Thanksgiving

 The Americans are celebrating thanksgiving today. Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October, and although I am neither Canadian nor American, I am going out to eat a thanksgiving dinner with good friends tonight.

I know that my beautiful, American friend, Lauren, will ask us all what we are thankful for.

Here's my list:

I am thankful first of all for my Lord and Saviour. The fact that He died for me will never cease to amaze me. His grace has been sufficient for me in the past, and it will continue to be so in the future.

I am thankful for my wonderful family - my husband whom I love more than I can express. He takes care of me in every way possible.
I love our 3 daughters, all beautiful and sweet and giving us less to worry about than could have been expected.
I love our extended family - every niece and nephew, every aunt and uncle.

I am thankful for good friends - both close and far away, friends who have supported me, encouraged me and sometimes even lifted me up in prayer when I really needed it - often before I even knew to ask!

I am thankful for having a job - although I moan and whine about it. Considering the number of unemployed teachers, I am thankful that I still have my job.
And least, but not last, I am thankful for my church family. They challenge me, support me and continually love me. I am a blessed woman.








Check out Lauren's blog (if you dare) on: www.ladaisi.blogspot.com

It's tough being a woman

... that's the subtitle to a Bible study on Esther, by Beth Moore. I would love to do a real study on it sometime, but right now, I am just breezing through it, sniffing up whatever stands out and seems to call to me.

And yes it IS tough being a woman, but I really don't like whining. Whining will get you no where in my book. I tend to be the "suck it up" type of woman, but time and time again, I fall into the whining pit myself.

I honestly think that being alive is tough. Being a human is tough. Whatever path you are on, life will be tough on you every now and then. And tha't why a study on Esther could come in handy. It could be enlightening to hear from some else how they got through tough times. And believe me, Esther knew tough times.

So far, the study has talked to me about standing in the shadow of other women - how hard that can be, trying to live up to someone elses standards and merits. And it dawned on me slowly that often, I stand in the fictive shadow of others. I never ask about their expectations, I just assume that I know what they expect of me. I assume that others expect me to be like so-and-so, but I never ask if that is true.

What a sorry burden I put on myself, and I have a feeling I am not the only one to do this. Take a minute or two to reflect on this... whose shadow are you in? Is it real or just based on your own assumptions?

Dejlige efterårsting - Things I love about autumn!

Regn på min rude
Rain on the window

Græskar og de flotte, orange farver
Pumpkins and their beautiful colour

Paraplyer - især de med farver!
Umbrellas - especially the colourful ones.

Varm kakao - hot chocolate

Kastanjer - chestnuts

Stearinlys - candles

Bagte æbler med marcipan - baked apples with marcipan

Æbletærte - applepie!

Dampende varm kaffe - steaming coffee. 

God ild i brændeovnen - a good fire.

Midnight thoughts

I'm doing it again. The house is quiet, the kids tucked in, and I really ought to be sleeping. But my man is out of town, and my head is churning thoughts like my life depended on it! So here I am - awake. Writing in the early hours of the coming night. Trying to straighten out my hyperactive mind.

I had a conversation the other day that brought a drop of clarity and a glimmer of hope to me. I spoke with a women whom I know to be an ordained priest, but frustrated with what she defines as the "closed-box thinking" of the state church, she now works different projects and found time to see me. I am really glad she did.
It's no secret I have been down the last few weeks, feeling somewhat suffocated by my work situation and feeling a lack of recognition for what I honestly feel is good work on my part. So I sought out this particular woman because I had a hunch that she would know what to ask me about.
And she did.

...what I really long for, is for my life to be more 

than a desire to follow in the footsteps of Christ. 

And during our conversation, it once again dawned on me, that what I really long for, is for my life to be more than a desire to follow in the footsteps of Christ. That I still think of making a difference in the world as a matter of finding the right calling. It suddenly became so clear to me, that if Jesus was to physically set foot in my workplace, he wouldn't struggle with the same emotions as I do. He wouldn't really care about rules and regulations and following procedures. He would look at the children and their parents and see their needs - and he would start meeting those needs! He would act instead of placing himself in a position of holy waiting - like I so often do, as I think many of us do! We believe we must act, but only when God says go... but in reality, God sad go about 2000 years ago, as Jesus drew his last breath on the cross.

I want my life to be like this:  reaching out as naturally as breathing. Bringing healing like I was fetching a cup of water. Offering prayer like I was administering ointments or placing bandaids over playground battle wounds. And I long to be in a place where I don't have to worry about rules and regulations, so I am still scanning the job adds, hoping to come across a job where making a difference concurrently will enable me to bring home a paycheck.
Why?
Beacuse I am still a mother with responibilities, bills and wishlists. Because in my neck of the woods, I cannot afford to leave the breadwinning to my husband and join the too-small corps of volunteers. So, that's my challenge for the next while.

Now it's time to turn off my computer, turn off the lights and the thoughts in my head. I need to sleep. Tomorrow brings with it what ever it will, and I need to be ready.

"We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek." Hebrews 6:18-20


I have run to God for my life, time and time again. I have turned to him innumerable times, and I will continue to do so for the rest of my life.
A Finnish friend of mine just wrote an e-mail to me today, explaining some difficulties the Finns are experiencing right now, both in the Christian body as a whole, but also on a more personal level. "There's a battle going on..." she wrote.
I have to agree. I feel the throes of spiritual warfare around me. I am aware that I am a threat to the powers of darkness around me. I have declared my dependency on God, my loyalty and devotion to Him. But I have hope in Christ. I have a future in Christ, and nothing can take that away from me! I have an unbreakable spiritual lifeline - or an anchor, as the Danish translation says - that holds me fast when the waves around me start breaking. 
Jesus is my hope. Jesus is my saviour. He's my healer and my comforter. He's the solid rock on which I stand. I derive my value from him, I found my identity on what His word says about me. I know I was longed for, wished for and planned.


What is Jesus to you? If you don't know him on a personal level, I invite you to ask Him to reveal himself to you. Let Him show you all that he is, and let him be your unbreakable spiritual lifeline!

...and I will fall at your feet and worship you here...

I just wanted to share this beautiful song with you. We sang it at a women's conference I recently attended. It was beautiful!

A grapevine of goodness

Outside my terrace door, a beautiful grapevine climbs the yellow brick wall. During winter, it is bare, displaying thin, dry branches quietly echoing summers fertile state. It withers, more or less, and if I didn't know any better, I would have thought it was dead and void of life. 
But every spring, something amazing happens - small buds begin to appear, pushing through the dry bark of the thin brances. Sap begins to flow again, turning the dry, lifeless vine into a flourishing plant. In amazingly short time, the buds unfold to become lush, green leaves. As the summer sun travels across the sky, small, green grapes begind to grow and develop. 
Currently, I am waiting for them to turn dark purple. With the right amount of sun, warmth and water, they will mature and become the sweetest, most delicious grapes.
In many ways, that is how I envision the influence of christians to be in a hurting world. I long to see people tap into the root of all good things - Christ himself. I long to see people discover their true value and identity, to see them bud and bloom and unfold into beautiful individuals. I long to see fruit develop and mature, and to experience that fruit provide sweetness and nourishment to others in need. 
I dream of a living movement of men and women who cannot help but to reach out to others - women helping women in the line at the grocery store, men offering prayer at the workplace or at the gas station,  teenagers offering a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on. I long for the body of Christ to unfold itself  like a grapevine of goodness, spreading blessings, healings and sweetness into dark places.
Let your faith flow through you like the sap of the grapevine. Be attentive to the voice of the Spirit, guiding you as to how and to whom you may make a difference. Find courage in knowing that you are not alone, that the King of kings is with you and delighted at the efforts you put into extending his grace. 
I, for my part, am still learning, still trying, still praying to  hear His voice clearer and clearer. Take heart, my friend - and let yourself slowly grow like the grapevine, joining in with all the other grapevines spreading the goodness of Christ.

En smuk vinranke slynger sig op ad den gule mur udenfor min terrasse dør. Om vinteren er den ikke andet end bare, tynde og tørre grene, der lydløst minder om sommerens frugtbare tilstand. Den visner, mere eller mindre, og hvis jeg ikke vidste bedre, ville jeg have troet, at den var død.

Men hvert forår sker der noget fantastisk - små knopper begynder at dukke op, de skubber sig ud gennem den tørre bark på de tynde grene. Saften begynder at flyde igen, og forandrer den tørre, livløse vin til en blomstrende plante. På forbløffende kort tid, folder knopperne sig ud og bliver til frodige, grønne blade. I takt med at  sommersolen rejser hen over himlen, begynder de små, grønne druer at vokse og udvikle sig.

I øjeblikket venter jeg på, at de ændrer sig fra grønne og umodne, til modne og mørke lilla. Med den rette mængde sol, varme og vand, vil de modne og bliver til de sødeste, mest velsmagende druer.
På mange måder er det sådan, jeg forestiller de kristnes indflydelse bør være i en skadet verden. Jeg længes efter at se mennesker blive forbundet med udspringet af alt godt - nemlig Kristus selv. Jeg længes efter at se folk opdage deres sande værdi og identitet,  at se dem spire og blomstre og udfolde sig til smukke individer. Jeg længes efter at se frugten udvikles og modnes, og til at opleve, at denne frugt giver sødme og næring til andre i nød.
Jeg drømmer om en levende bevægelse af mænd og kvinder, der ikke kan lade være med at række ud til andre - kvinder der hjælper kvinder i køen ved købmanden, mænd der tilbyder bøn på arbejdspladsen eller på tankstationen, teenagere der tilbyder et lyttende øre og en skulder at græde ud ved. Jeg længes efter at Kristi legeme må udfolde sig som en vinranke, fyldt med godhed, der spreder velsignelser, helbredelser og sødme i mørke steder.
Lad din tro flyde gennem dig, som den livgivende saft i vinranken. Vær opmærksom på Åndens røst, som vejleder dig om, hvordan og for hvem du kan gøre en forskel. Find mod i at vide, at du ikke er alene, at kongernes Konge er med dig, og at han glæder sig over den indsats du gør for at dele hans nåde med andre.
Jeg, for min del,  er stadig i færd med at lære, jeg forsøger stadig at gøre det gode, jeg  beder stadig om at høre hans stemme tydeligere og tydeligere. Fat mod, min ven - og lad dig selv langsomt vokse som den gode vinranke. Sammen kan vi være den gode vinranke, og være fælles om at sprede Guds godhed.