renee: Excuse me.

Darcy: Thank you for coming to see me.

Renee: Oh, of course, hen. When your mom called and said you were awake and back to your bubbly old self, we could not get over here fast enough.

Shelly: You practically got here before I hung up the phone.

Whit: How are you feeling, Darcy?

Darcy: Sore, but okay. And a little embarrassed. I should have been watching better.

Renee: No, no, no, no. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. It is the one that hit you who should be embarrassed.

Whit: You just concentrate on getting better.

Darcy: I will. The doctor thinks I might go home tomorrow, right, Mom?

Shelly: Yes, sweetheart.

Whit: Oh, that is wonderful.

Detective Polehaus: Morning, everyone.

Renee: Detective.

Whit: Don. So, what brings you here, Don?

Detective Polehaus: Well, I heard Darcy was awake. Glad to see you back with us, sweetheart.

Darcy: Thank you.

Detective Polehaus: Pastor Knox told me that you were awake and chipper.

Whit: You were at the church?

Detective Polehaus: Yeah, picking up a perp. One who wants to visit you, Darcy.

Darcy: Me? Who is it?

Detective Polehaus: Bring him in.

Detective Polehaus: Come on.

Guest (Male): Thanks, Burke.

Brooks Foster: Hello.

Renee: Who are you?

Brooks Foster: My name is Brooks Foster. I am the one who who hit Darcy.

Renee: What?

Detective Polehaus: He turned himself in.

Whit: At the church?

Brooks Foster: Yes, I sold my car yesterday and I wanted to give the money to the church. I also told the pastor I wanted to turn myself over to the police.

Detective Polehaus: Pastor Knox called me and we picked him up.

Shelly: I do not understand. Why are you here?

Brooks Foster: The pastor told me Darcy was awake and I, I wanted to come see her.

Detective Polehaus: He insisted on it, actually. And since the hospital is on the way to the station, I agreed.

Brooks Foster: I needed to come.

Whit: Let us go out in the hall, Renee. We can.

Brooks Foster: No, wait, wait, wait. You were the folks who who helped Darcy, right?

Renee: That is right. Someone had to, since you drove away, you drunken coward.

Whit: Renee.

Renee: What kind of a man are you that you would leave an injured child?

Whit: Renee, that is enough.

Brooks Foster: No, no, she is, she is right. I am a drunken coward.

Brooks Foster: Thank you for staying with her when I did not.

Brooks Foster: I am so, so sorry, Darcy. And to you, Mrs. Plasky.

Brooks Foster: I have always had a problem with alcohol ever since I was a teenager and but it never kept me from driving, I am ashamed to say.

Brooks Foster: When I was a kid, I thought it was fun. And then later I I thought it was all right because though I had had some close calls, I never hit anyone.

Brooks Foster: Until you, Darcy. It made me realize I needed to confess and be punished for what I did. And for what it is worth, I want you to know I am never going to drive again. I promise.

Brooks Foster: I do not even want to drive no more. And I promise I must stop drinking too.

Brooks Foster: I know that does not make up for hitting you, but a drunk driver is off the road today and and for good.

Brooks Foster: I just hope that someday you can forgive me.

Darcy: I do not want to wait for someday. I forgive you now, Mr. Foster.

Brooks Foster: You do?

Darcy: Sure. Just make sure you keep your promises.

Brooks Foster: I will. I will, Darcy, thank you. Thank you.

Detective Polehaus: All right, Brooks. You said your piece. Let us go.

Whit: Well done, Darcy.

Shelly: That is my girl.

Darcy: Renee, are you okay? You look strange.

Renee: I just awestruck at what an amazing last year.

Darcy: I am not amazing.

Renee: Oh, but you are. I cannot believe you actually forgave that man, and after what he did to you.

Darcy: Why would you do that?

Darcy: Well, he asked me to and Jesus said I should. And even though what he did was bad, it all ended up being good.

Darcy: Cause he is not going to do this to anyone ever again. Jesus used something bad to make something good happen. He always does that, right, Mommy?

Shelly: Yes, he does, sweetheart.

Whit: Even if we never see it.

Renee: Even if.

Darcy: What is in the cooler, Mr. Whittaker?

Whit: A very good thing we can see. Raspberry ripple and chocolate sauce.

Darcy: My favorite!

Renee: For breakfast?

Whit: No better time.

Renee: It is the breakfast of champions.

Whit: Here, here.

Renee: Oh, thank you.

Focus on the Family: I am so glad that Darcy is okay and back to her bubbly self. She is really turning out to be a good example for Renee. The maturity of Darcy's faith is making Renee evaluate her own thoughts about God and how he works through even the darkest moments in our lives.

Focus on the Family: Psalm 146 says, "Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose help is in the Lord his God, the maker of heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them. The Lord who remains faithful forever."

Focus on the Family: It is so encouraging to be reminded that even when things seem random and do not make sense, God is good and we can trust him.

Focus on the Family: Adventures in Odyssey is a presentation of Focus on the Family. "Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back" was written and directed by Phil Lawler, with sound design by Nathan Jones and music by John Campbell. Our executive producer was Dave Arnold. Our cast included Mia Lin Bengunnan, Amy Davidson, Katie Lee, Jason Jay Lewis, Phil Procter, Andre Stoica, and Caitlyn Thorburn. And I am Chris, hoping you will join us again next time for more Adventures in Odyssey.