This gave me goosebumps.
> This is a heartwarming story!
>
> 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.
>
> 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 sunk when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large
> area of plaster about 6 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of
> the sanctuary just behind the pulpit.
>
> 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 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 but 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. 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 the identical to one that his wife had made years ago when
> the 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 or 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.
> HAVE A BLESSED DAY
>
> 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.
>
> Have a blessed day!!!
>
>
>
>
>
>
