A very scarey and emotional event happened in my life this past Saturday. My friend and I went shopping at walmart late at night and it smelled as though something in the store was on fire. We asked a store worker and he said that someone had started the cat and dog beds on fire, but they have put it out now. Well a little while later we heard some screaming and someone shout that a child is on fire...Melissa (my friend) and I started running and she turned to me and asked, "Are you ready to use your first aid?" Without hesitation I entered the scene...I can still remember it as if it was still happening. There were a few customers putting the fire out, and a store manager helping with other workers running around...the girls wasn't little (thank goodness) but nevertheless, her screams were terrorizing! I tried to take charge of the scene...I asked for a first aid kit to start bandaging her exposed arm and trying to keep her calm by asking for her name and age, etc. The sad part was that she was a 14-year old runaway, who purposefully set herself on fire in the washroom (she was the one who set the beds on fire earlier). Finally the paramedics and firemen arrived and I helped remove her clothes and assess that she probably had 18-20% of her body burned...very painful and aweful to see. Life is so vital...love, friendship, reaching out and grace is greatly needed when reaching out to others. Make a point to reach out to everyone, you never know who you may touch, encourage, bring joy or the sense that they are not invisible in this world, that might save their life! And most of all...pray for them! It is very rare that someone turns down an invitation to be prayed for when it is asked with sincerity, gentleness and warmth.