Today I am Grateful for Billy
(name changed to protect his privacy)
Our Job Is to Love Others Without Stopping to Inquire
Whether or Not They Are Worthy. -Thomas Merton
In my life as a Franciscan I have the opportunity to work with and become friends with many of our homeless and marginalized people.
This last week Billy popped into my mind as I drove down the street, I was wondering why I had not seen him around in a while, where he was, and if he was doing okay.
The next day on my way home from the Keller Williams office in Appleton I popped into Franciscans Downtown to check on the schedule and meet with a few of the other volunteers to coordinate the events and schedules of December.
And before I could even say hello to Richard and one of the Sisters from Polonia that he was visiting with, I was stopped in my tracks when I saw Billy sitting at the first table along with a few other homeless friends.
I knew that this was going to need to be more than a short pop in.
Hugs and kindness were shared as Billy shared through slurred breath the news of his absence.
He had been in the Waupaca County jail for the last 45 days for stealing beer and had been released from jail at 2 am this morning, which is the standard procedure for releasing prisoners. Not sure if this is so that they will not run to a bar to get into trouble or if it is designed to torture them as they wander around in the cold until morning.
Either way he put in a rough night not knowing where to go for a bit of warmth and friendship.
At the end of our conversation I asked the others at the table to make sure that Billy was taken care of, fed and shown where the warming shelter was down at Frame Memorial.
Then I had to rush to speak with Richard about a few more matters before heading to the office for a few job interviews before starting my shift at the Warming Shelter.
Thursdays are generally slow days after working all night at the shelter, but I did get a few job interviews in along with some other work at the KW office, but no time for Franciscans this day.
Friday was a full morning in Appleton at the Keller Williams office where we were having a Gratitude Breakfast and visioning meeting.
Amazing people doing amazing things, so glad to be part of this group too.
After the meeting I made it back to Point in time to relieve Leo at Franciscans downtown. It was a good afternoon with plenty of folks stopping in, but no Billy today, hope he is okay.
I don’t generally work at Franciscans on Saturdays since this is an important day to handle real estate matters, but today we were having a planning meeting for our Third Order Franciscans group, so I scheduled the meeting to overlap part of the hours that Franciscans were open so that we could relieve Leo again.
Fortunately, our Franciscan group can handle things well without my help or leadership because it was not long before Billy showed up; he was not in good shape and he would be needing some attention.
An afternoon of sharing God’s love, hugs, tears, listening, apologies, forgiveness, compassion and caring ensued.
Though we normally close early on Saturdays, it was clear that I would be sticking around longer, much longer.
When Billy was ready to go I encouraged the other homeless friends who had been taking care of him to keep protecting him and make sure that he made it to the Salvation Army for dinner and then to the Warming Shelter that night.
Finally got Franciscans Downtown cleaned up and went home for some dinner and an hour of sleep before starting my shift at the Warming Shelter.
It was good to see Billy and the others show up feeling much better, and all were sober; always a nice thing to see.
Though Billy was still upset about losing his room and becoming homeless while in jail, he was happy to see how many people cared about him.
Hopefully this great network of volunteers in the various organizations around Stevens Point will continue to help Billy and the others to get back on their feet and carry on the mission that God gave us to care for His people.
This weekend I am seeing many Facebook proclamations about the many things that we are grateful for including family, health, a precious nephew who was undergoing liver transplant surgery during our Friday Gratitude Breakfast, and of course the amazing people at Keller Williams.
I echo all of these great things and am so grateful for all of them.
Also, this weekend I would like to add one more thing to be grateful for.
I am grateful for Billy and the others who offer us an opportunity to let someone who is feeling totally unloved know that they are very precious in Gods eyes, and that many of us do love them and care for them.
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