Dan sat by the fireplace going over his checklist, just to be sure he hadn't forgotten anything. It was almost 11:00 on December 31, 1999 and the most talked about day of the century was on the horizon.

Normally New Year's Eve would be a party night for Dan, but he was not taking any chances with traffic system computers failing. He had finally gotten his wife and kids to go to bed after several reassurances that everything would be O. K. in the morning.

After double-checking his list he felt very confident he was prepare for the worst, 100 gallons of water (check), month supply of food (check), 2 generators with 100 gallons of gas (check), 2 flashlights (check), batteries (check), $ 1,000 (check). Though he tried to stay up for the big moment, he was just exhausted and fell asleep in his chair.

All of a sudden a very loud horn started blaring startling Dan out of his sleep. Oh no, that must be the city's emergency sirens. Had Russia's nuclear missiles launched like many had feared. And the darkness was so thick, so even the city's lights must be on the blink. He reached his flashlight. Click, nothing. But he had just put the batteries in there minutes ago. Through the darkness and the piercing sound of the horn, he could hear crowds of people. Some seem to be celebrating and some seem to be crying for dear life.

As he felt his way to the window and looked up it finally hit him. It wasn't city's horn he was hearing, it was Gabriels', and there in the sky was the Lord, coming back for his children, just like He had promised. Dan could only watch and cry.

Through all of his preparing for the worst, he was not prepared for the Best.

WILL YOU BE READY WHEN THE TRUMPET SOUNDS?