Great Story..Merry Christmas

A DAY WITHOUT A SMILE IS A WASTED DAY!
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.

O n December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving
rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.

O n 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 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
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 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 work in mysterious ways.

Do You See Him?

by Max Lucado

IT’S CHRISTMAS NIGHT. THE HOUSE IS QUIET. Even the crackle is gone from the fireplace. The last of the carolers appeared on the ten o’clock news. The last of the apple pie was eaten by my brother-in-law. And the last of the Christmas albums have been stored away having dutifully performed their annual rendition of chestnuts, white Christmases, and red-nosed reindeers.

It’s Christmas night.

The midnight hour has chimed and I should be asleep, but I’m awake. I’m kept awake by one stunning thought. The world was different this week. It was temporarily transformed.

The magical dust of Christmas glittered on the cheeks of humanity ever so briefly, reminding us of what is worth having and what we were intended to be. We forgot our compulsion with winning, wooing, and warring. We put away our ladders and ledgers, we hung up our stopwatches and weapons. We stepped off our race tracks and roller coasters and looked outward toward the star of Bethlehem.

It’s the season to be jolly because, more than at any other time, we think of him. More than in any other season, his name is on our lips.

And the result?

For a few precious hours, he is beheld. Christ the Lord. Those who pass the year without seeing him, suddenly see him. People who have been accustomed to using his name in vain, pause to use it in praise. Eyes, now free of the blinders of self, marvel at his majesty.

All of a sudden he’s everywhere.

In the grin of the policeman as he drives the paddy wagon full of presents to the orphanage.

In the twinkle in the eyes of the Taiwanese waiter as he tells of his upcoming Christmas trip to see his children.

In the emotion of the father who is too thankful to finish the dinner table prayer.

He’s in the tears of the mother as she welcomes home her son from overseas.

He’s in the heart of the man who spent Christmas morning on skid row giving away cold baloney sandwiches and warm wishes.

And he’s in the solemn silence of the crowd of shopping mall shoppers as the elementary school chorus sings “Away in a Manger.”

Emmanuel. He is with us. God came near.

It’s Christmas night. In a few hours the cleanup will begin—lights will come down, trees will be thrown out. Size 36 will be exchanged for size 40, eggnog will be on sale for half price. Soon life will be normal again. December’s generosity will become January’s payments and the magic will begin to fade.

But for the moment, the magic is still in the air. Maybe that’s why I’m still awake. I want to savor the spirit just a bit more. I want to pray that those who beheld him today will look for him next August. And I can’t help but linger on one fanciful thought: If he can do so much with such timid prayers lamely offered in December, how much more could he do if we thought of him every day?

From God Came Near
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 1987) Max Lucado

Aubrey Elaine has arrived

Let me introduce to you my pur newest grandbaby Aubrey Elaine. Her picutr is to your right. I had the honor of being with my daughter and her husband and through labor and delivery . What a miracle. I was able to hold her just minutes after she arrived on earth. I am blessed among all Nana's...

Every Passing Day

Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around." ~~From the movie "Vanilla Sky"

Sometimes we just need to be reminded!

$20.00


Sometimes we just need to be reminded!



A well-known speaker started off his seminar by




holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked,




"Who would like this $20 bill?"




Hands started going up.




He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you




but first, let me do this.




He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill.




He then asked, "Who still wants it?"




Still the hands were up in the air.




Well, he replied, "What if I do this?"




And he dropped it on the ground




and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.




He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.




"Now, who still wants it?"




Still the hands went into the air.




My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson.




No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it




because it did not decrease in value.




It was still worth $20.




Many times in our lives,




we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt




by the decisions we make and




the circumstances that come our way.




We feel as though we are worthless.




But no matter what has happened or




what will happen, you will never lose your value.




Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased,




you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you.




The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know,




but by WHO WE ARE.




You are special- Don't EVER forget it."

Where were you when.....

Susan Summerville

I will never forget where I was on 9/11. I was driving to the bookstore I owned when the radio announced an airplane had hit the tower (the first one) and how the rest of the events of that day consumed me along with an entire nation. I remember cryi...ng. I remember feeling like everything was surreal. I remember watching the day unfold on the television in terror. I will never forget where I was on 9/11.

Where were you when you found out. Post and tell us.

Good Intentions!

Five birds are sitting on a telephone wire. Two decide to fly south. How many are left? Most people would say three. Actually, all five are left. You see, deciding to fly isn’t the same as doing it.

If a bird really wants to go somewhere, it’s got to point itself in the right direction, jump off the wire, flap its wings, and keep flapping until it gets there.

So it is with most things. Good intentions aren't enough. It’s not what we want, say, or think that makes things happen; it’s what we do.

I frequently think of writing thank-you, birthday, and congratulatory notes. Unfortunately, only a sad few of these good sentiments ever make it to paper. Still, if I don’t look too closely, I can delude myself into thinking that based on my good thoughts I’m a gracious and grateful person. A truer and less admirable picture of my character is drawn by my actions.

In the end, we either do or don’t do. We either make the time to do the things we want to and should do or we make excuses. As Alfred Adler said, “Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement.”

What do you want to do? Do you want to take a course, change your job, lose weight, make new friends, or spend more time with and appreciate more the ones you have?

What’s stopping you from jumping off the wire and flapping your wings?

By Michael Josephson