The Tablecloth

propeller

Beautiful story.... makes you understand that things happen for a reason



The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned
; v! R2 m( @$ @& Dto their first ministry, to reopen a church
, r( x6 \- Q, Win suburban Brooklyn , arrived in early October
8 k* }8 S) f7 w' y  F9 _% K% ~3 Nexcited about their opportunities. When they saw
' D& {8 @2 `7 g" F% P! n( h" F: {" X9 Etheir church, it was very run down and needed
& i: ?5 o3 ^# s5 g0 G, Cmuch work. They set a goal to have everything
/ u$ a3 u' c' u- \3 q# Hdone in time to have their first service
* V! j+ a0 I" V. `on Christmas Eve.
T hey worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls,
' ?. D1 x# z5 `  m% H- a( Gpainting, etc, and on December 18
% t6 w0 }* Y# R+ ^. m2 @5 p3 j* Qwere ahead of schedule and just about finished.
O n December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving
( t( o, e3 [1 _* t  o4 Wrainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.
7 d( Y7 [4 L- N, U& P- s O n the 21st, the pastor went over to the church.
- s! w  R  `# _- QHis heart sank when he saw that the roof had
7 a* t* [! i0 W5 q0 s8 yleaked, causing a large area of plaster about
  E, t, Z% `2 D' h9 g20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall
of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit,
0 D7 V  [1 m2 b" A' o  Gbeginning about head high.
T he pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor,
# U) B6 J  A7 z8 X: g) xand not knowing what else to do but postpone
the Christmas Eve service, headed home.
/ c4 T: w0 M5 {/ TOn the way he noticed that a local business was
having a flea market type sale for charity, so he
% B' \! z3 F7 i9 [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  


# C* c( T1 |) ?1 J$ T6 w
! ~0 I9 w+ f# D


the 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
woman running from the opposite direction was
. @4 p, |8 E( z$ ~5 @+ Dtrying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor
, D: V  h' T& X  A) g$ V4 F! iinvited her to wait in the warm church for
' T) d. t/ V0 athe 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
- o- Q: R4 Y) \" Z% E' Z% w' iup the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor
could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.
( b  s+ r+ F( r" g8 XT hen he noticed the woman walking down the center
aisle. Her face was like a sheet. "Pastor,"
she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"
+ p" e; a5 o9 o  r5 ?1 Y! wThe pastor explained. The woman asked him to check
; g& z4 w$ i+ v5 C; Y; x0 ]: N0 }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 .
T he woman could hardly believe it as the pastor
/ }. V% J4 V; J, ~' Jtold how he had just gotten "The Tablecloth". The
5 T! s6 P, _( K5 b( |$ p5 D$ xwoman explained that before the war she and
her husband were well-to-do people in Austria .
; B( Q4 X1 D0 X+ Q' q; ^
4 v; N. H" e6 m& {" U8 x$ AWhen the Nazis came, she was forced to leave.
, E, M0 W+ f- {& Y& kHer husband was going to follow her the next week.
He was captured, sent to prison and never saw her
& [4 W$ {% ~! u; s( Fhusband or her home again.
T he pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth;
9 j6 q1 N3 E" Wbut she made the pastor keep it for the church.
The pastor insisted on driving her home. That
( P$ l- \3 R6 l; f6 \was the least he could do. She lived on the other
- c+ Y; d1 G5 d4 u2 _+ [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
7 M; s/ t0 u9 oEve. The church was almost full. The music and the
/ l7 A# T7 Y0 b5 |2 C7 ~spirit were great. At the end of the service, the
pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door
! c  o/ ~4 {, aand many said that they would return..
! m6 Q% a, V7 kOne older man, whom the pastor recognized
# |  A) Y6 ]5 n7 J: U, E+ }- mfrom the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the
pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he
, v+ d* ^% A$ r1 ]wasn't leaving.
The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on
. N0 m; G* S, Ithe front wall because it was identical to one
* X1 \; ~; V, |1 nthat his wife had made years ago when
! o) q5 A  A% N( Nthey 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
1 L% o9 |% h# _6 ?8 oforced his wife to flee for her safety and he was
6 l2 \# |' p7 P+ l% _8 ysupposed to follow her, but he was arrested and
put in a prison.  He never saw his wife or his home
+ N1 W; `1 T2 u# @9 {2 l+ Q$ C& Jagain all the 35 years between.
T he pastor asked him if he would allow him to
2 z8 c0 w( K4 ^) U( s/ m# qtake 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
3 k3 ~; ?6 W, f( c; Y9 {0 Kthe door and he saw the greatest Christmas
# ?$ r( v. _% p- g% wreunion he could ever imagine.
T rue 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
4 |% x  Z0 g; Zyou today, to guide you and protect you as you go
5 N% S3 A2 T& q% g% S6 Palong your way. His love is always with you. His
+ o) t8 m1 _/ Jpromises are true, and when we give Him all our
3 Q# w( _3 |! L0 n8 d3 c5 A. ecares we know He will see us through.
S o when the road you're traveling seems
difficult at best, just remember I'm here
praying and God will do the rest. Pass this on
1 D/ s. v8 {' ~+ q7 Ito those you want God to bless and remember
; t# _0 o" x  {to send it back to the one who asked God to bless
1 U) H9 Y- R) s6 Q7 ?you first.
W hen there is nothing left but God, that is when
you find out that God is all you need Take 60
2 ~1 [8 Z8 r1 Dseconds and give this a shot! All you do is simply
say the following small prayer for the person
who sent this to you.
Father, G od, bless all my friends and family in what
ever it is that You know they may be needing this
day! May their lives be full of Your peace,
% r- b# _3 I9 k; p2 {1 oprosperity and power as they seek to have a
4 q0 J3 v, \  @$ Ycloser relationship with You. Amen.

anne

thank you for your good story!