Prayer for grandmothers

Father, hold up my goings in Your paths, that my footsteps slip not. Psalm 17:5.

I am walking through small terrain today. The kitchen tile. The driveway. The narrow steps at the church door. And the harder terrain inside, where self-pity and small unkindnesses wait like patches of ice.

Hold up my goings. Keep my feet from slipping. Not by something big and bright. By the slow, steady company that has held me up so far.

My legs are not what they were. But my judgment is better, by Your grace. The people I love are kept by Your wide care.

Keep all my goings up. My hand on the rail at the stairs. Your hand on my hand on the rail.

The path I am on today is short and known. It is still Your path, because I am on it as Yours.

Let no foot slip in a way that does damage I cannot undo. Let me arrive at evening with the dignity of a daughter who has been kept.

Amen.