GOD IS ALL YOU NEED!!!

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, e.t.c, 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 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 the mess on the floor, and not knowing what to do but to 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 and went in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the size to covet 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 a bus... she missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus which would arrive in 45 minutes time. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder,  hangers, e.t.c, 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 the 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 her 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 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 they would return. One older man whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood continued to sit on one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wonder 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 made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war; he wondered how there could 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 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 take him take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pator had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the graetest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

The above is a true story submitted by pastor Reid. Who says God does not work in mysterious ways? God's love is always with you; His promises are true, and when we give Him all our cares, you know He will se us through.

When the road you are traveling on seems difficult at best, just remember that when there is nothing left but God, God is all you need.

One Bright Corner: Self-Digging-Deeper

One Bright Corner: Self-Digging-Deeper

WHAT HAVE YOU GIVEN!!!!

Each time i come across this story, I ask myself: What value have i added to my generation? Ever asked yourselves the same question?

I was walking around in a Target store, when i saw a cashier hand this little boy some money back. The boy couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old. The Cashier said, "I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll". Then the little boy turned to the old woman next to him: "Granny, are you sure i don't have enough money?" The old woman replied: "You know that you don't have enough money to buy this doll, my dear."

She asked him to stay there for just 5 minutes while she went to look around. She left quickly. The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand. Finally, I walked towards him and asked him  who he wished to give the doll to.

 "It's the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for Christmas. She was sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her."

I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus would bring it to her after all, and not to worry. But he replied to me sadly, "No, Santa Claus can't bring it to her where she is now. I have to give it to my Mommy so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there," His eyes were so sad while saying this. "My sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very so too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister."

My heart nearly dropped. The little boy looked up at me and said: "I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall." Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing. He then told me, "I want mommy to take my picture with her so she won't forget me. I love my mommy and i wish she doesn't have to leave me, but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister."

He looked again at the doll with sad eyes very quietly. I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy, "Suppose we check again , just in case you have enough money for the doll?" "OK," he said, "I hope I do have enough money."

I added some of my money to his without him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough money for the doll and even some spare money.

The little boy said, "Thank you God for giving me enough money!" Then he looked at me and added, " I asked last night before i went to sleep for God to make sure i had enough money to buy this doll, co mommy could give it to my sister. He heard me! I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but i didn't dare to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and a rose. My mommy loves white roses."

A few minutes later, the old lady returned and i left with my basket. I finished my shopping in a totally different state from when i started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then i remembered a local newspaper article two days earlier which mentioned a drunk man in a truck who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl. The little girl died right away and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-sustaining machine, because the young woman wold not be able to recover from the coma. Was this the family of the little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy, i read in the newspaper that the young woman had passed away. I couldn't stop myself as i bought a bunch of white rose and i went to the funeral home where the body of the young woman was exposed for people to see and make last wishes before her burial.

She was there in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll place over her chest. I left the place, teary-eyed, feeling that my life had been changed for ever... The love that  the little bot had for his mother and his sister is still to this day, hard to imagine. The value of man or woman resides in what he or she gives, not in what they are capable of receiving.