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The Tablecloth
E-mail: while there is credit given to Pastor Rob Reid, we cannot verify the truth to this story....in fact, see http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/tablecloth.htm for more information on whether true or original source. We just think it is a good story.

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 Dec 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On

Dec 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.

Thanks for your participation.

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