Safety Pins

Daily Gratitude Year 13 - Day 114: Today, I am grateful for safety pins. 

I decided to do a little research on the safety pin. Sometimes it is the best solution to a problem. We use them for everything from managing clothing issues to making jewelry out of them. 

When I was a little girl, diaper pins were given at most baby showers. They were jumbo safety pins that kept diapers in place. Manufacturers did their best to make them cute, but it was the functionality that kept made them great. 

It was invented by Walter Hunt in 1849. He sold the patent to W.R. Grace Company for $400 to pay a draftsman he owed $15. The design is relatively unchanged today. Tension wire made into a spring and the physics of tension and we have a product we use often and take for granted. These are some of my favorites. 

Think about it. The safety pin is wire wound tight and held together by tension. A safety pin is a wonderful thing for problem solving, but humans were not designed to live in that kind of stress daily. Fresh air and deep breaths. We are not made of wire and tension gives us headaches. 

I searched the scriptures for the word "safety." I found it 33 times in the Old Testament. Only one time in the New Testament. Interesting, right?

We just celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. There is no guarantee of peace and safety. There is a promise of His return. 

" for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief." -1 Thessalonians 5:2-4 

As tension builds and the world seems crazy, I cannot help but smile and cling to C.S. Lewis's words when he came to the conclusion after much study that Jesus was either "a liar, a lunatic, or who he claims to be." He is who he is. He is who he claims to be. Lewis, also, penned, "Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King"

And... He holds us together. 

Today, I am grateful for safety pins.