It is a great comfort to know that God never forgets about us. His ears
are attentive to our hearts cry and He is ever present to calm our hearts
and minds in the tough times of life. Encourage yourself in the Lord and 
know that no matter how lonely you may sometimes feel, God is right there
by your side. Never allow the enemy to tell you that nobody cares about you
because God loves you and nothing can ever change that. 
(Isaiah 49:15-16) (Deuteronomy 31:8) (Hebrews 13:5-6)

I hope you are blessed by today's 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
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 December 21, 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 in, 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.

Author Unknown


Read and meditate on these scriptures:

Isaiah 49:13-16 "Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth
into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted His people, and 
will have mercy upon His afflicted. But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken
me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, 
that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may
forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the 
palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me."

Habakkuk 3:17-19 "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall 
fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields
shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there 
shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will Joy
in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and He will make
my feet like hinds' feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places…"

Philippians 4:4-7 "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let
your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for
nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which 
passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

All scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.


Today's Selected Poem: WORDS TO LIVE BY
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem180.htm

Today's Selected Testimony: WHO CRUCIFIED CHRIST?
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony192.htm


In Christ's Service,

Dwayne Savaya
Gods Work Ministry