Linked By The Pen And The Savior

Linked By The Pen And The Savior

Their parting was bittersweet.

LARS AND MAREN STAVIG lived on a farm near Stavik, Norway, with their three children, Andrew, Hans, and Magnus. Lars’s father, a widower, had remarried and was raising a second family. Lars was especially close to his younger half brother, Knut, and half sister, Sirianna. But he knew there was no long-term future for him on the farm.

Lars and Maren made the difficult decision to go to America. In May 1876 their family and friends gathered to bid them farewell on the pier in Bergen, realizing that they would likely never see one another again.

In June 1876 the family arrived in Starbuck, Minnesota, and settled two miles north of town, where they farmed until 1884, when Lars learned that Day County in the Dakota Territory was opening up for homesteading. The family journeyed by ox-drawn covered wagon and settled in what is now northeastern South Dakota. Lars became a successful farmer on his 320 acres and was blessed with four more children, Peder, Edwin, Anna, and Louise, but he deeply missed his family back in Norway. They were linked by the letters they exchanged, their deep mutual faith in Jesus, and the hope of their reunion in heaven one day.

Eventually Lars sold his farm, retired, and went to live with one of his sons in Sisseton, South Dakota. There in his old age he continued to exchange letters with his brother and sister in Norway.

Sisseton, February 19, 1923

Old honorable brother, Knut Stavig,

I have received many greetings from you lately and I want to thank you for them.

Last summer I was very sick. I guess I was near death. I had two doctors who attended me and they did not think I had any chance of surviving. I have not been my old self since then but I thank God for each day that has passed.

I hope and trust that my Savior who paid so much for me has found a home for me in His Father’s house. He will come and bring us to Him and He does it all out of grace. . . .

I am sending you a small gift but it is too small to be of much help.

Live well.

Wishes from your brother,

Lars A. Stavig

Apparently Lars also sent some money to his half sister, Sirianna:

Aas, March 19, 1923

Good Brother,

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, He who hanged himself for our sins in order that He could free us from the evil in this world according to our God and Father’s Will. To Him be honor in all eternity! Amen. Oh, you wonderful God, you can bend hearts like a running brook, thanks and praise. So I will tell you that I received the letter March 7. I should go to Tornes but didn’t have any money. The hired girl should loan me a crown. Just then the mail came with a letter for me. I went in and opened the letter, but think, think, I was so overcome I had to cry. . . .

It is best to hold to the cross tree, to Jesus and ask for grace and compassion because He has said, “Call on me on the day of grace so I will set you free and you shall praise me.” I don’t have the strength by myself. It was Jesus who gave me everything good.

So I will thank you for remembering that we are brother and sister. Yes, we are after a kind father. Yes, he was kind. Blessed be his memory. We must get to meet him in heaven, there where all are happy. . . .

Friendly greetings from your sister,

Sirianna Aas

Reflection

How did the Stavig family’s faith help them deal with their separation? Do you look forward to meeting your loved ones in heaven?

There are many rooms in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you.

John 14:2