Ebeneezer and Denise

(A Repeat from 2012, and yes, another Scrooge story!)

This time of year my husband and I have a stack of Christmas movies we would love to watch, but life never affords the time for that.  Maybe, if we are fortunate, we can manage to watch one or two of them.  When we are trying to decide which one to watch first it never fails we both choose the same one -- A Christmas Carol.

But we are very particular about the version we want to see, we love the 1951 version starring Alastair Sim as Ebeneezer Scrooze.  Alastair Sim was able to perfectly portray both the mean spirited harshness of the unrepentant Scrooze as well as he did the joyous and generous redeemed Scrooze.

One of my favorite scenes comes at the end of the movie.  Ebeneezer, with a heart that has opened up to the Christ-child of Christmas, sits at his desk waiting for his clerk Bob Cratchit to come in for the morning.  He plans to pretend to be angry but is going to raise Bob's salary and offer to help him raise his family as well.  He is giddy with delightful anticipation.

I once had the same exact feeling.

The hospital were I worked had a department for childbirth education and community marketing and my friend Denise was the Department Head. She was a nurse as well as a lactation consultant and had always wanted to work in Labor & Delivery although she had never had the opportunity to do so.  I worked in this department with Denise for a year until the hospital downsized and I returned to my job in Labor & Delivery.

Shortly after I returned to L&D, I became the Assistant Nurse Manager of the unit.  Within a few months, we had a job opening and knowing that Denise was looking for a clinical position, I suggested her to my Nurse Manager.  My manager loved the idea and wanted us to offer Denise the position.  I asked Anne if she would let me make the offer to Denise, and she graciously agreed.

I was almost skipping as I walked down the hall and across the crosswalk to Denise's office.  I had to work hard to keep myself from giggling.  I was "as giddy as a schoolboy" as Scrooge said of himself that Christmas morning. I knew that I was about to bring unbelievable pleasure and joy not only to Denise, but also to all those who would be blessed by her care.  Having worked with her for years, I knew that our nurses would find working with Denise a great blessing as well.

I had to wait a few minutes until she was free, but then I sat on the familiar love seat across from her desk.  I can't even remember how I brought it up, or what I said, but I will never forget the look on her face.

She cried.  I cried.  It was a dream come true for her and I was so thrilled to have been given the gift by my manager to be the one to make the offer to her.

Denise came to work with us, and to show you her incredible impact, the next year, from a unit of twenty nurses, she received fourteen nominations for nurse of the year.  She went on to receive the Nurse of the Year award from the hospital.

Of all the wonderful moments I have shared with Denise through the years, this one will always stand out.  The joy, the absolute giddiness I felt in walking over to office was amazing.  The knowledge of how what I was about to do was going to impact her affected me tremendously.

This is our Lord's response to us.  It is His great joy and desire in doing things for us.  I was joyful about Denise because I knew her, I loved her, I knew what her response would be.  How much more does our Heavenly Father know us?  How much more does He love us?  How much more does He have to give us? We cannot imagine the joy He feels to be involved in our lives, to meet our needs, to be a part of us.

"Fear not, little flock; 

for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

Luke 12:32

Planting Seeds Only We Can Sow

 

During the holiday season there are three books I love to read.  One is Charles Dicken's classic "A Christmas Carol."  I have read this book each year for more years than I can remember.  The movie version (the one with Alastair Sim) is by far our favorite Christmas movie.  I never fail to enjoy the story of Scrooge's transformation from miserly curmudgeon to the friendly, and generous, keeper of Christmas.

Another book I read each Christmas is "The River Whispers Her Name," by our friend Jay Grelen.  This is a sweet story of a family's Christmas miracle set on the rivers in our area.  Reading the familiar area names makes it even more special to read.

In the last few years, though, an additional book has been added to the tradition, "Jacob T. Marley" by William Bennett.  This book is a prequel of sorts to "A Christmas Carol."  Being such a fan of the Dickens novel, I was quite sure I would NOT like this book when our son suggested it to us.  However, after reading it, I realized what a perfect complement it is to Dickens's Christmas Story.  In fact, I prefer to read the Marley story first before the Scrooge story.  Glen prefers to read them in the opposite order.  The two books are so perfectly intertwined either order is perfect.

In "Jacob T. Marley," there is a scene where someone sees Scrooge through the window of his counting house, but does not choose to have any interaction with him.  The person goes on to tell someone else, who once knew Scrooge, about the sighting though.  Watching this happen, unseen, are the spirits of the ghost of Christmas Past and Jacob Marley.

The Ghost tells Marley that the person seeing Scrooge missed an opportunity.  He goes on to say that the person could have gone into the counting house and offered condolences to Scrooge on Marley's death.  When Jacob suggests Scrooge might have chased the man out again, the Spirit told Jacob that the man's kindness might not have had an effect on Scrooge in that moment, but "that experience might have worked within him."

As more of Scrooge's past flows by, the Ghost goes on to tell Jacob that in life there are times where two lives are meant to cross paths.  He states that what is meant to be accomplished in those lives can only be done by those two people.  He finishes the discussion by telling Jacob that each of us "have opportunities that we alone can fulfill".

Even though I have read this book several times, this passage especially struck me this year.  The thought that each of us has "opportunities that we alone can fulfill" pressed upon my mind.  There are counting houses, as it were, that we are meant to go into.  There are people we are meant to interact with, if only briefly, to plant a seed, to display a kindness that might work within the heart of another to draw them to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  The tiny seed we plant may be part of what causes their miraculous transformation, just as Scrooge was transformed.

Perhaps our little seed is just a kind word, a cheerful countenance, a helping hand or a word of encouragement.  We will not know in this life how mighty a tree grows from our little seed, but if done with  a good and faithful heart, we can know the Lord will use it to accomplish His will and His way.

Let us keep our eyes open, especially in this holiday season, for opportunities to sow seeds wherever we can.  Our world needs love and kindness more than ever and, through Christ, we have an endless supply of both.

"Give, and it shall be given unto you; 

good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, 

shall me give into your bosom.  

For with the same measure that ye mete 

withal it shall be measure to you again."

Luke 6:38

Photo - O Give Thanks Unto the Lord

This picture was taken one day when we were kayaking along the delta in our area.  Five rivers come together to form a wonderful place to explore the water and enjoy the scenery.  When I took this picture I think I more wished to have the bird in it than expected to.  When I saw the results, I was so pleasantly surprised.

 

Photo - Confident of This Very Thing

Years ago I purchased my first digital camera.  I loved taking pictures with it and exploring the possibilities it presented.  I also enjoyed adding Scripture to the pictures.  I came across a few of them the other day and decided to start posting one or two a week and perhaps telling the story behind the picture.

This picture was taken in our back yard when the ligustrum was in bloom.  Glen and I planted these 42 perimeter plants when we first moved into our house, 29 years ago.  Little did we know at the time we were both allergic to ligustrum.  I now dread seeing the first blooms come on the plants, but when they are not in bloom, I love their glossy green leaves and the privet hedge they provide.  They were about 12 inches tall when we planted them and now they are easily 20 feet tall.  In the spring, when the little white flowers appear, the plants are full of bees.  I enjoy that our plants help to provide sustenance for the busy bees.

God Has A Plan

God always has a plan.  

He has a plan for His children.  He has a plan for those who choose not to accept His Son.  He has a plan for this earth.  We may not see it, or know it, but one day we will see how very perfect His plan for us has been.

As I look back at the path my life has taken through the decades, I can see God's hand working in my life so much more clearly than I could see at the time.  Few things bring this to light more than the hymns.

Hymns have always been a great part of my life.  I grew up in a time before choruses were used in churches.  We sang the old hymns, many of which were written out of great pain and sorrow.  I grew up in a small church and was quickly plucked out of the congregation, placed in the choir and told to "sing what the lady next to you sings."  I learned to sing harmony from the old hymns. The first song I played on the piano was a hymn.

The most significant hymn in my life was sung the day of our wedding.  We didn't really want a person to stand up and sing, because we wanted our wedding to focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, not on any one -or two- persons.  So before we came into the sanctuary, we had the congregation sing the hymn, "The Solid Rock." This hymn was a foreshadowing of what would comprise a great part of our ministry together.

Someone asked me recently where Glen and I attend church.  I answered that we "take church to people."  We do several services each week in nursing homes and assisted living centers, "taking church" to those who are unable to get out and go to church.  In those services we sing several hymns.  We once estimated that we sing about 1472 hymns each year.  That is 26,496 hymns since we began almost 19 years ago, give or take a verse or two.

Many of these hymns I have sung for so long, I know them by heart.  Interestingly, for many of these I have sung the harmony to the hymn so long that I no longer remember the melody.  I would have to look in the hymnal to remind myself how the tune actually goes.

Who would have thought, while my bridesmaids, my father and I waited in the foyer of the church, singing that old hymn with the guests, it would be a symbol of something Glen and I would share over and over and over again.  God always has a plan.  

Always.

"As for God, His way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: 
He is a buckler to all them that trust in Him."

2 Samuel 22:31

"I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live:  
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being." 

Psalm 104:33

The Solid Rock

written by Edward Mote

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale
my anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand.

His oath, His covenant, His blood
support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay

On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne.

On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand.

Thank the Lord for the Lady in Savannah

 

Our Christmas Tree is up.  Because of our schedules this year, we put it up a little early.  I wanted to have time to decorate it without the stress of having it finished at a certain time.  

Glen and I really enjoy decorating our tree because it is an opportunity to remember places we have been, things we have done and people we have known that might have been lost to us without the reminders on the tree.  Our tree contains memories of our almost forty-three years together.  Children's and grandchildren's handprints can be found hanging from the branches.  Pictures of all our family, including dogs, can be seen.  Concert tickets, Boston Red Sox baseball tickets, Magic bands from DisneyWorld,  logos from businesses in almost every city we have visited (most of these involve some very good food) can be found as well.  Approximately 1000 "ornaments" adorn the branches of our tree, some are "regular" ornaments, but the ones saved from the events of our lives are the ones most special to us. The older we get, the more these memories mean to us.  

You may wonder how are tree became such a mix of balls, candy canes and "stuff".  Here is the post telling that story:

Monday, December 1, 2008

Santas, concert tickets and the lady in Savannah...

I am sitting here snuggled up with our dog Sparrow, looking at our 28th Christmas tree.

 Although we have been married thirty years this year, we got married five days after 

Christmas, so that first year we didn't have a tree together. The year Marie was born, 

four days before Christmas, we didn't have a tree, either. So this year makes our 28th 

tree.

Our tree is very similar to most, I suppose. It has its share of Santas and holly wreaths 

and candy canes. But our tree is not just a Christmas tree, it is a Life tree. Let me explain 

what I mean by that.

When I was eighteen, I went to visit Savannah, Georgia right after Christmas. While I 

was there I attended several Open Houses -- where people open up their homes for 

celebrations. At one of these festive occasions I saw the most unusual Christmas tree I 

had ever seen. It was covered with movie tickets, theater tickets, trinkets and 

memorabilia of all types. The lady who lived in the house was in her eighties and as 

lively and full of spirit as anyone I had ever met and I asked her about her unusual tree.

 "It is a celebration of my life", she answered. She went on to tell me that at all 

occasions in her life she would take some sort of memento to place on her tree, some 

token of remembrance. Then each year when she would decorate her tree, "I re-live 

those special times in my life that would have otherwise slipped away."

Needless to say the lady and her tree made a great impression upon a young 

impressionable teenager. I determined that whenever I had a tree of my own, I wanted 

it to be something special, too. When Glen and I were engaged, I shared with him the 

story of the Savannah woman and the story seemed to touch a chord with him as well. 

So that first year we celebrated Christmas together, in that tiny, cold apartment, we 

determined that the ornaments on our tree would be ones that we had specifically 

picked out for our tree, not just to fill the branches, but because of their beauty or 

meaning or special significance to us. Or they would be ornaments we had made, or 

someone else had given us, or like the lady in Savannah, they would be mementos of 

the events of our lives. We wouldn't even have actually had a tree that year if my sister 

hadn't brought us one -- we thought our apartment was just too small for a tree. 

It was and it wasn't. Our first Christmas tree only had nine ornaments on it (some of 

which we still have today). They were given to us by my mother and her friend.

Our tree today has hundreds and hundreds of ornaments. I started to catalog and count

them one day and stopped somewhere after 600. Along with the snowflakes (some of 

which belonged to my mother) and the balls (most of which I put on my trees growing 

up as a girl), there are "Savannah" ornaments: the doves and butterflies off our 

wedding cake; the golden bells off my parent's 50th anniversary cake; concert tickets; 

Metro tickets from Washington, DC; a baby's pacifier; my girls' little black patent 

leather baby shoes; a hickory nut I picked up at my brother's house one day when we 

spent the day with his family; candles from a 40th birthday cake; and from a 50th 

birthday cake; HighSchool Band Security Tags; Election buttons - both from elections 

won and lost; footprint buttons from babies born; favors from weddings; silk flowers 

from a baby shower; silk flowers from a wedding bouquet; dough ornaments older than

my marriage, given to me by a friend in college; I could go on and on. Like the lady in 

Savannah, when I decorate the tree, I have the joy of reliving memories, of 

remembering people and events. Our tree is an expression of our lives, a creation that 

continues to grow each year, because each year there is something new to add to the 

tree.

Thirty-three years ago, that lady in Savannah gave me a great gift. She shared with me 

a small moment of her time and herself and that small seed that life can be something 

that is worth re-living blossomed in me into something that has affected me and my 

family. We love our tree and the special ornaments and mementos that hang from its 

branches and we love the remembering what the tree brings to mind.

Today there is someone in each of our lives waiting for us to share with them some

great gift that the Lord has given us. Something that will be a seed that will blossom in 

them to something great and beautiful. Perhaps it is just a kind word, or a thoughtful 

look or an act of encouragement along the way. The world is full of hearts just waiting 

for those seeds.

Hear; for I will speak of excellent things;
and the opening of my lips shall be right things. 

Proverbs 8:6

My Favorite Fashion Accessory

As I type this, I am wearing all black.  I am also wearing my favorite fashion accessory...dog hair.

Ellie is our tricolor beagle.  The tip of her tail and her legs are white, her shoulders, face and backside are tan and her back is solid black.  Her hair shows up no matter what color you happen to be wearing.  

Now some people may think of this as a great annoyance, but I prefer to think of it as evidence we are greatly blessed.  

Glen and I often quote this verse from Proverbs 14:4:

"Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox."

If we had no Ellie, there would be no hair.

How does Ellie's hair end up on my clothes?  It gets there as a result of Ellie jumping up onto my lap and resting there.  There are few things I find more relaxing and enjoyable than Ellie being in my lap.  She almost always asks for permission first, and I almost always welcome her to sit with me.  I love that she wants to sit there and that she finds it comfortable enough to relax and take a nap.  I love it when she curls up in my lap, even if it means she sheds her hairs all over me.

It reminds me of a verse in James:

"Draw night to God, and He will draw nigh to you." James 4:8.

The Lord loves when we turn our attention to Him, when we seek out communion with Him and our feeling free and comfortable with Him.  He loves for us to curl up in His lap and shed our hairs all over Him, as it were. But just how do we "draw nigh" to God?

The first way is through prayer.  By simply talking to Him, by taking our wounds and worries, our hurts and hopes to Him. The door is always open and we must only walk right through to commune with Him.

Another way is through the Scriptures He has given us.  Through them we learn of Him, of His will and His way.  We learn what He has done for us, what He is currently doing for us and what He promises to do in the future.

Another way is through fellowship with other believers.  Through their lives and experiences we can learn about God in ways we might not have gone through personally.  Their stories of faith and trust can strengthen us and encourage us in our own walks with the Lord.

As we draw near to God, something wonderful happens to us.  We become more and more like His dear Son.  We are changed, from glory to glory, as the Scriptures say, into the image of Christ.  This is God's ultimate plan, will and way, for us... to be like His Son.

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."  
2 Corinthians 3:18

"For who He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."  

Romans 8:29

Let us take every advantage of drawing near enough to the Lord that our hair ends up on His robes.

Greater Than the Sum of the Parts

 I did something today that I have never done before.  I made granola.  I like granola, it is good on yogurt, on ice cream or just by itself.  

I didn't think anyone else would want any, so I adapted the recipe to suit my own tastes.  It has oats, pecans, dried cranberries and coconut in it.  The binder is almond butter (which I am not fond of on its own, but it works well in this instance) and coconut oil.  The sweetener is Coco Lopez, which is sweetened coconut cream. (I guess you can tell I like coconut.)  I added a tiny bit of orange zest, a little vanilla, almond and orange flavoring and a dash of kosher salt.

I was surprised at how well it turned out.  In fact, it is hard to keep my hands off of it.  I was also surprised at how much Glen liked it.  It is a great example of Aristotle's saying, "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts."  I guess you could say the recipe is greater than the sum of its ingredients.

That saying reminds me of something that happened this morning at work.  A younger nurse and I were talking about facing situations that are out of our comfort zone and trying to see the Lord's leading in our lives.  Each of us are facing things like this and our sharing strengthened us both.  The two of us together became greater than just two.  Because the same Lord lives in each of our spirits, we are more than just two.  We are two plus the Lord, and not only that, we are two plus the Lord plus every person who has ever trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We are a family,  a body as the Scriptures say, an entity that is greater than the individuals who comprise it.  That bond, that family, gives us a strength we could never find alone.

I think as Christians we forget how the Lord can work through us, not only as individuals, but collectively.  For example, we can share together as my sweet friend and I did this morning.  We can remember to pray for each other.  But we can also strengthen members of our spiritual family that we don't even know.  If I find myself in a painful, uncomfortable or difficult situation, I can be sure that another Christian somewhere is facing a similar pain, discomfort or difficulty.  I can pray for them.  I don't have to know their names, the particulars of what they are going through...the Lord knows all that.  I just join in praying for His will and His way in their lives.  

Perhaps one day in Heaven we will be able to walk up to someone and say, "Sister, you didn't know me or what I was going through, but on a certain day you prayed for me and the Lord used your prayers to strengthen me, to encourage me and to comfort me.  Thank you so much for your faithfulness to Him."  What a blessing that will be!

It is good for us to remember we are never alone.  Let's face it, as much as I like coconut, it alone would not make very good granola.  But combined with the other ingredients, it is a delight.  Just as we are with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We are greater than the sum of our parts, and one day we will see just how much greater.

"But speaking the truth in love, 
may grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together

 and compacted by that which every joint supplied, 

according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, 

maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."  Ephesians 4:15,16.

*My granola recipe was adapted from: https://www.loveand lemons.com/granola/

"It is Happy to go Low"

Last week, while on vacation, Glen and I visited a favorite spot of ours, Duke's Creek Falls, in northern Georgia.  Duke's Creek Falls is a combination of two waterfalls, one from Duke's Creek and on from Davis Creek.  The fall from Duke's creek is a waterfall cascading down a wide expanse of exposed rocks.  The other flows from Davis Creek and plummets 150 feet to join Duke's Creek.

I find great pleasure standing on the observation deck and watching the water fall to the creek.  The sight of the continuously falling water, the sound of the water crashing on the rocks and the feel of the water spray on my face all lend themselves to a wonderful sensory experience.

But these waterfalls teach a great lesson as well.  Water always seeks the lowest point.  Rivers  flow to the ocean.  From great mighty mountains, tiny creeks become great rivers and steadily flow low.

Decades ago when reading the allegorical novel, "Hind's Feet on High Places" by Hannah Hurnard, I was struck by the "Water Song".  It was the song the water sang as it always sought the lowest place.  I especially loved this portion:

Come, oh come! let us away--

Lower, lower every day, 

Oh, what joy it is to race

Down to find the lowest place. 

This the dearest law we know --

 "It is happy to go low."

"It is happy to go low."  This great lesson is found over and over in Scripture.  This world tells us, screams at us, to find the highest place, that we deserve it.  It tells us to place ourselves above all others and find a high place upon which to look down upon everyone else.  Perhaps the world doesn't use these exact words, but the attitude is surely there.  But the Scriptures give us a completely different course, that of the water.

"Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud." Proverbs 16:19.

"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up."  James 4:10

"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than ourselves." Philippians 2:3

As much as the pounding waterfall is a beauty to behold, how much more the beautiful heart of one who chooses to seek the lowest point in life.  This choice points to the only Person who had a genuine right to be proud, but was not. It points to the One who willingly humbled Himself that He could one day lift us up.

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  Wherefore God also hat highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name:  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father."

Philippians 2:5-11

It is happy to go low, indeed.

Ellie on my Lap

 This morning, I was sitting in the Living Room, Glen was at his desk and Ellie was looking out the window.  As is her habit, she came over to sit on my lap.  I welcomed her up into my chair and into my lap, put aside what I was doing and just enjoyed having her so near me.  I also enjoyed her wanting to be so near me.

Ellie resting on my lap

When Ellie is resting on your lap, or across your legs, or snuggled up in a ball next to you, it is almost impossible to move.  First of all you don't want to move, and secondly, you don't want to disturb her.  Instead of moving, I want to rub those velvety ears, and stroke her soft back and listen to her soft, gentle snore.

Ellie knows that almost all of the time I am going to welcome her into my chair.  She knows that I am not going to make her do anything to sit on my lap, simply looking at me with those big, brown eyes is enough.  In fact, as I was typing this, that is exactly what she did.

She knows she is always welcome, she is always loved.

As she napped on my lap, I compared Ellie's relationship with me to my relationship to God.  I know from Scriptures that the Lord loves us to turn our attention to Him. 

"...the prayer of the upright is His delight." Proverbs 15:8

 Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only requirement to entering into fellowship with God.  We are welcomed anytime, anyplace.  There is nothing we have to do first to be accepted by Him because our faith in Christ has made us "accepted in the beloved" (Ephesians 1:6).

As I sat rubbing Ellie's ears and enjoying her nearness, I thought of all the times I
could have been giving the same sort of pleasure, in fact, delight, to the heart of God.  But I let other things, other distractions pull my attention from Him.  

I chose poorly.

 Of all the things I have a choice of doing, communing with the Lord of the Universe is one.  And I can do that while I do other things as well.  Why then do I fail so often to do so?  Perhaps I don't know well enough or understand or believe the joy that it brings to His heart.  Or perhaps I don't know well enough or understand or believe the great simplicity of communion with God.  Or I don't know well enough or understand or believe the great price our Lord Jesus Christ paid for me to have total and free access to the Throne of Grace.  My lack of knowledge, understanding and belief however, never changes the truth of the matter, God loves me and He wants me to freely come to Him anytime, anywhere about anything and everything. Like Ellie, I am always welcome, I am always loved.

"For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, 
and His ears are open unto their prayers:" 
1 Peter 3:12

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,

That we may obtain mercy,

and find grace to help in time of need."

Hebrews 4:16