The Tablecloth

propeller

Beautiful story.... makes you understand that things happen for a reason
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% @1 \  }7 a1 s. \* x6 E The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned
to their first ministry, to reopen a church
in suburban Brooklyn , arrived in early October
- O, U' @0 S: `% t- Jexcited about their opportunities. When they saw
their church, it was very run down and needed
much work. They set a goal to have everything
1 o/ o& C& O5 Z2 \% v4 ddone in time to have their first service
8 H; [' b/ n! i2 ]on Christmas Eve.
0 I- U1 L3 }+ n/ s/ r( GT hey worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls,
painting, etc, and on December 18
were ahead of schedule and just about finished.
/ @! j: y1 B, I" `2 X+ u9 M' ?& YO n December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving
rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.
3 D1 J: Y2 U8 N* G9 S O n the 21st, the pastor went over to the church.
. j7 c, J2 |% e' f! eHis heart sank when he saw that the roof had
/ [* I6 B* `' J* _( O  bleaked, 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.
! ^/ H7 J3 f4 y- wT he pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor,
* O$ c1 e3 W; q4 k( s* qand not knowing what else to do but postpone
the Christmas Eve service, headed home.
7 F3 w/ ?8 l) r, O# r8 Z1 i  ~On the way he noticed that a local business was
/ a& y' f2 X) W: Hhaving a flea market type sale for charity, so he
2 g' L6 X# q3 `4 k7 V# tstopped in. One of the items was a beautiful,
7 Q% i5 l5 A" t: r7 Chandmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth
with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross
" f. J) h5 }5 y9 M8 Dembroidered right in the center. It was just  


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) j- C" R5 n2 z; [1 B" l$ M& _the right size to cover the hole in the front all. He bought it and headed back to the church.
! l& P* r  r( F' lB y this time it had started to snow. An older
: o$ _$ m7 d2 }woman running from the opposite direction was
7 K: N' I& H* ~+ {& ]. {trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor
7 Q$ l. d$ Y! r/ q  V+ ]7 ]invited her to wait in the warm church for
8 A) ?& A$ q6 S) J! v6 Hthe 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
( Y$ W! [2 ~5 M% k& G  ^0 w9 icould hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.
T hen he noticed the woman walking down the center
$ |  t: x% ~" H9 m; M9 I- ?aisle. Her face was like a sheet. "Pastor,"
3 o+ i. b' R2 R/ O! V  Y% J, G1 c6 x! Yshe asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"
7 |" G- m9 p: m1 J: }8 cThe pastor explained. The woman asked him to check
the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into
% d4 h0 C: z( \# u, ~1 h2 Git there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had
made 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
woman explained that before the war she and
her husband were well-to-do people in Austria .

# ~; n: U( ]: R) ^1 d( [: XWhen the Nazis came, she was forced to leave.
, I" D' v, L# Y( lHer husband was going to follow her the next week.
, ~3 O7 @  ]  C; O  gHe was captured, sent to prison and never saw her
husband or her home again.
5 q, }3 w0 q5 G( x7 q0 E! u  T/ zT he pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth;
but she made the pastor keep it for the church.
4 i2 Y+ B: f  R& z* G0 k" W. u  qThe 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  
+ |, H; H) y  l8 m8 S& |for the day for a housecleaning job.
1 P2 A/ V3 D1 QW hat a wonderful service they had on Christmas
; u' |+ m8 h( `6 L! R7 w! pEve. The church was almost full. The music and the
  x) u4 y+ H7 Fspirit were great. At the end of the service, the
1 E! n5 x5 R" T8 J6 w- Opastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door
4 p8 l9 U: E% s3 A) c2 W% O" M4 ]and many said that they would return..
/ B5 o# P; f# ?, ?3 N2 G  zOne older man, whom the pastor recognized
from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the
" O  C: k! n  k2 rpews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he
wasn't leaving.
0 w7 Q/ \. D0 Y2 U" ]  OThe man asked him where he got the tablecloth on
the front wall because it was identical to one
) h# M" c$ K  z0 othat his wife had made years ago when
they lived in Austria before the war and how
9 d% L) W+ E: C- ^could there be two tablecloths so much alike?
H e told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he
3 w; i5 A* T" F  @) i7 G' fforced his wife to flee for her safety and he was
supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and
# X' ^+ D; _) s1 kput in a prison.  He never saw his wife or his home
1 j* G# Z+ x# W' j. uagain all the 35 years between.
8 f4 @: t6 ]& n2 C8 ^T he 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.
( T0 ]" e  X3 {, l6 j8 [He helped the man climb the three flights of
3 X: y4 B1 u! b' Nstairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on
the door and he saw the greatest Christmas
! `* h" K6 F, w' wreunion he could ever imagine.
% N; N0 i- b* r. }  S* KT rue Story - submitted by Pastor Rob Reid
$ h* V$ D# W7 Y/ \' C& X, Pwho says God does work in mysterious ways.
1 K, I1 C) }9 ]2 {" u+ K) N" EI asked the Lord to bless you as I prayed for
you today, to guide you and protect you as you go
) l3 T" i% N: qalong your way. His love is always with you. His
$ i9 j- k9 _3 epromises are true, and when we give Him all our
# y1 ?- Y4 n; o3 D5 Ocares we know He will see us through.
  p$ v& Q, G- A! b- `1 W/ r8 mS o when the road you're traveling seems
& M* A8 l0 Y' d7 kdifficult at best, just remember I'm here
  I  C6 M: }/ F3 cpraying and God will do the rest. Pass this on
: {, ]$ ?! m8 h; Q6 K, sto those you want God to bless and remember
to send it back to the one who asked God to bless
you first.
- `5 o% v/ f! i/ pW hen there is nothing left but God, that is when
& @% d' I  z: ]; d7 dyou find out that God is all you need Take 60
/ @# r0 U6 S. H3 e- l- \+ @seconds and give this a shot! All you do is simply
say the following small prayer for the person
who sent this to you.
. m4 I% j, x% O) c6 aFather, G od, bless all my friends and family in what
7 P) i8 M* ?/ e& Y, f( Lever it is that You know they may be needing this
day! 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!