I passed them several times as we made our way through the narrow aisles of the discount grocery store. She was pushing her buggy and pulling his wheelchair at the same time. I found myself watching them.
At one point, she left him sitting by the frozen foods as she went to grab something she had forgotten. He sat patiently looking around. As I passed him, we made eye contact and he smiled. That’s when it happened.
Without warning, his body arched out of the wheelchair. His head fell back and his hat fell to the floor as his whole body began convulsing. My best uneducated guess was that he was having a seizure.
I stood there holding a frozen pie crust with, what I can only imagine, was a horrified look on my face. I looked around frantically – unable to move. {Clearly, I am the person you would want by your side in the event of an emergency.} I took one step toward him and then one step back. I didn’t know what to do but, suddenly, she was there by his side. She paid no attention to the stares {mine included.} She calmly cupped the back of his head with her palm as if she had done it numerous times. She waved off the people around her with a quiet, “It’s okay. I’ve got this.”
It was over in seconds and I watched her place his hat back on his head and continue her grocery shopping.
I walked away, heart still racing, in awe of that woman. Clearly, this situation had happened before. The possibility of a public seizure did not seem to phase her.
While I was frantic and frazzled, she was cool and calm.
While I was wondering what in the world I should do, she was taking care of business.
I seem to spend much of my life that way – frantic, frazzled and wondering what in the world I should do. I know that God has seen my situation before. He knew the falls I would take and the mistakes I would make.
Yet, he never grows tired of walking by my side. Of doing the heavy lifting when I’m weak. He is never embarrassed by my frailty or weary of my weakness. When no one knows how to help – when friends are unable and others are unwilling – He is there.
He calmly holds my shaking hands and says, “It’s okay. I’ve got this.”