“And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

- Luke 1: 30-33

Saturday, December 14, 1963 - Footballer and manager Greg Abbott was born Gregory Stephen Abbott in Coventry, England.

Saturday, December 14, 1963 - Actress Cynthia Gibb was born in Bennington, Vermont.

Saturday, December 14, 1963 - Opera singer Vytautas Juozapaitis was born in Radviliskis, Lithuania.

Saturday, December 14, 1963 - Interior designer and television personality Michael Moloney was born in Palos Verdes, California.

Saturday, December 14, 1963 - Actress, singer, songwriter, and mixed media artist Alice Ripley was born.

Saturday, December 14, 1963 - Rower Otto Fickeisen (b. 24 Dec 1879 in the German Empire) died 10 days before his 84th birthday.

Saturday, December 14, 1963 - Singer Dinah Washington (b. Ruth Lee Jones on 29 Aug 1924 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama) died in Detroit, Michigan at the age of 39 of a lethal combination of secobarbital and amobarbital.

   GOTCHA! Thank you for letting me know, Glenda! Merry Christmas!

The Tablecloth

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 urban 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 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, 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, hand-made, ivory colored, crocheted table cloth 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 crotcheted 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. 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 concentration camp. He never saw his wife or his home again for all he 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.
 

... 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. Pass this on to those you want God to bless and remember to send it back to the one who asked God to bless you first.

When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need. Take 60 seconds and give this a shot! All you do is simply say the following small prayer for the person who sent this to you.

Heavenly Father, 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.

If you wish to do so, please send this on to others. Within hours, five people have prayed for you and you caused a multitude of people to pray for other people. Then, sit back and watch the power of God work in your life.

There is power in prayer!!! God answers prayers!

   Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful story, Joan! The fact that is has not yet been successfully authenticated does nothing to detract from its loveliness or the truth of the principle. Merry Christmas!