As I arrived at work this morning I saw Daniel leaving. He stopped and told me he was going to babysit his grandson for a couple of hours.
We both took a moment and marveled at that wonderful truth, because 4 years ago he wasn’t allowed to see this little guy. That’s when Daniel, 60 years old, arrived at Helping Up Mission. His daughter drove him here and dropped him off – after she was sure he could get in.
Old Daniel had managed to ruin his career, health and relationships – including with that daughter and her children – because of his love for alcohol. With nowhere else to go and no one willing to let him slowly kill himself at their house, our 12-month residential Spiritual Recovery Program seemed to be D’s last stop. And since he had no better options he decided to stay!
His children kept checking on him here and they were pretty amazed at what they were seeing. Daniel, now clean, looked, sounded and acted like someone they might enjoy being around. So after he had been here about 4 months they decided to invite him to one of their homes for a family gathering.
None of them have looked back since. Old D got his health back and even went back to work again. He sees family every week now – including his great grandson born last week!
Daniel is an example of how things can change in a guy’s life and then how everything around him can change, too! It only works…
One Day at a Time,
Pastor Gary Byers
Deputy Director