[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] FW: The Table Cloth

Wed Dec 22 13:13:16 UTC 2021

From: Larry Perry [mailto:larryperry at performancepress.ccsend.com] On Behalf Of Larry Perry
Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2021 8:11 AM
To: mmoore11 at kent.edu
Subject: EXT: The Table Cloth

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Letter from Larry

Wednesday

December 22, 2021

Good Wednesday Morning everyone:

Everything that happens, happens for a reason..sometimes good and

sometimes bad. Here is a story at Christmas time that I hope you will 

read and think about all day today showing that things happen for a 

reason.(Thank you Megan for asking about it!)

                THE TABLE CLOTH 

Beautiful story.... makes you understand that things happen for a 

reason. 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 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. He was captured, sent to prison 

and she 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 house-

cleaning 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 between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for little

 ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where

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 

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 we know He will see us through.

So when the road you're traveling seems difficult at best, just 

remember I'm here praying and God will do the rest.

Father, God, bless all my friends and family in what ever it is 

that You know they may be needing this day! May their lives be

full of Your peace, prosperity and power as they seek to have a 

closer relationship with YOU!  

Amen.

Much love to YOU ALL!!

Larry

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