The Tablecloth

propeller

Beautiful story.... makes you understand that things happen for a reason
; ~) U! l( E" |  l


The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned
$ h4 C5 Z8 w; w2 e. j5 `to their first ministry, to reopen a church
/ o6 `; r! B/ \6 _8 N3 X/ Fin 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
6 d/ `( h$ C, T  H  Z! \  Odone in time to have their first service
6 L7 f2 {# Y$ a( h7 h1 s& r# Mon Christmas Eve.
T hey worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls,
  r) b" w7 }/ F* g9 }% X2 [. ypainting, etc, and on December 18
were ahead of schedule and just about finished.
O n December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving
- Y. u- A- e$ B0 d4 J9 }5 h- orainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.
: e; R/ n2 r0 \+ D O n the 21st, the pastor went over to the church.
1 y9 Q5 {* c  H0 S/ W/ `- fHis 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
' l7 a. v% L/ j" P4 G. g% Oof the sanctuary just behind the pulpit,
9 ?' S* d2 B% F3 I- B# tbeginning about head high.
+ i# M" q/ C- R; dT he pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor,
and not knowing what else to do but postpone
+ ?' y, k6 u" r6 K. [& kthe Christmas Eve service, headed home.
5 P: Q: o$ D$ @4 {! U$ w; y4 NOn the way he noticed that a local business was
  {2 Q, \" }) L$ e7 phaving a flea market type sale for charity, so he
stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful,
% i7 C$ N  ]% |handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth
with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross
embroidered right in the center. It was just  
" G8 Z: t6 v. W- F" Z
2 _, s0 j1 S+ O) S4 M$ {! v5 {, H
1 q: P0 `' H4 |
0 U$ F, E* o; {
+ T( ~2 w/ e( e1 R; t  `3 b" [
  v" x) @# g; Y7 l- Y
* A0 y' ~' ~. I. ~- lthe right size to cover the hole in the front all. He bought it and headed back to the church.
B y this time it had started to snow. An older
, T+ K" q, E$ F9 Z. x& v+ S0 G1 ]woman running from the opposite direction was
3 K2 c: X) p# l: r4 Q" jtrying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor
invited her to wait in the warm church for
- a$ v& @- Z! O9 ~the next bus 45 minutes later.
5 o" z, @7 r1 I' J0 N) s: |
" w, W' f3 |" F* XShe sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor
5 G! i% M/ B: ^3 z2 F* c/ ^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.
T hen he noticed the woman walking down the center
# Y4 }) ?6 J" ~8 [7 k8 s6 Saisle. Her face was like a sheet. "Pastor,"
3 A; U7 |1 o! V2 g' Q  M0 p  eshe asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"
/ a+ w$ Q3 \* Y4 yThe pastor explained. The woman asked him to check
: `- q/ ?# l$ X0 K& vthe lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into
' {  R+ g1 p1 C( o: Qit there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had
( L) n- R  k! dmade this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria .
T he woman could hardly believe it as the pastor
. \+ F. |) M' d) Ctold how he had just gotten "The Tablecloth". The
woman explained that before the war she and
$ v: R, _: R# v: Cher husband were well-to-do people in Austria .

! R+ I! u" j* T+ o$ [4 l- F$ ]! @When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave.
$ P8 z! M7 y( J$ I  v2 \Her husband was going to follow her the next week.
6 [, w6 t" K5 y8 |/ _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.
W hat a wonderful service they had on Christmas
: q2 i" ?& k5 v! @% zEve. The church was almost full. The music and the
2 R: k5 [+ o! d( U4 z5 Sspirit 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
9 r" I$ W! u# W- G  P6 Jfrom the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the
pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he
  D, E9 y& M$ k1 M* a" D/ ?2 Z, j" Awasn't leaving.
! C" k; d( k0 n) z& H8 F& wThe man asked him where he got the tablecloth on
, K- C; |8 S- l1 c1 k& kthe front wall because it was identical to one
& x) p* |- X- g- L2 Y: R. H9 `6 K$ Othat his wife had made years ago when
/ B9 w$ X8 ]8 N  s( Zthey lived in Austria before the war and how
4 [8 Z/ \  N( l; P/ v! k, l9 ocould there be two tablecloths so much alike?
H e told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he
4 b7 z' k. {  d, p$ }forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was
supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and
0 R8 s4 d: i( a  n8 a! ]; R; }! iput 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
take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten
, U0 t% x/ l% ?0 _! k- v: |Island and to the same house where the pastor
had taken the woman three days earlier.
, F0 A, b( T& r0 q( N8 ^! v$ [He helped the man climb the three flights of
stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on
, W  \6 |( D" S# Ethe door and he saw the greatest Christmas
reunion he could ever imagine.
T rue Story - submitted by Pastor Rob Reid
3 I( X, o& Q0 v$ g, b3 g9 [3 R8 Hwho says God does work in mysterious ways.
# m- K/ Q  U1 [# z* }( AI asked the Lord to bless you as I prayed for
you today, to guide you and protect you as you go
5 ~+ i8 K7 t4 a- u% Qalong your way. His love is always with you. His
promises are true, and when we give Him all our
5 R: p. o9 }5 N% ~$ }: N) G/ ]  C6 Pcares we know He will see us through.
S o when the road you're traveling seems
  g6 w. D8 D, T8 V; R- qdifficult at best, just remember I'm here
praying and God will do the rest. Pass this on
2 q; i$ S2 _/ n9 `1 ]7 ito those you want God to bless and remember
. F" {$ a' I- v2 Eto send it back to the one who asked God to bless
/ Q+ k% Z1 [3 K$ o5 myou first.
3 b8 [' Z0 b  S3 T" h7 b% [7 }W hen there is nothing left but God, that is when
0 R, O! C3 N$ x6 o' p, p& ]9 Qyou 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 this to you.
4 M2 U3 Z* q, G& UFather, G od, bless all my friends and family in what
8 j0 [4 w% S, ~/ l2 K; oever it is that You know they may be needing this
/ J* z; @" j/ m+ Uday! May their lives be full of Your peace,
prosperity and power as they seek to have a
closer relationship with You. Amen.

anne

thank you for your good story!