The Tablecloth

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.

They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls,

painting, etc. and on Dec 18 were ahead of schedule

and just about finished. On Dec 19 a terrible tempest

- a driving rainstorm - hit the area and lasted for

two days. On 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.

The 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 EBEBG 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. She was captured,

sent to prison and never saw her husband or her home again.

The 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 onethat his

wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria

before the war and how could there be two tablecloths

so much alike? He 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. He 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 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.

FROM A GUY IN VEGAS "ME"