No Matter How Old

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. ~Isaiah 46:4

When our children first begin to crawl, we take every precaution to provide a safe environment for them to explore.  We place protective plugs in electrical outlets, move breakable items to unreachable shelves and keep floors immaculate, free of any debris that could entice a curious hand-to-mouth encounter.

The crawling stage is rapidly followed by what I call the "pulling-up" stage, the precursor to actually attempting to walk.  I vividly recall keeping coffee and end tables clear of anything that a child would find tempting to touch other than a toy that belongs to her.  When Virginia, Savannah and Alexandra, our three granddaughters, visit with us during these particular stages of development, Danny and I spread a large down comforter over the stone hearth of our fireplace so the girls won't run the risk of falling and hitting their heads.

Yes, when our children are young, we do everything possible to child-proof our homes.  But as Danny and I move up in years, we've realized we now need to take conscious measures to senior-proof our home.  What do I mean by that?

In a previous post, What Truly Matters, I write about the checklist we recite before leaving the house in order for Danny to avoid going out in his "hobo" shoes.  There is now one more item to add to our litany - make sure the stove is off!

The other day, we blithely leave the house to go to the grocery store.  Danny fixes some scrambled eggs just before we depart.  When we return and ascend the stairs from the garage to the main floor, something doesn't smell right.  Danny instinctively heads for the kitchen.  Lo and behold!  He has left the burner on (albeit very low) under the cast iron skillet where his eggs were cooked!  Thankfully, with only butter in the pan, and very little of it at that, we are spared what could have been an epic catastrophe.

To ensure that this never happens again, Danny grabs his trusty labeling tool to mark the dials as you can see in the header photo.  When the green tape is facing up, we can rest assured that the stove dials are in the off position and we are good to go.

It certainly seems that our loving Father is sustaining us in these days and rescuing us from so many precarious situations.  Like a watchful parent, He doesn't wish harm upon any of His precious children, no matter how old we are or how much older we become.

Knowing that makes every day ahead promising, reassuring and filled with the hope we can only find in Him.

Amen!