And who will go for us?’ And I said,
‘Here am I. Send me!’”
(Isaiah 6:8 NIV)
What is a Child Passenger Safety Technician? Three months
ago I didn’t know. Our local crisis pregnancy center director asked, “Who will take
my place as CPST?” I accepted the challenge.
My first assignment was to observe a class. The second was
to attend three days of intense training two hours away. Off I go to Cartersville,
Georgia for three nights at the Hampton Inn.
Day one training at the Fire/Police station was exhausting. Day
two was worse.
Imagine learning how to:
- install
car seats of all possible kinds into multiple vehicles and
- give
caregivers guidelines for transporting children safely
Being yanked out of our comfort zone hurts. The pain is sometimes
unbearable. We weep silently in the bathroom, hoping no one will find us.
Day three concluded with a hands-on, community “Car-Seat
Check” in Walmart’s parking lot. Instructing mothers and grandmothers, climbing
in and out of their vehicles, completing checklists, mounting equipment too
heavy for a female sexagenarian, and cramming gloved hands between grungy seat
cushions made me cringe.
I eased out of the parking lot at 3:30 that afternoon, back
into my comfort zone, whispering prayers of relief and thanks along every mile
of I-75. Late-night musings echoed in my mind, “If one child’s life is saved by
what you have learned, all of the struggles and frustrations were worth it!”
Back in the crisis pregnancy center I successfully taught my
first class, approved and ready to serve.
I will “Be brave!” as my mother used to say, and follow the
Spirit out of my comfort zone. I hope you will, too!
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