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Beautiful
story..... makes you understand that things happen for a
reason
The
brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned
to
their first ministry, to reopen a church
in
suburban Brooklyn , arrived in early October
excited about their opportunities When they saw
their church, it was very run down and needed
much work. They set a goal to have everything
done in time to have their first service
on Christmas Eve.
T
hey worked hard, repairing pews, plastering
walls,
painting, etc, and on December
18
were ahead of schedule and just about
finished.
On
December 19 a terrible tempest - a
driving
rainstorm
hit the area and lasted for two
days.....
O
n the 21st, the pastor went over to the
church.
His heart sank when he saw that the roof
had
leaked, causing a large area of plaster
about
20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front
wall of the
sanctuary just behind the pulpit,
beginning about
head high.
T
he
pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor,
and not
knowing what else to do but postpone
the
Christmas Eve service, headed home.
On
the way he noticed that a local business
was
having
a flea market type sale for charity so
he
stopped
in. One of the items was a beautiful,
handmade,
ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth
with
exquisite work, fine colors and a
Cross
embroidered
right in the center. It was just
the
right size to cover up the hole in the
front
wall.
He bought it and headed back to the
church.
By
this time it had started to snow. An older
woman
running from the opposite direction was
trying
to catch the bus.. She missed it. The pastor
invited her to wait in the warm church for
the 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
up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The
pastor
could hardly believe how beautiful it
looked and
it covered up the entire problem
area.
Then
he noticed the woman walking down the
center
aisle. Her face was like a sheet..
'Pastor,'
she asked, 'where did you get that
tablecloth?'
The pastor explained. The woman
asked him to check
the lower right corner to see
if the initials, EBG were crocheted into
it
there. They were. These were the initials of the woman,
and she had
made
this tablecloth 35 years before, in
Austria
The
woman could hardly believe it as the pastor
told
how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The
woman
explained that before the war she and
her
husband were well-to-do people in Austria .
When the Nazis came, she was forced to
leave.
Her husband was going to follow her the
next week.
He was captured, sent to prison and
never saw her
husband or her home again.
T
he pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth;
but
she made the pastor keep it for the church.
The
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
for the
day for a housecleaning job.
What
a wonderful service they had on
Christmas
Eve.
The church was almost full. The music and
the
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
pews
and stare, and the pastor wondered why
he
wasn't
leaving.
The
man asked him where he got the tablecloth on
the
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
could there
be two tablecloths so much alike..
H
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
put in a prison.. He never saw his wife or
his home
again all the 35 years in
between.
The
pastor asked him if he would allow him
to
take
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.
H
e helped the man climb the three flights
of
stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked
on
the door and he saw the greatest
Christmas
reunion he could ever
imagine.
True
Story - submitted by Pastor Rob Reid
Who
says God does not 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
promises
are true, and when we give Him all
our
cares
you know He will see us through.
So
when the road you're traveling on seems
difficult at best.. Just remember I'm here
praying and God will do the rest. Pass this on
to those you want God to bless and don't forget
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
you find out that God is all you need. Take
60
seconds and give this a shot! All you do is
simply
say the following small prayer for the
person
who sent you
this.
Father,
God,
bless all my friends and family in
what
ever
it is that You know they may be needing this
day! May their life be full of your
peace,
prosperity and power as he/she seeks to
have a
closer relationship with you.
Amen.
Then
send it on to five other people, including
the
one
who sent it to you. Within hours five people
have
prayed
for you and you caused a multitude of
people
to
pray for other people.. Then sit back and watch
the
power
of God work in your life.
P..
S. Five is good, but more is better.
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