Prepared?
By Steven Scheid
In an emergency, we look for the “right response”.
I was nine-years-old when I was unprepared with the right response.
That moment changed my life.
I liked to clock myself running the mile home. I would often pass kindergarteners who were let out of school five minutes earlier. One day I ran past a child on a crosswalk. He dropped something in the road and ran back out to get it.
He was hit by an SUV.
Immediately his aunt, who was walking toward him, screamed. I turned to see her pulling him onto the sidewalk. She laid him down as his blood-covered her.
I stood frozen for what seemed like an eternity. It still does.
I finally ran home as fast as possible. When I arrived, I could not breathe enough to get the word “help” out. We finally called 9-1-1.
Help was already on the way.
That kindergartener I had run past day after day, died that day.
I vowed never to be unable to respond again. As soon as I was able, I took first-aid training.
I maintain that training.
What training have you received?
Do you have a plan in mind for emergencies?
If you are not prepared the moment of impact will hold you like a vise.
God has encapsulated what will be needed in Matthew 28:20. We think of it as the great commission. It really is more than just a call to serve but how to live.
Preparation, self-care, and other care:
“…obey all the commands I have given you.”
Confidence in God
“And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Stay in a relationship with God. Prepare your heart for challenges. Exercise your grasp on God’s hand so that your grip is strong when you need it most. Do the basics for self-care so that you can care for others.
Yours in service,
Steven Scheid, director of the Center for Scouting Ministries
General Commission on UM Men