In my previous post I mentioned that we are going to more classes & trainings as a part of our foster-to-adopt program. On Tuesday morning, we both attend a First Aid training class; it was a video-driven presentation created by the American Heart Association. The videos included many "real-life" situations of people getting in accidents or having problems and bystanders/co-workers calmly saying, "I am trained in First Aid... may I help you?" and helping them in appropriate ways. The most commonly used lines seemed to be, "You! Go call 9-1-1." and "You! Go get me the first aid kit!"
We took the class was so we could get our certification cards and be one step closer to being parents. Anyway, we THOUGHT that was the reason.
On Tuesday afternoon, David was visiting with a former student of his at the college. When this student took his class several years ago, he was a healthy, able-bodied guy. Now, he is wheelchair-bound. David spent a few moments visiting him and learned about the injury that created this new reality. It was a very rainy day, and after speaking with the student for several minutes, David continued on to another task while the student appeared to be waiting for a ride, or for the weather to let up. After he walked away, it occurred to David that the student might need an umbrella or an escort through the rain, so he headed back toward where the student had been to offer one or both... and he was already gone. It had been such a short time since their talk, David was sure he couldn't have gone far. He looked out the glass doors & didn't see the student, so he hoisted his jacket over his head and stepped out into the rain to look around the corner and see if he'd gone another direction.
David was surprised to see that the student was lying on the ground, having fallen out of his wheelchair. David hurried over to help him, and another student (a young lady) also came over to help. David found another guy to help him lift the student back into his wheelchair while the young woman stayed with the fallen student. The student insisted that he was fine and that there was no need to call 9-1-1, so David pushed the wheelchair and escorted the young man to the student center. Evidently, the student had been on his way there and had dropped his backpack in the rain. While leaning over to retrive it, he fell out of the chair and was unable to get back up, until David and the others arrived to help.
Today is Wednesday. TODAY David was buying his lunch in the student center and on his way to check-out he heard a man say "I need help!" David went over and found that one of his female colleagues had fainted and was unresponsive for a few moments. Others were wondering aloud if they should call 9-1-1, and David spotted one of his students and told her to call 9-1-1, which she did. He also helped support the woman as she sat on the floor, and someone brought a cold cloth to put on her head. The groggy colleague was accompanied by her husband (who had initially called out for help), and he mentioned that his wife had given blood for the first time just a few minutes before; that was probably a contributing factor to her passing out like that. David remembered feeling woozy when he had given blood in the past; someone brought some orange juice for the lady to drink, and David helped her off the floor and into a chair. He also called the colleague's boss to let her know what had happened. He waited with the couple until the paramedics arrived; they recommended that she go home to rest, so David sat with her while her husband got their vehicle, then he helped walk her to the car. He mentioned to them that he'd just attended a first aid class the day before... David told me at home that he felt like he was in one of the AHA videos. He eventually DID get to eat his cold lunch.
We thought the reason we took the first aid class was so we could get our certification cards and get one step closer to being parents. God knew that people would need David's help this week, and that he needed some preparation to help them. HE knew the real reason we got trained this week.
He knows the reason for everything in our lives. He really does.
He is so incredibly faithful. We can only stand amazed and humbled.
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