Stained glass dreams

  Bump! Bump! Bump!

  "Come in!" yelled Pastor Greene over the loud rapping at the door

  Tobias Kingsly walked through the doorway and sat down in one of the two chairs opposite of the pastor. The chair's fabric was unknown to Tobias, but it felt like silk under his hands.

  " What's up, Brother Toby?" asked Pastor Greene " Is there any news about the glass?"

  " It came in less than five minutes ago", replied Tobias excitedly

  Karl Greene was a tall man, he stood at about 6' 5", or at least he did the last time he visited the doctor. He was slender for only 31 years old. His dark brown hair lay across his forehead is a tangled mess of vine-like strands. Ever since he was a child, Karl wanted to Pastor a church with a large, elaborate stained glass window that lead to the baptistery. It was his dream, and now his dream was coming to fruition.

  Pastor Greene followed Toby into the foyer where the volunteers were about to start moving the box into the sanctuary.

  After watching the crew carefully remove the window, Pastor Greene could hold his excitement no longer. He walked hurriedly to the window so he could gaze at the magnificent beauty.

  This would be the very first stained glass window that the First Assembly of God in this town had ever used in it's facilities.

  When pastor Greene saw the piece, he almost cried tears of joy. It was an astonishing creation of three different scenes.

The first of the three scenes was Adam and Eve sitting in the most magnificent garden Karl could imagine, beside the two was an ugly, yellow, four-legged serpent that came close to Eve's ear. The next scene was of two men standing in a river. One man looked wet to the effect that Karl almost wipes the water off of his skin. Above the two men was a brilliant white bird, the dove. The final scene was a very vivid and touching scene of a man being tortured on a large wooden pole that intersected another pole to make a lowercase t shape. The man's wrists were nailed to the wood. It was so moving that Karl was to the point of tears.

  The three paintings all had one unifying theme; events that showed God's compassion and mercy for men.



A few days had passed since the unveiling of the window, and it was mounted for all to see. The church had taken up many special offerings and now the fruit of their giving was paying off.

  Karl was sitting at home watching football that Saturday night when he received a phone call.

  "Hello?" said Karl nonchalantly

  " Hi Pastor Karl, it's me, Olivia Smith, the missionary to the Dominican Republic that spoke last month," she sounded frantic. " We have just been hit by a massive earthquake and so many people have died, and the orphanages are filled up and are starting to run out of water!" she cried in one breath.

  " God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of peace and a sound mind," quoted Karl, " We will send as much help as possible, and i will get the prayer chain started".

  " Oh! Thank you so much, God bless you pastor."

  " You too Olivia, now you'd better get back to those kids".

  " Oh yes sir, thank you so much, goodbye," she finished.

  " Goodbye," Karl said before hanging up.

  This was a tragedy, so many families were broken up. How could he get up in front of the congregation and ask for another special offering when he had taken four in the last month? He had no idea how bad the damage was, but even a little donation could help the missionaries of Santo Domingo. He thought all of this while dialing Toby's number.

  "Hello, Julia." said Karl after Toby's wife answered the phone. " Can i talk to Brother Toby?"

  " Sure, let me get him," she replied. "Honey, telephone!" she called out to the background.

  "Hello?" came the sound of Toby's voice.

  " Hey Toby, it's me, Karl."

  " What's wrong, you sound distressed."

  " Do you remember Olivia Smith, the missionary to the Dominican Republic?"

  " The one that was going to Santo Domingo to help with the orphanages?"

  " Yes, she just called me and notified me that the country has been hit by a tremendous earthquake."

  " Oh my! Julia and I were going to adopt a child from that orphanage..." he said with a tinge of sorrow in his voice.

  " I'm so sorry Toby."

  " Thank you, I will call Alexa and start the prayer chain."

  " Thank you Toby, I will head to the church and figure out how to get the funding, goodbye."

  "Bye."

  Now to the issue of funding a donation. Karl had no clue what to do. He got down on his knees and began to seek answers.

  " Lord, please give me the knowledge and wisdom to know how to fund this donation," he prayed. Suddenly it hit him as plain as day. Karl knew what he had to do.



  The next week Pastor Karl gave a sermon in his regular church without a stained glass window behind him. His sermon that Sunday was about God's unconditional love and the sacrifices that we are sometimes challenged with to follow his example, and that if you are truly compelled by love, there are no limits to what you can do.