WATCH & PRAY!             DO 1848           6/84
--A Safety Lesson!

         1. IF WATER IS HOT ENOUGH TO HURT SOMEBODY, IF NOT ACTUALLY BURN THEM, THEN IT IS TOO HOT! You don't have to have hot water. Techi just almost got burned by sticking her hand under that hot water! So it must be a helluva hot to be so hot that it hurt her & caused her to cry! I don't believe in having hot water that hot! Hot water is dangerous business! For God's sake, I don't see why you need hot water around here unless upon occasion you might need to boil water for drinking. (Heater should be set to 50 degrees C., which is about 120 degrees F.)
         2. WELL OBVIOUSLY, IF YOU CAN'T BE TRUSTED WITH IT, WE CAN'T LET YOU USE IT!--Because you have children & babies who could accidentally turn it on. Lots of babies have been scalded, badly burned & even burned to death that way in tubs where they turned the water on & didn't know how to turn it off! I know one case where there were two little girls in the tub, & when the mother ran off to the telephone, they turned on the scalding hot water & they both burned to death in the tub!
         3. WELL, THANK THE LORD TECHI WASN'T BADLY BURNED, BECAUSE I CERTAINLY WOULD HAVE HELD YOU FOLKS RESPONSIBLE!--And I'm very upset to think that you created a situation where it COULD have happened & WOULD have happened if she hadn't jerked her hand out real quick! Thank God for that! What if you'd had her stepping into the tub of hot water like that or something & she'd have slipped & fallen before she realised it?
         4. THERE'S NO POINT IN ANYBODY HAVING WATER THAT HOT! How come you guys haven't checked that? I want you fellows to check that hot water temperature & make sure it doesn't get any higher down there, period! Is that clear?--Not a degree above 50! Tape it down tight & make it impossible to screw that handle, & I don't ever want to hear about you having water that hot again!
         5. THANK YOU, LORD, THAT SOMETHING WORSE DIDN'T HAPPEN! We ask Thee to deal with these people, Lord, to help them see how serious it could have been & how responsible they were & how careless they were, & to realise what a precious, priceless responsibility it is to take care of these children, that they are responsible for their safety & their health as well as their minds & their spirits, that they take good care of their bodies & guard them & watch them to make sure that nothing like this happens to them, & to not be careless about it, in Jesus' name. Lord, bless & keep & protect! Thank You for how You HAVE, & that more accidents like this have not happened.--TYJ!
         6. I THINK SOME OF YOU HAVE A TENDENCY TO GET IN A HURRY & ACT HASTILY, a little impatient & rushed. Haste makes waste! Speed kills!--And I certainly don't want any worse accidents happening from people being impatient or hasty or being in a hurry or not checking carefully to make sure it's safe.
         7. YOU CAN ASK JOHN, HE WORKS WITH ME A LOT, & I'M EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS ABOUT SAFETY! Is that right? (John: Amen, that's right!) I try to make doubly sure that accidents don't happen. I insist that they wear shoes when they're going to be working around electricity & try to keep their feet dry. I insist they wear glasses when they're working where things might fall in their eyes. I insist they work two-by-two. What about it, John? You tell'm! (John: That's right, you are always going the extra step, especially taking a lot of time, not going to another project without making sure nothing's left out that somebody could hurt themselves on.) As well as a lot of prayer, right? We always pray.
         8. WHEN YOU HAVE CHILDREN TO TAKE CARE OF YOU'VE GOT TO BE EXTRA CAREFUL & WATCH'M, & YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR ACCIDENTS TO HAPPEN! How many times a day do I say that, John? (John: You say it every time I see you.) Whenever I see any dangerous situation where one little mismove or something wrong could happen, I caution them about it: "You'd better move that or somebody might stumble over it. You'd better fix that or somebody might bump into it." Because as I've so often said, accidents don't just happen, they are CAUSED.--Almost invariably by somebody's carelessness, prayerlessness & lack of being safety-conscious.
         9. SO YOU GUYS HAD BETTER BE EXTRA PRAYERFUL & EXTRA CAREFUL, EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS ABOUT SAFETY & just make sure that conditions are so that things can't be knocked over or tripped over. Just try to keep accidents from being possible to happen, make sure they CAN'T happen! You can't ALWAYS be sure, but you can certainly eliminate dangerous conditions of things sitting around where they shouldn't be etc.
         10. YOU NEED TO REALISE THAT WE ARE DEPENDENT ON PRAYER & ON THE LORD, & to have gotten along as well as we have with so few accidents, hardly even any minor accidents, no serious diseases, God has been extra good to us! But if you're going to start getting careless & prayerless & not really thinking about what you're doing in taking care of these children, you could really get in serious trouble & have something happen you'd be awful sorry for! I'm sure after all the years you've spent taking care of these children & giving them so much hard work & care, you certainly don't want that to happen! So it's up to you parents to really take care of your children & really guard them & make sure that nothing happens to them, & certainly nothing that's going to be your fault & which you'll be sorry for!
         11. AND YOU GIRLS ESPECIALLY WHO GET IN THE TUB WITH THE CHILDREN, or any of you who do when they're taking baths, you sit at the faucet end with your back to the faucet & make sure you know what's going on. That should be the practice in any place you ever bathe children where you're in the tub with them. You should never bathe them in the bathroom in the first place unless you're WITH'M!
         12. I GAVE YOU GUYS A LECTURE ONCE-UPON-A-TIME ON WHAT WAS THE MOST DANGEROUS ROOM IN THE HOUSE, THE KITCHEN, but I don't think I ever did get around to giving you a lecture on the SECOND most dangerous room, & that's the BATHROOM! Outside of the kitchen, most home accidents occur in the bathroom. And do you know what is the most common bathroom accident? (Alf: Slipping.) Yes, slipping while getting in or out of the tub or on a wet floor, falling & breaking bones or cracking heads & getting some kind of injury!
         13. I'VE HEARD OF SO MANY PEOPLE HAVING FALLS IN & OUT OF TUBS THAT I HAVE LEARNED TO RESPECT A TUB, to where I wouldn't let go of anything getting in or out of a tub or hardly even sitting up in the tub! Especially when I went to stand up to get out, or the same thing getting in, I would hold on to the side of that tub, & some of them have a little handle on the wall where you can hold on even on the inside of the tub. Don't try the towel racks, they won't hold you! The safest thing you really know is going to support you & hold you is the side of the tub, so hang on to that!
         14. TEACH THE CHILDREN HOW TO GET IN & OUT OF THE TUB, that they walk up to the tub & take ahold of that edge with their hands first, & then they put a leg over into the tub. Then they should keep hanging on to it until they get the other foot in the tub & they keep hanging onto it till they sit down. You guys have got to teach these kids safety!--And that they don't get in the tub at all without an adult present to regulate the water, to make sure the water is right. Is that clear? (Fam: Yes, Sir!)
         15. I'M HESITANT TO EVER LEAVE A CHILD ALONE IN A BATHROOM AT ALL, EVEN AS OLD AS TECHI IS. (Five years old.) They could make a mistake & do something accidentally or out of curiosity get into something they shouldn't, or do something dumb that they might not realise is dangerous & hurt themselves. So I nearly always insist when Techi's in our bathroom that one or the other of us is in there with her, because a bathroom is a dangerous place! You could slip & fall & all kinds of things!
         16. THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF DANGEROUS THINGS IN THERE LIKE DISINFECTANTS & STUFF WHICH SHOULD BE KEPT WAY UP HIGH, OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. We keep everything 'way out of reach, 'way up in a cupboard near the ceiling, & there's nothing in that lower cupboard under the sink, no cleaners or anything that could harm them.
         17. MAYBE THE LORD LET THIS LITTLE TINY MINOR NON-INJURY HURT OCCUR TO WARN YOU ABOUT OTHER THINGS & BEING FAR MORE CAREFUL! We've had so little happen to us that we're inclined to get a little lackadaisical, a little lethargic & a little careless & just think, "Well, nothing ever happens, it just can't happen to us." Well, the Lord just might jerk you up & let it happen, by letting something minor happen to teach you a lesson to make sure that you don't get careless & prayerless & start letting things happen, so that God has to let something happen to teach you a lesson & the poor innocent child be the sufferer! I hope I don't have to give this kind of a lecture too soon again!
         18. KEEP ELECTRICAL CORDS OUT OF THE WAY, ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS, FANS, EVERYTHING OUT OF THE WAY OF LITTLE TODDLERS & BABIES! They're in a very dangerous stage!--Not only from falls--they can usually catch themselves pretty good, although they may get a few bumps--but from sharp corners. I think you remember how aggravated I used to be with people who made glass tables & furniture with sharp metal corners & stuff like that! It's insane! It's selfish people that apparently don't plan to have any children around.
         19. WELL, I DIDN'T INTEND TO TALK THIS LONG, BUT IF IT SAVES ONE OF OUR CHILDREN'S LIVES OR LIMBS OR EYES OR FINGERS OR TOES OR WHATEVER IT MAY BE, IT'LL BE WORTH IT! Some people get a little careless in their swimming too. It only takes one little sudden dunk & for them to take a gasp at the wrong time underwater instead of above water, & you're going to have a job on your hands trying to pump that water out of their lungs in a hurry before it kills them! Swimming is dangerous & I insist on the buddy system of one adult to each child. (Good swimmers are a different case.)
         20. NOW I KNOW IT'S A TASK TO HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF CHILDREN, BUT THAT'S YOUR JOB & YOU HAVE NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT TO DO THAN TAKING CARE OF THOSE CHILDREN! Those children are your job & you have nothing more important to do, ever! And when they're in any kind of dangerous situation such as swimming, either you're to be there with them or make sure some responsible adult is with them that knows how to watch them every moment & not turn their back on them for a second, one adult on each child!
         21. NOW IS THE LORD GOING TO HAVE TO LET SOMETHING ACTUALLY SERIOUS HAPPEN & SOME REAL HURT HAPPEN, SOME ACTUAL INJURY TO GET YOU GUYS SOBERED UP & SERIOUS ABOUT THOSE CHILDREN? What if it had been hot enough & what if she had stepped in that end of the tub & sat down right under it or something & got a bad burn before she could even move? Thank God she could jerk her hand out real quick, but if she'd have slipped & fallen under that stream of hot water, can you imagine what a job you'd have had on your hands? She could have had a burn streak all the way down her body which you'd have to be taking care of for the next two weeks to a month! I mean it!
         22. KIDS CAN GET CARELESS & I'VE SEEN THEM GET A LITTLE CARELESS & I'VE HAD TO SCOLD THEM SEVERAL TIMES. Davida is always jumping in where Angels fear to tread, always impulsive & impetuous & too hasty, & you've got to really cure her of that! I'd almost say for Davida that she's accident-prone! And you know why it is, don't you? Well, Alf, it's good to be quick about some things, but it's safer to be slow. You're very quick & very fast & ready to jump at a moment's notice or a look or anything, but sometimes it pays to look before you leap! But Davida leaps before she looks & she's got to be cured of that or you're going to have a serious accident on your hands! I mean it!
         23. NOW IS THIS GOING TO BE ENOUGH? ARE YOU GOING TO BE MORE CAUTIOUS, MORE PRAYERFUL, MORE CAREFUL WITH THE CHILDREN, NOT TAKE ANY CHANCES & MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR ACCIDENTS TO HAPPEN? Isn't that one of our mottos?: Make it impossible for an accident to happen! Don't leave anything where it could be knocked off. Don't leave anything where it could be stumbled over. Don't leave anything where it can be fallen on. Don't leave any dangerous things within reach of a child!
         24. WE NEARLY LOST DAVID, AS YOU RECALL, IN TENERIFE WHEN DAVE LEFT A CAN OF CLEANING FLUID SITTING ON THE FLOOR WHILE HE WAS CLEANING WINDOWS. David shouldn't have done it, but he was only a year old. Little kids that age will try anything. They don't know what's good to eat & what isn't, they stick everything in their mouths, they try it all! So David picked up the can & took a swig of cleaning fluid! I'll tell you, it's a miracle of God that he wasn't more seriously ill & we didn't have to rush him to the hospital or something! Thank the Lord he didn't get much!
         25. TRY TO BE SURE THAT ACCIDENTS CAN'T HAPPEN, THAT NOTHING IS IN A POSITION WHERE AN ACCIDENT CAN HAPPEN, that no child is in a position where an accident can happen, & that you've got your eye on them every minute when they're in any kind of a situation anywhere! Even if you're right there in the same room with them you need to watch them. The way they play rough-&-tumble sometimes, you've got to make sure that there's nothing that they're apt to fall against that could hurt'm. You've got to make sure there's no sharp furniture or sharp corners or anything around that they could fall on or fall against that could hurt'm. I mean it! Make it impossible for accidents to happen! Be so prayerful in the first place & so careful & cautious & safety-conscious that we give the Lord more than enough cooperation, & if it happens it's not going to be YOUR fault! Amen?
         26. ALL RIGHT, LORD, PLEASE HELP THESE CARETAKERS TO BE BETTER ABOUT TAKING CARE & BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL & PRAYERFUL, CAUTIOUS & SAFETY-CONSCIOUS WITH THESE CHILDREN & with themselves as well, Lord, & others, to watch their step around this house & be extremely prayerful & mindful & cautious, not hasty, not in a hurry. Haste makes waste & speed kills! Help them, Lord, in Jesus' name, to be more cautious, more prayerful, more careful about arranging things & the position of the children & where they're playing, all these things to make it almost impossible for an accident to happen, so that they'll be able to PREVENT it rather than have to nurse it afterward! o
         27. AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE! A fence at the top of the cliff is worth a lot more than a hospital at the bottom! Help'm, Lord, to look before they leap, squeeze don't jerk, pray before they take action!--And be much more prayerful & careful with the children, to watch them more carefully, Lord, play with them more prayerfully & really be extremely safe if they go swimming. Swimming is dangerous, Lord! It's not our normal, natural element & can be extremely dangerous for one of the children in just one prayerless moment!
         28. SO WE DO ASK THEE TO HELP THEM TO BE MUCH MORE PRAYERFUL & MUCH MORE CAREFUL, MUCH MORE CAUTIOUS, SAFETY-CONSCIOUS, & MOST OF ALL CONSCIOUS OF THEE, Lord, & their dependence upon Thee for the safety of these children. It could be any little thing, a plastic bag over their head, crazy things kids do that have literally killed many children! Thank You for how You've taken care of ours!
         29. WE THANK YOU THAT THESE HERE HAVE BEEN CAUTIOUS & PRAYERFUL, WHICH IS ONE REASON WE HAVEN'T HAD MORE ACCIDENTS. TYL! Help this warning, Lord, to jerk'm up & make'm perk up so that they will not become lax & careless & prayerless so that You have to let something more serious happen, more sobering to make them better parents, better fathers & mothers, better caretakers of Thy little ones & Thy Kingdom. Thank You for how You HAVE, but Lord, now help them to do BETTER & not to get lazy or lax or let down in any way, Lord, to have no unguarded moments in which the Devil can slip in. Bless & keep our children, keep us, & thank You for how You have! Keep us again this night. We pray every night & every morning, all day long, for You to keep us, Lord. Thank You for how You've kept us!
         30. HELP THIS TO BE A LESSON TO THESE HERE, LORD, TO NEVER LET ANYTHING CARELESS LIKE THIS HAPPEN AGAIN, to be constantly mindful of Thy children, constantly have an eye on them, Lord, to see what they're doing, to know what they're up to & not let the small ones get out of sight in any way, much less in the bathroom or anywhere where they're not constantly watching them, Lord, just like You do us.
         31. THANK YOU THAT YOU'RE ALWAYS WATCHING US, YOU NEVER TAKE YOUR EYE OFF OF US LEST WE GET IN TROUBLE! TYJ! You keep us out of all kinds of trouble. TYL! The only trouble You ever let us get into, Lord, is what we deserve. If after several warnings we insist on going our own way & not obeying, being careless or prayerless, You let something happen just to teach us a lesson, but Lord, help this not to happen too often. Help us to be so careful & prayerful & cautious & safety-conscious, Lord, that we just about make it impossible for accidents to happen with Thy help. We know we can't do it without You, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen!
         32. THE LORD NEVER LETS US OUT OF HIS SIGHT, HE'S THE GREAT EXAMPLE AS A PARENT, & YOU SHOULDN'T LET THEM OUT OF YOUR SIGHT! They should know you're watching them, if they're real small, every moment! When they're a little bit bigger you might let'm sit in the next room & play with some other child, an older child or something, but where you can hear'm & be at their side in a moment!--And be sure that everything in that room is secure, that they can't pull something over on themselves or whatever. Little toddlers start walking by hanging onto things & they could pull stuff over on top of them if you don't watch them. They reach up & grab anything to hold onto to pull themselves up.
         33. YOU'VE GOT TO KEEP AN EYE ON THESE KIDS & KEEP YOUR MIND ON THEM & DON'T LET YOURSELF GET DISTRACTED! That's you nurses' job, that's your main job! You have nothing more important to do than watch those children & care for them & protect them & see that they're safe! So keep an eye on'm! (Fam: Amen!)
         34. I'VE SAID THIS MANY TIMES BEFORE: MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR ACCIDENTS TO HAPPEN!--AND ONE WAY TO DO IT IS KEEP YOUR EYE ON THEM ALL THE TIME, EVERY MINUTE! You say, "Well I can't do that when I'm asleep." Well, make sure THEY'RE asleep when YOU go to sleep! Make sure they're asleep FIRST.
         35. I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU A SPANKING, BUT I JUST HOPE & PRAY THE LORD'S NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU A SPANKING BY LETTING ONE OF THOSE KIDS GET HURT THROUGH YOUR CARELESSNESS & YOUR LACK OF WATCHFULNESS! Watch & pray! Watch & pray! Those are two good rules of taking care of children! Really watch'm & watch out for everything, & really pray! PTL? Okay, God bless & keep them & keep you & help you to WATCH & PRAY! I love you! I hope that did some good!--Amen?
         36. DO YOU WATCH & PRAY OVER YOUR KIDS WITHOUT CEASING & TRY TO MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR ACCIDENTS TO HAPPEN? God help you to do so to preserve these little ones for His Kingdom!--In Jesus' name, amen.

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family