A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford
When you are talking to me, don’t wistfully long for the “good old days.” I was born in 1927, the week Charles Lindberg flew the Atlantic alone in his fragile “Spirit of St. Louis.” I know all about the good old days. So I’m grateful for—
Detergents. Big globules of fat floating with the lye soap in the cold dishwater made me hate washing dishes. (Why didn’t I know I could wash them in a jiffy if I didn’t prop up a book to read while I washed?) Antibiotics. I lost three weeks of school every spring and fall with wretched strep throat. What a blessed relief when my doctor now hands me a prescription and with God’s help I’m soon better.
Air conditioning. With the thermometer at 107 degrees at night in Texas, the touch of a bed sheet burned your skin. But mosquitoes bit unmercifully if you weren’t covered by a sheet. So I’m also very grateful for— Bug Spray. Mosquitoes and flies are no longer a constant irritant in my life. Refrigerators. We children loved it when the ice man came, because we could suck the chips of ice that fell from the blocks of ice. But woe to the child whose turn it was to empty each night the drip pan under the ice box that caught the melted water. If you forgot to empty it, you woke up in the morning to find the kitchen floor awash. Automobiles that actually start. Daddy parked the 1932 Dodge on a hill, so when it wouldn’t start in the mornings, we children could push it downhill until the motor caught. And if it didn’t, we pushed it uphill and down again until it did. Cell phones. Imagine having a phone not anchored to a wall! You can take anywhere and call for help any time. Imagine a phone that also takes wonderful pictures, even in dark places. I loved my little Brownie camera, but the film required lots of light. I couldn’t send the film off to be developed until I’d taken all twenty exposures, and then I had to waited another week to get the developed pictures back.
Computers. Microwaves. Freezers. The Internet. Television. A hundred other inventions make daily living so much easier now. True, life can be more complicated, as I learned when Hurricane Helene left me without internet access for a month. And, you could argue fairly that many of these inventions make it easier for unscrupulous people to use them for unholy purposes.
“But the path of a believer is like the shining sun,
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.” Proverbs 4:18
That’s the blessed, wonderful truth I have experienced “now” in contrast to “then.” I
have found my precious, almighty Savior nearer and dearer every day of my walk with Him.
Every promise He ever made me He has kept. In every sorrow I’ve endured, He was there to
comfort and sustain. Every temptation I have faced, He has offered me a way to escape if I
would take it. He has become more real to me in every year of my walk with Him.
For the LORD God is our light and protector.
He gives us grace and glory.
No good thing will the LORD withhold
from those who do what is right.
O LORD Almighty, happy are those who trust in You. Psalm 84:11,12 NLT
And that’s why I’m grateful for “now” instead of “back then.”