THE TABLECLOTH
The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen
a church in suburban
They 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.
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, 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
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
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, which was the
least he could do. She lived on the other side of
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
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
True Story - submitted by Pastor Rob Reid
Who says
God does not work in mysterious ways.
I asked the Lord to bless 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'll
see us through.
So when
the road you're traveling seems difficult at best,
Be sure you stop and pray, and God will do the
rest.
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