A True Story: The Tablecloth......by Rigg Kennedy from FB

> 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
> 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 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 one that 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 not 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.
>
>
> Pass this on to those you want God to bless, and don't forget to send it
> back to the one who asked God to bless you first
>
>