A CHRISTMAS GIFT .. (This is a true story) The new pastor and his wife, assigned for their first ministry to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October. 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 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 8 by 20 feet to fall off the front wall, just behind the pulpit.
The pastor cleaned up the mess and not knowing what to do decided to cancel the Christmas eve service. On the way home he noticed a local business was having a flea market for charity. One of the items for sale was a beautiful, handmade ivory-colored crocheted tablecloth with exquisite detail, fine colors and a cross embroidered in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall of the church.
By this time it was starting 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 church for the next bus in 45 minutes. 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 hole in the wall perfectly. Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle, her face white as if seeing a ghost. "Pastor," she exclaimed, "where did you get that tablecloth?". The pastor explained and the woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials EBG were crocheted there. They were. These were the initials of the woman and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before in Austria.
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 the next week. He was captured, sent to prison and she never saw him again. The Pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth but she insisted it stay in the church, so he offered to drive her home - it was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island; she was in Brooklyn that day for a housecleaning job.
What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve, the Church was almost full, the music and spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood, continued to sit and stare - 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. 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 prison. He never saw his wife or his home again.
The pastor asked if the man would consent to take a short 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 three flights of stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on the door and witnessed the greatest Christmas Gift he could ever imagine.
HAVE A BLESSED *2 0 0 8 * !!
Tags: LOVE JOY PEACE
