THE CHRISTMAS LETTER

Dear all!

Merry Christmas! Yes, you might get surprised when you notice that there is a letter for you. It's a long time since we last heard from each other. You are getting older and I'm older.

Some of you have grown so much that you have begun loosing teeth. Some have started in school, while others are starting in 2nd, 3rd , 4th or 5th grade.

Time flies. I think anyway. Maybe you do not totally agree. Especially, just before Christmas time passes slowly. You have undoubtedly counted the days or asked any of your adults, how many days are left until Christmas Eve.

It can certainly be many things you do on the day. For some it is homework, play in the snow and much more. I do not hope that you do have so much to do that you do not get time to be with Jesus. It's not only each Christmas, we ought to remember him, or only every Sunday in Sunday School. Some think mostly about Jesus in the summer when they are on summer camps. If you are one of those that I have mentioned, you have to hurry to rectify this. Jesus, we have with us every day. For sure you can agree with me that even though we have very much to do, we always have time for what we want.

I hope you burn to learn to know Jesus better. You can do that by hearing about him, reading about him, and when you talk to him. Do you find this difficult? Yes, it often is difficult. Often, the problem is that we do not have time to talk to Jesus. But , remember what I said earlier: If you want something, you will find the time for it. Get up a little earlier in the morning before going to school. You and I just really need to pray and be with Jesus before we start each day. In fact we need to pray just as much as we need to eat. Do you think it is good when we rush off to school or work with a slice of bread in your hand? This is how it ends up often when we in a hurry rush off to school while we quickly rattle off some words up to Jesus.

No, get up earlier in order to read and pray a little before you have to go. I heard about a girl who stood up one full hour earlier in the morning to talk to Jesus. It was well done.

When you come from school, you won't easy finding the time to be with Jesus. There are your friends and what you have to do with them. What do you do with Jesus? When you have eaten, you run out, right? Then comes homework and Children's Hour etc. You 're thinking that you can read a little, when you lie down to sleep. But there you are usually so tired that sleep overpowers you, almost before your head has settled on the pillow.

Maybe you asked a little short prayer. No, this is not it good enough. Reading the Bible can be compared to eating while praying might be compared to drinking. You cannot live on water alone. You must also have food. Have you thought about this?

Today there are so many diseases that suddenly and without any warning can hit people. Many of these diseases can have a fatal outcome, so it is when it comes to our relationship with Jesus. There is so much that suddenly hits our hearts, that our life with Jesus dies. And what is the most tragic of all things is that quite often we do not even feel it before it is too late.

Yes, the days go by. But when will you get time for Jesus? Suddenly one day, we are old and we have forgotten Jesus. Jesus loves you and me. He calls us every day. He wants to be our best friend. But we often thrust him aside. Then one day Jesus stops calling on us. The Bible says that Jesus is not calling us indefinitely. We shut him out time and time again, so eventually he ceases to call.
Now I will tell you about the time I fled from Jesus.

When I was 11 I said yes to follow Jesus. It was in Sunday School. From that day something new came into my heart. There was not much I understood of what is written in the Bible then, stuffs that the adults talked about. But it became better as time went on. I certainly was unspeakably happy. I said it in school and with my friends. They quickly gave me the nickname "Missionary". Now, that did not mean that much to me. I was proud of it. I felt that Jesus wished that I should be a little missionary for him.

When I was 14, I was a teacher for my own Sunday School class. I loved to tell others about Jesus. I would also like to hear about him. When there was a meeting, I burned to come along. There was something inside of me that longed for the meeting.

I had two younger brothers and father worked in shift watches. Therefore, there should always be someone at home. It often happened that I went to the meeting all alone in the dark. But I just had to go. Sometimes, we also had meetings, where we prayed to Jesus. These were the best meetings. It was so good to talk to Jesus. There was no one else my age, but that did not keep me from coming. Do you think I felt good at heart? Yes, I promise you. But time passed and I got older. I knew that Jesus wanted me to work for him all day. When the children asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I never answered them. But inside me I knew - a missionary.

When I was big enough to go to work for the first time, I went to Oslo. I got a job in an office, and everything looked so good. But something happened that I never thought would happen. For the first time since I gave my life to Jesus, I did not tell my colleagues that I was a Christian. And it was a big fall away for me.

I cannot tell it all here, maybe another time, but as time went on, I got less and less time to Jesus. I felt how he kept calling me. Jesus reminded me every day about the oath that I had promised to serve him completely! It felt like toothache. You've probably tried that, and everyone knows that it is not particularly funny.

Everything ended up that I decided to leave home. I could not bear to stay at home where they prayed to Jesus. You can be sure that I regret what I did then. Yet Jesus did not become tired of me. I decided to advertise for a room in a newspaper. I wrote in the ad that I was a Christian youth. That was not entirely true, because I had denied Jesus in my heart. But I thought that it would be easier to get a room. I got 3 answers and then I took off one evening after work to look at these rooms. Finally, I could be free and do whatever I wanted. I thought I was happy, but my heart was crying. At the same time, I knew that my family at home prayd for me.

The first room was with an old woman. It was not that great. There is no closet but new blinds and 2 sockets, she said. I thought I might as well take this room, because it was in the middle of town. But when I went over to the window to look out, I was pretty shaken. You know what I saw? I was almost angry. Across the street we could see the back door of a parish, which was marked with "Bethlehem" on a sign. No, here I could not stay. I could not bear being reminded every day about Jesus, when I saw this sign.

So I went ahead with the bus. I found the second house and was very excited when I knocked on the door. There a man lived, who was renting a room. I was there alone with this stranger. But I was on the run from Jesus, so I had to risk it. But hear now: Jesus still had not forgotten me. Thus, it was in this room, the window faced the opposite side of where I had come in. So when I looked out through the window it said "Salem” in large letters on the opposite side of the road. No, this was not possible. I still today do not know how I came out of this house, but I had to hurry away. I understood that Jesus tried to stop me, but in stubborn opposition I continued. And both me and you know that there never comes anything good out of being stubborn.

Now I had one single home more to look at. When the taxi stopped outside the last address, I could see a church M, but it was so far away. Here was where I could stay. It was a very provincial-style room overlooking the city. The room was excellent, and I got a private entrance. I decided to stay here.

Then there was just left to go home and get your belongings. There was hardly a single object at home that reminded them of me when I took mine and left home. I took everything with me and my dad had to drive me.

I had lived in the house for about 14 days, and was slowly starting to like being there, but I did not feel well as the holders of the residence one evening invited me down to them. Some of their friends would come to visit them as well. I was happy to be invited. Then I got at least a cup of coffee. I was so hungry. My money didn't stretch so much. Happy and satisfied I went down at 7 o'clock pm. But again I was reminded, that Jesus was still very much alive and that he still wanted me to come back.. You know what kind of arrangement it was to be held that night. It was no ordinary party, but simply a prayer meeting. I did not know what to do with myself. All of a sudden the agony inside me felt very strong.

Now, do you see that it is not so easy to escape from Jesus? Try to think about how much I could have been spared if Jesus were allowed to be everything to me all the time. Remember that you cannot escape from Jesus.

You probably think how it got to go for me. Unfortunately I cannot tell you about everything in this letter. But it is only the love of God, which makes it possible to write to you today.

All the best. I will pray for you.

Do not forget Jesus. The best thing is to let Jesus be allowed to be the first in our lives.

Regards
Lív - Turid

Effie Campbell translated