I wrote the following story on friday and saturday, to read aloud on Story Telling Evening at my school. Now I can share it with you, too. And if you like, you can help me find a title for it ;) - Please enjoy...

Det var aften og jeg sad hos Maria, den gamle enke, som jeg havde fået lov at bo hos, mens mine forældre havde et ærinde nogle dagsrejser  nordpå. Vi var fra Jerusalem og Marias hus lå i Betania. Først havde jeg følt mig skidt tilpas ved udsigten til at skulle tilbringe flere dage alene sammen med en fremmed. Ved første øjekast havde Maria lignet en affældig, gammel og fattig kvinde, der var klar til at stille træskoene hvad øjeblik, det skulle være. Hvad i alverden skulle jeg gøre, hvis jeg vågnede en morgen og opdagede, at hun var død?

            Men nu var den første dag gået, og jeg var ikke længere så betænkelig. Der var mere liv i Maria end man skulle tro. Jeg var fulgt med hende på markedet og hun var helt frisk i hovedet og ordnede alting selv. Jeg måtte nærmest kæmpe for, at få lov at hjælpe til i huset, som min mor havde formanet mig strengt til at gøre. Og det virkede som om, at alle, der kendte Maria, havde stor respekt for hende.

            Selvom jeg ikke var meget for, at indrømme det, så havde jeg faktisk hygget mig i hendes selskab den dag. Hun havde en humor, der på samme tid var stikkende og kærlig, og anderledes end andre gamle menneskers. Og der var ligesom bare noget usædvanligt ved hende, som gjorde, at jeg godt kunne lide hende.

            Og nu sad vi så her på taget af det lille hus. Det var en lun aften og vi havde lige spist. Mørket var begyndt at falde på. Over os dukkede stjernerne frem, en efter en, på den dybblå himmel. En lav mur dækkede for udsynet til den stille gade.

            ”Sara, lad mig fortælle dig en historie,” sagde Maria så, med et mystisk smil på læben, mens hun satte sig godt tilrette mellem puderne. Jeg fulgte hendes eksempel og lyttede. Hendes smil lyste hendes ansigt helt op. Hun måtte have været meget smuk da hun var yngre.

            ”Det er ikke en historie, som jeg fortæller til alle og enhver,” fortsatte hun. ”Faktisk er det rigtig mange år siden, jeg sidst har fortalt den til nogen. Men det var noget, jeg oplevede dengang jeg var på din alder, eller måske et par år ældre. Nu skal du høre.

            Engang skete det, at min bror blev meget alvorligt syg. Han, min søster og jeg boede alene i et hus kun et lille stykke herfra, hvor vi sidder nu. Vi havde ikke haft nogen forældre siden jeg var en ganske lille pige. Min bror sørgede for os, og han var også den ældste. Hvor vi elskede ham højt, min søster og jeg, og vi havde også brug for ham. Derfor blev vi meget bekymrede, da han blev syg. Vi havde ikke råd til at tilkalde en læge, men det ville sikkert heller ikke have været til megen gavn. Nogle af dem, vi kendte i byen sagde, at de havde set den sygdom før, og at det som regel var ude med ofrene i løbet af ganske få dage og at lægen ikke havde kunnet stille noget op.

            Men vi kunne ikke bare sidde og lade ham dø uden at gøre noget. Og nu var det sådan, at min bror havde en nær ven, som på det tidspunkt befandt sig i Galilæa. Han var tit kommet for at besøge os tre søskende her i Betania. Vi holdt alle meget af ham. Han var heller ikke helt almindelig. Han gjorde tit ting, som ellers virkede til at være helt umulige for andre mennesker. Og vi vidste, at hvis nogen kunne og ville hjælpe os nu, så var det ham. Om ikke andet, så ville det være rart at have vores bedste ven i nærheden, når bekymringerne på den måde tårnede sig op. Jeg mente også, at han sikkert gerne ville være til stede, hvis min bror virkelig skulle dø.”

            Her holdt Maria en pause. Hun så ud i luften foran sig, som om billeder svævede for hendes øjne, som jeg ikke kunne se. Selv stirrede jeg på hende i dyb forundring. Jeg havde på fornemmelsen, at jeg vist allerede kendte denne historie. Men den måde Maria fortalte den på, var så anderledes og smuk og fantastisk, at jeg næsten ikke turde tro det. Jeg var utålmodig efter, at hun skulle fortsætte, men turde ikke bryde tavsheden. Efter nogle øjeblikke, fortsatte hun endelig.

            ”Martha og jeg havde en stor diskussion om, hvor vidt, vi skulle sende bud efter min brors ven eller ej. Martha ville gerne gøre det, såvel som jeg, men hun var betænkelig på hans vegne fordi han havde skaffet sig fjender blandt farisæerne i Jerusalem, der fejlagtigt anklagede ham for gudsbespottelse. Vi vidste selv, at han aldrig ville spotte Gud, for vi havde ofte lyttet til hans undervisning og troede også på ham som mere end blot en lærer. Men hvis han kom i nærheden af Jerusalem igen, ville de måske tage ham og stene ham. Det kunne være meget farligt, og Martha kunne ikke få sig selv til, at bede ham om, at komme hertil og dermed sætte sit liv på spil.

            Men jeg kunne være frygtelig stædig, og jeg blev ved med at råbe og diskutere, at hun skulle sende bud efter ham. Jeg ved ikke hvorfor, men jeg vidste bare, at det var det rigtige at gøre. Hvis bare han kom, ville alt blive godt, lige meget, hvad der ellers skete. Til sidst kunne hun ikke længere holde mit skrigeri ud, og sendte så bud til ham.

            Han ville kunne være der i løbet af fire dage, regnede vi med. Så nu var der ikke andet at gøre end at vente, mens vi tog os af vores bror, og håbe på at han ville få det bedre og at hans ven ville komme, inden det var for sent. Bekymringen lå, som en skygge over både min søster og mig. Vi sagde ikke meget til hinanden i de dage, for vi vidste hver især hvad den anden gik og tænkte på. Ind imellem kom nogle bekendte forbi for, at se til os og tilbyde deres hjælp. Men de kunne jo ikke gøre mere, end vi selv kunne.

            Tiden gik langsomt, og jeg sad for det meste for mig selv og spekulerede. Jeg var bange for, hvad der ville ske, hvis min bror døde. Vi var i forvejen temmelig fattige, men vi klarede os. Men Martha og jeg ville ikke kunne forsørge os selv. Og ingen af os var forlovede. Der var ingen andre til at tage sig af os, end vores bror. Tanken om, hvordan vores liv ville blive, hvis han døde, gjorde mig meget bange.

            Derfor havde jeg også selv lyst til at dø, da Martha vækkede mig om natten, efter at de første to dage var gået, og fortalte mig, at vores bror ikke længere levede. Jeg følte mig som forstenet. Men jeg stod op og fulgte efter Martha ind, hvor vores bror lå. Jeg kunne ikke tro, at han virkelig var død fra mig, så jeg rakte min hånd ud og rørte ved ham, som han lå der i sin seng og så ud som om han sov. Men det var sandt. Der var ikke mere liv i hans krop. Så satte jeg mig ved hans side og græd og græd, og det gjorde Martha også.

            De næste dage var forfærdelige. Der kom mange folk fra byen og græd med os og forsøgte at trøste os. Først var det som om mit hoved slet ikke fungerede. Mine tanker kørte enten i ring eller stod helt stille. Jeg var vist ikke til meget hjælp for Martha, der var nødt til at tage sig af alting selv. Hun sørgede, sammen med nogle af gæsterne, for at vores bror blev begravet. Hun tog sig også af mig. Jeg sad mest bare inde i huset og kunne ikke tage mig sammen til noget som helst; hverken at spise eller stå op om morgenen eller gå i seng om aftenen. Martha måtte hjælpe mig med det hele, ligesom dengang vi var små.

            Der begyndte først at komme liv i mig efter et par dage, hvor jeg sad og lyttede til nogle af de sørgende gæster, der talte om, at Martha jo havde sendt bud efter vores brors ven, og at han nok snart ville være her. Det opmuntrede mig lidt midt i sorgen. Faktisk begyndte jeg at længes stærkt efter at han skulle komme. Han havde altid været så god mod os. Men samtidig blev jeg også vred på ham. Hvorfor havde han ikke været der, da det var allermest nødvendigt? Det var måske urimeligt at tænke sådan, men jeg havde ikke kontrol over mine følelser.

            Jeg sad resten af dagen og ventede på, at han ville komme, men det gjorde han underligt nok ikke. Og han kom heller ikke den næste dag. Det forstod jeg ikke. Jeg havde regnet fuldt og fast med, at han ville komme, når han fik at vide, at hans nære ven var syg. Måske var han ikke den, jeg troede han var. Måske var han ligeglad med os?

            Den næste formiddag kom der endelig nogle og fortalte, at han var på vej. Han var kun lige lidt udenfor byen. Martha gik med dem ud for at tage imod ham, men jeg blev siddende indenfor og mærkede hvordan vreden ulmede i mig. Min bror havde været død i fire dage, og ny syntes hans såkaldte ven åbenbart det var på tide, at dukke op! Jeg var både vred, såret og forarget, så jeg blev siddende hvor jeg var, i stedet for at følge med Martha ud for at tage imod ham.

            Efter en halv times tid kom min søster tilbage. Hun kom hen, lagde en hånd på min skulder og hviskede til mig, at min brors ven kaldte på mig. Så rejste jeg mig og gik derud, for at sige til ham, hvad jeg syntes om hans opførsel. Jeg var ligeglad med, at Martha sikkert ville blive gal på mig bagefter.

            Jeg gik så hen ad vejen, og Martha og dem, der havde siddet hos mig derhjemme, fulgte med. Men da jeg kom hen til ham, var det som om, jeg havde glemt hvem han egentlig var, men jeg kom i tanke om det igen, nu, hvor jeg så ham stå foran mig. Min vrede forsvandt, som ved et vindpust og jeg forstod, at jeg bare skulle være tålmodig. Jeg knælede ned foran ham og vendte ansigtet mod jorden, for jeg vidste, at han var klar over, at jeg havde tænkt dårlige tanker om ham, og håbede, at han ville tilgive mig for det.

            ”Herre, havde du været her, var min bror ikke død,” sagde jeg og græd, for jeg forstod stadig ikke, hvorfor han ikke var kommet i tide. Senere fortalte Martha mig, at hun havde sagt præcis de samme ord til ham. Han sagde ikke noget, men så bare på mig med et kærligt og trøstende blik. Så gik han med hurtige skridt hen til dem, der var fulgt efter mig og spurgte dem, hvor min brors grav var. Han begyndte også at græde, og det kunne ikke gå hurtigt nok, med at komme derhen. Alle kunne se, at han virkelig holdt af min bror.

            Så stod vi der i en halvcirkel omkring den klippehule, hvor graven var. Der var en stor sten for åbningen. Så sagde min brors ven noget, som gav både min søster og jeg et chok. Han sagde: ”Tag stenen væk!”

            Martha protesterede kraftigt og jeg blev også urolig. Hvorfor ville han åbne graven? Han var jo selv kommet for sent. Alt for sent.

            Så gik hen hen til Martha og talte til hende, og det var kun mig, der stod tæt nok på, til at høre, hvad han sagde: ”Har jeg ikke sagt dig, at hvis du tror, skal du se Guds herlighed?”

            Det var sandt, at han havde sagt det før. Han havde også sagt det til mig og mange andre, som han havde undervist i vores hus. Men jeg forstod ikke, hvorfor han sagde det nu. Hvordan skulle man kunne se Guds herlighed i en åben grav? Det var lige før, jeg havde lyst til at give farisæerne ret i, at han spottede Gud. Men Martha gav mændene lov til at rulle stenen til side på hans befaling. Det var det mest uhyggelige øjeblik, jeg havde oplevet, da de skubbede den væk og den mørke hule kom til syne. Hvis der ikke havde stået så mange mennesker rundt om mig, var jeg nok løbet væk, fordi jeg var så bange for, hvad jeg skulle få at se.

            Men min brors ven var ikke bange. Han stod lige foran åbningen, med lukkede øjne, og ventede på, at stenen blev rullet helt til side. Da det var sket, løftede han blikket mod himlen og bad. Jeg kan ikke længere huske ordene i hans bøn, men han kaldte Gud for sin far, ligesom han altid gjorde, og sagde vi også skulle gøre, og hans bøn var fuld af taknemlighed, og han bad for os, der stod der.

            Da han var færdig med at bede, sænkede han blikket igen og kiggede ind i hulens mørke. Så råbte han min brors navn. ”Lazarus, kom herud!”

            Og det skete virkelig. Min bror trådte ud af graven, i live, som om han aldrig havde været syg. Han vaklede først frem, helt fortumlet, men inden længe havde vi fået løst ham ud af alle linnedstrimlerne og forklaret i munden på hinanden, hvad der var sket. Alle, der havde set det, blev slået af forundring og de takkede og tilbad min brors ven. Selv var jeg så glad at jeg flere gange måtte gå hen og tage fat i min bror, for at være helt sikker på, at han virkelig var i live.

            Jesus blev hos os den dag og tog del i vores glæde over, at have fået Lazarus tilbage. Om aftenen sad han og snakkede med os om Guds rige. Jeg kan huske, at jeg ville ønske, at han kunne blive hos os meget længere, men han måtte videre til Efraim på grund af farisæerne. ”Men en dag, Maria,” sagde han, da han tog afsked med os den næste morgen, ”en dag skal vi bo i min Faders hus til evig tid. Jeg skal nok gå i forvejen og gøre alt klart til, at I kommer.””

            Nu havde Maria fortalt sin historie til ende. Jeg vidste ikke, hvad jeg skulle sige, men sad bare i dybe tanker. Det var blevet helt mørkt nu og månen var kommet frem. Den gamle kone lod mig sidde alene og trippede nedenunder for at gå i seng. Gad vide om mine forældre vidste, hvilken Maria, de havde afleveret mig hos? Tænk, at det var hende, som der stod skrevet om i Skrifterne. At hun virkelig havde mødt Jesus, frelseren selv.

            Inden jeg tog hjem til Jerusalem, spurgte jeg Maria om lov til at komme på besøg igen. Det sagde hun ja til, hvilket gjorde mig meget glad, for hun havde helt sikkert mange flere historier at fortælle om Jesus.

You can find the text of the true story related by the apostle John in his gospel, chapter 11.

Yup, the widget in the right hand module says it all... November 1st is soon upon us. And the last few weeks, the strangest thoughts and schemes have been showing up in my mind. It is time for preparation and recruiting. Bible School could turn out to be the perfect setting. Yes, brethren, it is time for

Denmark did not win the olympics in handball. But they did more than okay. I am proud of our boys!

I have been at home these four days for various reasons. It has been... strange. It is nice to be with family and all, but when I just got used to life at school, four days is just too long to spend at home. I have to admit, that I am a little bored.

Anyway, we had a family trip yesterday, where we went to Mandø, this tiny island on the west coast. It was a quite good day. A lot of us got sunburnt - ouch! So right now I am nearly the same colour as a strawberry in my face. And my nose hurts, *sniff*.

We ate great food and cake too. But the best part was, that my cousin and her boyfriend got this cute little puppy, only 10 weeks old! It was a Danish-Swedish Wood dog, and it was just so adorable! She had the tiniest little nose and eyes and ears and the prettiest little face altogether. Just look at her:



My cousin took three years to persuade her boyfriend that they should have a dog, ha ha. When I get my own place, I am definitely going to have one too! If I have a boyfriend at that time, I hope he agrees.

Anyway, what more exciting things have been going on in Bible School? Last week we went on a trip to Copennhagen. We visited the Jewish Synagogue, went on a sightseeing-sailing trip through the harbours, visited the Danish Bible Institute, ate ice cream at ParadIS and then some visited Christiania and some went wall climbing. I chose wall climbing, thinking "hey, here is something challenging, that I haven't tried before!". And I am telling you, it was a cool experience...! The wall was situated right beside a street in central Copenhagen, so people that were walking by, would stop and look at you :). It was 18 metres tall and in the top was a horn, that you could squeeze, to signal you had made it to the top. That day was quite good!

Other than that, there has mostly been normal days with classes in the daytime and fun and hanging in the evening. Those kind of days are really good too! I am making some friends and things are going well. On wednesdays we have Bible Group, where we gather in a small group in our own rooms and read a portion of scripture, that we talk over and pray for each other. I really like those hours. I also like that everyday life happens in a lower gear, so I can relax some more and have time to read and do stuff, that I just like to do.

I am gonna catch you later ;)

Whoa, have I been busy these last few weeks. Luckily, it has been mostly social events and not work. Actually, I don't know where to begin, if I should tell you about everything. Well, about two weeks ago, I attended my grandmother's birthday. It was a good day. We went to the usual restaurant and had dinner and ice cream. Our family is so regular there, that the waiter was joking with us about our talent for eating huge amounts of ice cream. Later in the afternoon, we went to my grandmother's house to have coffee, hang out and eat a bread-supper, like usually. I talked a great deal with my cousin, who had brought his iphone and macbook. Cool! And everyone was looking at my other cousin's two huge photo albums, which she had filled with awesome pictures from her three month motorbike trip through Australia. She even found an Australian boyfriend there, who looks sort of hot, :).

Wil and I made a trip to the Netherlands last weekend. Here is a link to the album with 23 photos of our trip. We took Friday off and drove off from the south of Jutland at 4am (so early!!!). We were at her grandparents' house in Groningen about 10am. This was our base for the weekend. They were really nice. The grandfather did not speak English and her grandmother did only poorly, so I did not do most of the talking. Luckily I can pick a Dutch word up or two, and every now and then Wil would sum up, what had been discussed.

Pretty house just outside Groningen, NL.

On Saturday, we visited her mother's sister and her husband. For dinner, we ate a strange mix of french fries and Dutch frikadels, along with various kinds of dips and sauces. Their eldest son was visiting during his lunch hour. A really great guy, but unfortunately already taken, :). Later in the day, we went into a small town for a town festival. There were some show dancers, who were performing in the street; they were really good. And later still we went into the city, where Wil's other cousin joined us, to eat at the funniest, best restaurant I have ever been to! It was a pancake-boat :D. It was a boat floating on a channel in Groningen, and on the inside, it was made into a snug restaurant. All menus involved a pancake and then it had different fillings. I chose the one with Greek style filling. When the food arrived, it turned out to be HUGE. And actually we had done nothing but eat all day. So I was like “I'm never gonna get through that!” But I did eat up, even though it took me averagely ten minutes longer than everyone else. I was full when I was halfway through, and I usually stop eating at that point, but it just tasted too GOOD! That restaurant really had atmosphere. I hope it was not the last time I ate there.

Wil's cousin's pancake: Ice cream, whipped cream, sugar fried apple.

Later in the evening, we went back home to the grandparents to watch the european football match of the evening: Netherlands against Russia. (We have European Cup going on over here). Sadly the Netherlands lost big time to Russia, :(.

In the Netherlands, they are crazy about football, and not afraid to show it. This was the craziest house we saw, though. It was all covered in orange, the colour of the Dutch team!

On Sunday, we slept in, until we realised that visitors were coming soon. Then we hurried into the shower, ha ha. After lunch, we decided to get on our way back to Denmark. It was good that we left early, because it rained most of the day, so the trip took longer. At times, it was raining so hard, that we had to make stops and wait till it got softer. So, yeah, a long day. We spent the night at our parents' homes to cut off 1½ hours off the driving time, which we took the next morning, very early.

I was at the doctor's, to get a vaccination on Monday. On Tuesday I slept an hour too late.

On Wednesday, we had the last meeting in our youth group before the summer break. We had a grill party at this WONDERFUL, big old house outside of the city. We had a great time. I totally fell in love with that house. And the family's dog. We had a great time, and ended the evening at 11pm after singing and scripture reading. I think I will do a photo video of that meeting, like I did of the camp, that we had.

Thursday Wil and I had dinner at Heidi's. She recently graduated as a kindergarten teacher. I arrived at 5pm, straight from work, and within 5 minutes asked her, if I could have a nap on her couch. An hour later I woke up, when the other two guests arrived, Wil and M. That was a good nap.

Today my co-worker gave me flowers, because she is going on her holidays and is not coming back before my job ends. It was very strange. I can't quite believe, that I am not going to work with her again. Or have great conversations on the train every day. She is good at those. I took the flowers home, to brighten up my living room through the weekend.

When I entered the train station on my way home, I was making good time. There was a cat on the stairs, and I stopped to stroke it and talk to it, like I do with almost all cats. It was very "talkative", so, great success there. Then a lady came walking down the stairs, and the cat ran after her, to see if she would talk too, but apparently she was too busy, because she did not even look at it. Then came a tall soldier walking, a little bit slower. I thought one thought and it was: "That soldier is going to ignore the cat too, for sure. A tough guy like that, would not care about a stray cat." But just as soon as I had thought that thought, the complete opposite happened. The man in the military uniform stopped on the stairs, bent down on his hunches and stroked the cat very lovingly. That was when my heart melted. Thank you, soldier, for proving me wrong.

When I was on the train a little bit later, we suddenly stopped in the middle of nowhere. As it happened, there had been a bomb threat to the train station in my city, and the police had stopped all train traffic. So everyone was stuck in that train for about an hour longer than expected. I am happy it was not 3 or 4 hours, like you hear some people tell about. But my patience was tried. I had really been looking forward to get home and do nothing for the first time in ages. Still, this break resulted in me reading a christian youth magazine, that I had been carrying around in my backpack for days without opening. There is a purpose behind everything that happens, and I walked out of there pretty content.

This evening, Wil and I watched "Bridge to Terabithia". I was a really. good. movie. Watch it, is all I can say. It was definitely better than I expected. The best children's movie I have seen for a very long time.

It was awesome to have both Wil and my mother here for the weekend. Wil is so helpful and considerate. The birthday party went well, everyone had a good time. Sadly some people left early, because they were tired, but there's nothing to do about that. Alexander agreed to adopt my mega-plant, which I thought he would. He is picking it up today. We decided to name it Freddy. I chose him as the adopter because I remembered his genuine enthusiasm for it, the first time he set eyes on it. I am giving it away because it was always too big for my apartment, and it needed more light than I could give it. It will be much better at Alexander's. He has more of both space and light.

Sunday morning I packed down three boxes of books and stuff from my shelves. One box goes with me to Bible School later, the other two goes into hibernation at my mother's or sister's house. My shelves have long been overstuffed, so actually it was quite a relief to get some of it out. It will be great to move out completely also, even though a few things hold me back.

The first thing is, that it means that my time with Refleks is coming to a close. Secondly it means that the time when Wil and I have to part, will be very near. The third thing is, that I am going to leave this beautiful city behind. Who knows what will happen in that next year? Will I ever be coming back? Will I find a job as good as the one I have now?

These are three huge things that I have to let go of. But I know that it is necessary to do so. It is necessary to move forwards, and my time here is ending, at least for now.

The last few days Wil and I have been enjoying each other's company very much. It is just so great to sit in each our end of the couch with our legs up and cuddling in a blanket, while watching movies. And to drink tea and eat leftover birthday cake. And just talk.

Last night we had a really long and intimate talk. It is just amazing what these kind of talks can do to you. One should be required to have them once a week. They're golden.

I feel very attached to Wil. We understand each other so well and we have so many personality traits in common. And there are hundreds of things that I can learn from her and she can learn from me. She gives me so much joy. Plus, she is addicted to writing, and she is a quite talented writer. I don't have any other really close friends, that are like that. So it rocks.

Today I took a day off work. I really needed a long sleep, and some peace and quiet to get everything back together. Tonight I am leading our youth group meeting, and there are two other youth groups from other organizations visiting us. There is going to be a lot of people, and I was a little nervous about it, but thanks to a day with a lot of spare time, I finally feel prepared for it.

I almost forgot some great news, that I was going to tell you... Guess what?


Wil was born in The Netherlands and has a lot of family there. Yesterday she told me, that she wanted to take a trip down there to see some of her kin, because it could be years before she had the chance to go there again. And then she asked me to come with her! I was so thrilled I couldn't keep my voice down.

My excitement has three main reasons: Firstly that I get to travel to a country I have never seen before. I love traveling to other countries. Secondly that it will be Wil and I on a roadtrip - so great! And thirdly, that I get to go with a member of Wil's family to The Netherlands. This I have always longed for ever since I first got to know that family, which is nine years ago this autumn. It was her sister that I first got to know at boarding school, then her parents from visits. Their parents are wonderful people. And it is unfair, that they are moving to Canada soon.

This afternoon I visited Wil at her work. It was oddly satisfactory to see the place she had been telling me about time and time again. She sits in the reception of a car rental company, and in the quiet hours she has a lot of time, that she spends writing. Last november her boss even let her sit and write her NaNoWriMo novel at work. How cool is that? Anyway, this morning she had started a new short story, and she let me read it while she was there. It was a great time.

Talk to you later. Thank you so much for keeping up with me.