The Tablecloth

propeller

Beautiful story.... makes you understand that things happen for a reason
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8 l& T3 W; G' w/ a% z* f The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned
to their first ministry, to reopen a church
( Y" O4 x+ f- O7 p1 B. [; Kin suburban Brooklyn , arrived in early October
excited about their opportunities. When they saw
0 c7 U2 b) S5 [( L; L' t7 E0 atheir church, it was very run down and needed
7 z. N, h7 H9 b# kmuch work. They set a goal to have everything
4 R1 m: c  E2 T  L2 E* l: V4 i) s4 Pdone in time to have their first service
/ W8 }1 u6 ~3 ]: B- A9 Mon Christmas Eve.
T hey worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls,
; q0 c7 R8 Z( b# E8 |3 w+ s- t$ hpainting, etc, and on December 18
, j# Y+ G2 [  C* Y2 H$ T/ [4 [: m3 Lwere ahead of schedule and just about finished.
3 }! B+ u0 ^+ K2 b, W% q, TO n December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving
( P% {3 E1 r6 s/ ^. s* e# Urainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.
O n the 21st, the pastor went over to the church.
: y* R' i% n7 s$ ^3 X: BHis heart sank when he saw that the roof had
leaked, causing a large area of plaster about
7 ]' L8 K* K. U6 r20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall
% l4 V8 G1 Y7 wof the sanctuary just behind the pulpit,
& B* W9 F1 B8 w# B5 ~( ?: Zbeginning about head high.
, Z: R' f0 |9 ]T he pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor,
and not knowing what else to do but postpone
' J' J5 Z9 v9 h. q& ^the Christmas Eve service, headed home.
On the way he noticed that a local business was
% ]' x% S$ H- a; f2 b, n6 }: hhaving a flea market type sale for charity, so he
+ V! n2 B4 }) Vstopped in. One of the items was a beautiful,
handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth
  F* D2 x  F/ s' [with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross
7 D, m3 p5 b/ _0 f2 n$ D& @embroidered right in the center. It was just  

7 b, ^" p2 s1 F* I1 X
8 L; \- V* Z6 K* M


, n' w5 H+ a7 p
. V% L. h) {* O$ L9 Y0 q; D. \0 ^the right size to cover the hole in the front all. He bought it and headed back to the church.
8 a8 n- I7 l! kB y this time it had started to snow. An older
4 ]4 b) P  h" ^( M, m8 ^woman running from the opposite direction was
trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor
2 d9 R2 |3 T/ n7 \/ R& K3 kinvited her to wait in the warm church for
% G2 O* `! I  p, `! Cthe next bus 45 minutes later.

She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor
while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put
$ v# Y# n8 l, }% I9 aup the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor
could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.
0 @3 z6 A) N: XT hen he noticed the woman walking down the center
, R# ?! U$ n& ~, f$ i( aaisle. Her face was like a sheet. "Pastor,"
she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"
6 e% r% r% p. `2 k/ r# GThe pastor explained. The woman asked him to check
* g/ `& b, U- X& S$ Dthe lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into
6 N$ n: W: {5 B& O4 W* A! qit there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had
6 q/ k5 P. x* w) l2 n1 qmade this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria .
T he woman could hardly believe it as the pastor
told how he had just gotten "The Tablecloth". The
+ ~5 Q6 @8 `  P! W+ V; iwoman explained that before the war she and
* J  _6 X6 s) a" o9 Gher husband were well-to-do people in Austria .
& z4 ^: N. a; B9 V: V0 d7 v+ o
When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave.
( `! J3 [2 e3 ]/ {Her husband was going to follow her the next week.
' k- b* F" H% `' DHe was captured, sent to prison and never saw her
husband or her home again.
' _, f, s1 E) {( x6 }; u: RT he pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth;
. I/ |0 Z% Z4 @but she made the pastor keep it for the church.
7 J' |4 h/ [; }$ _. t9 A4 LThe pastor insisted on driving her home. That
was the least he could do. She lived on the other
side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn  
2 L% R8 z; c3 P1 x, kfor the day for a housecleaning job.
W hat a wonderful service they had on Christmas
- A. N& b9 Z+ t9 U+ _2 jEve. The church was almost full. The music and the
: ^. G1 b" [9 z7 x. ^# Z, K; ~spirit were great. At the end of the service, the
pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door
and many said that they would return..
One older man, whom the pastor recognized
from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the
. h; \( b  s! ]2 _, Npews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he
wasn't leaving.
The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on
+ L8 f* w* i8 _$ A! q& ~0 {1 Z. o0 Jthe front wall because it was identical to one
that his wife had made years ago when
they lived in Austria before the war and how
" a5 v) d2 E  b3 _8 f; P: c, Rcould there be two tablecloths so much alike?
2 c" d! U3 }/ j/ D  w4 _. cH e told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he
forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was
supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and
6 \5 @7 I  @; C( }put in a prison.  He never saw his wife or his home
again all the 35 years between.
T he pastor asked him if he would allow him to
+ S5 v# L- h) \) X7 }! W' f8 ltake him for a little ride. They drove to Staten
Island and to the same house where the pastor
had taken the woman three days earlier.
He helped the man climb the three flights of
stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on
" W, ?# L$ q. X, o9 c- Lthe door and he saw the greatest Christmas
  ]; x& [4 R. h$ n8 w+ J! vreunion he could ever imagine.
/ B- L% I( C) _# g/ D6 ZT rue Story - submitted by Pastor Rob Reid
5 _7 d7 I7 Y7 [who says God does work in mysterious ways.
I asked the Lord to bless you as I prayed for
you today, to guide you and protect you as you go
along your way. His love is always with you. His
5 N0 f- t7 Z. o9 a# y" ?/ h  m1 Zpromises are true, and when we give Him all our
) Q0 w- h. |( f# O. p( z/ R# Mcares we know He will see us through.
S o when the road you're traveling seems
  }# Y; G; ?1 cdifficult at best, just remember I'm here
6 \1 |7 {! \5 W# X! {praying and God will do the rest. Pass this on
to those you want God to bless and remember
to send it back to the one who asked God to bless
you first.
W hen there is nothing left but God, that is when
  b# M, [& E4 tyou find out that God is all you need Take 60
seconds and give this a shot! All you do is simply
1 ?' {% k3 J& _5 D- Wsay the following small prayer for the person
5 |2 e" e% g' ?+ L) T+ Dwho sent this to you.
% |* T/ C4 Y# e2 J! DFather, G od, bless all my friends and family in what
9 ^# `# W7 \+ F2 E9 ]7 r* bever it is that You know they may be needing this
day! May their lives be full of Your peace,
, r2 B2 y  e) ]) O1 R2 t5 vprosperity and power as they seek to have a
closer relationship with You. Amen.

anne

thank you for your good story!