the car seat

Last Tuesday, one of our community members introduced me to a new father, Jason, who was searching for a car seat. Jason and his significant other, Lucy, were the proud new parents of a baby that had arrived a little earlier than expected. While they were grateful that their little one was healthy and ready to go home, their discharge from the hospital was looking impossible. They did not have an infant car seat and had no way to get one. Jason woke up Tuesday morning and started driving around Galveston praying that someone had set a car seat on the curb to discard. When he drove by the church and saw people sitting outside, he stopped to see if anyone knew of a place he could go for help. They told him to come inside.

Since I help distribute household goods to our members that secure housing, Jason was brought to me in hopes that I had a car seat to give. We did not have one, but told him that we would try to find someone that could assist. Pastor Julia and I began phoning all of the agencies that we knew. As each phone call was rerouted to a dead end, I could feel Jason’s anxiety grow. I called the final place on our list and began to smile. The person on the other end said that they had car seats available to parents in need. They just needed Jason to take a safety class before they could give it to him. That sounded great! The only problem was that the next class was in two weeks. Jason looked so defeated as I hung up the phone.
 
Without hesitation or question, Pastor Julia asked if I was able to run to the store and grab a car seat. Long story short - I dropped off a brand new infant carrier to Jason and Lucy at the hospital so they could leave with their baby. I can’t adequately describe how grateful and relieved they were. They were planning to leave Galveston and go stay with family that were waiting to love on the new baby. Jason told me that he had no clue what he was going to do when he woke up that morning. He was scared to think about what would happen if he had not been able to secure a car seat. He kept asking what we wanted in return for the seat. Work? Money? He could not believe that it was theirs. No strings attached.

Jason and Lucy may have been shocked, but I was not. These kinds of miracles happen every week around here. There are no lengthy forms. No classes. No requirements. No hoops to jump through. No waiting period. If a need is within Central’s ability, it gets met. Love and grace are freely given without hesitation or question.
(Names have been changed.)