The Perfect Mistake

[Debbie]

<center>My mother's father worked as a carpenter. On this particular day, he was
building some crates for the clothes his church was sending to some orphanage in China.

On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but
they were gone. When he mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realized
what happened; the glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the crates, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China!

The Great Depression was at its height and Grandpa had six children to take care of. He had spent $20 for those glasses that very morning. He was upset by the thought of having to buy another pair.

It's not fair, he told God as he drove home in frustration. I've been
very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this.

Several months later, the director of the orphanage was on furlough in the
United States. He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him in
China, so he came to speak one Sunday at my grandfather's small church in
Chicago.

The missionary began by thanking the people for their faithfulness in
supporting the orphanage. But most of all, he said, I must thank you for
the glasses you sent last year. You see, the Communists had just swept
through the orphanage, destroying everything, including my glasses. I was
desperate. Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing
those glasses. Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my co-workers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your crates arrived. When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on top.

The missionary paused long enough to let his words sink in. Then, still
gripped with the wonder of it all, he continued: Folks, when I tried on the
glasses, it was as though they had been custom-made just for me! I want to
thank you for being a part of that.

The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses. But the missionary
surely must have confused their church with another, they thought. There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas.

But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an
ordinary carpenter realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an
extraordinary way. </center>

Author: Unknown