When their babydaughter was born on October 3, 1832, the Rev. Jonas Sandell at the Froderyd, Sweden church and his wife named her Karolina Wilhelmina Sandell. Early on, her nickname of Lina stuck with her.
Lina became paralyzed and confined to her bed at age 12. The physicians gave her no hope for healing of any kind. Her parents and Lina herself believed God would restore her health. So they prayed. While her family was at church, Lina read about Jesus' raising Jairus' daughter. From the situations' similarities, she reasoned if Jesus could heal that little girl then, he could heal her now. She prayed with greater enthusiasm. Her being was filled with "great joy," and she got up and dress herself and then walked to church with the others. From the healing experience, Lina grew a faith with deep love and gratitude to God that later conquered any troubles or sorrows.
Lina wrote at an early age, meditations, journals, and devotionals for periodicals and calendars; however, her largest contributions were her songs. One of her earliest was "Children of the Heavenly Father." In the Swedish Evangelical National Foundation first hymnal, Lina Sandell contributed 126 hymns.
Another incident changed her life. While she and her father road on a boat across Lake Vattern, her father fell overboard and drowned. After her "deep and extended grief," Lina wrote some of her greatest and most popular hymns. "Great Hills May Tremble," "Come, Let Us Praise Him," "Day by Day and with Each Passing Moment," and "Hide Not Thy Face, O My Savior."
After her mother died, she lived with her widowed brother-in-law in Jonkoping. She met several important people such as the king's sister, Princess Eugenia, and those of great faith. She became a part of the editorial staff at the Evangelical National Foundation.
Then in 1867, Lina married C. O. Berg, a wealthy businessman. On October 4, of the following year, their baby son died in childbirth.
Her husband founded a sailors' mission. When an East African mission project was planned, the Foundation asked the Bergs to go. Lina refused because she found it too hard to leave home, friends, relatives, work, and everything that was dear to her.
Though Lina's health was frail, she lived to 71 years. She had become known as the "Fanny Crosby of Sweden."
In 1953, 10,000 people in her home town of Froderyd, Sweden, attended the dedication of a bronze statue in her memory. The little cottage she lived in is now a national museum. Each year on Transfiguration Sunday, the parish people hold a festive service in honor of Lina and her father.
"Day by Day, and With Each Passing Hour"