In addition to the Bible, Lina read many books and magazines, both Swedish and foreign. In them, from time to time she got a look at her own writing.

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On one occasion, Lina, probably in an English magazine, read an allegory about a grandfather clock which suddenly stopped. The pendulum took on the blame. He was so tired of constantly swinging back and forth. The clock-face thought he was lazy, but he defended himself and asked her to imagine what it would be like if she, like him, were forced to be locked in a dark room and just go back and forth day by day, year from year.

 

The clock-face pointed out that the pendulum hadn't it so dark at all. He had a small window where he could look out. The pendulum answered that he did not have time to look through it. Then he acknowledged what had made him stop: He had calculated how many times he had to swing back and forth only for the next twenty-four hours. That would be eighty-six thousand four hundred times! When he had then multiplied the twenty-four hours by months and years, he had given up.

 

Then the clock-face admitted that he had a lot to do, but she wondered if it wasn't the  t h o u g h t  of the constant work that was so crippling or if the w o r k   i t s e l f  was hard. She asked him to swing back and forth six times. The pendulum agreed. The clock-face wondered if the movement was very tiring. No, but it wasn't about six times he complained, not even over sixty, but over millions.

 

The clock-face then thought that although he could think of the millions of times he would swing back and forth, it was only required one lap at a time and he had a moment at his disposal every time. The pendulum thought about what she had said and gave her right and then he began his patient work. It sounded tick tack, and the clock worked again!

 

This story forwarded Lina to the readers of the Cross Flower. She compared us people to the pendulum. We can also lose energy and courage when we think of everything difficult and overwhelming that lies ahead. We give up, because it feels like we can't do any more! We don't see any solution to the problems.

 

In the English Bible, Lina had found the verse "As your day is, so shall your power be". We don't have to worry about the future. We learn how to take just one day, a moment at a time. God is near to us, and He will strengthen us and give us strength to take us through the difficulty!

 

When Lina had come this far in mind, the song was born, which, closely followed by "Children of the Heavenly Father", would become the most loved and sung by her hymns: "Day by day and with each passing moment". The melody was written by the singer evangelist and troubadour Oscar Ahnfelt.

 

Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear.


He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.


Ev'ry day the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow'r.


The protection of His child and treasure
is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me He made.


Help me then in ev'ry tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation
Offered me within Thy holy word.


Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.

Tr. A.L. Skoog
Hymnary.org

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The song became very popular and sung in Denmark as well. At a sports competition in the Netherlands between a Dutch and a Danish team one would play Denmark's national anthem to pay tribute to the winning team. The Danes were very amazed when the orchestra sang "Day by day" in the belief that it was Denmark's national anthem.

 

When I think of "Day by day" I often think of a child. For who can as a child just take a moment at a time? Children live for the moment and do not worry about tomorrow. Here in the motif is a girl in the grass. She may have her first summer vacation. She has been running around barefoot and getting a little dirty under her feet. Now she has found her own strawberry spot and has stepped the strawberries on a straw.

But, look closely! She is not only in the grass. She rests in God's hand. From the cloud comes the symbol "God's strong hand" as contour lines in the green. How good getting rest in God's hand and know that "He gives unto each day what He deems best Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure, Mingling toil with peace and rest."

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We understand that God has "green fingers" when we see the enlightenment of nature. The glorious cross around the hand of God and the heart of God the Father are indicated in the green of the motif.

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At the end of the second verse, Lina wrote like this (but in Swedish):
 

He who carries for me a father's heart,
he gives to every newborn day
its fair share of joy and pain,

toil, rest and pleasure.

Tr. U.F.

The three words effort, rest and pleasure are included in the picture as follows:

Toil - the dandelions. Oh, how hard it is to get them away!

Rest - the girl lying in the grass and in God's hand.

Pleasure - the strawberries. Happiness is to have your own strawberry spot!