Posted by Blondie_B78 on March 20, 2005 at 15:41:17
In Reply to: Re: One question at a time posted by Monika Kosz on March 18, 2005 at 16:54:09:
The story I believe you are referring to can be found here - http://www.thefamily.org/word/treasures/index2.php3?refid=15
It goes:
One chilly winter morning, a fishing fleet launched out from a small harbor on the east coast of Newfoundland. In the afternoon there arose a great storm. When night settled, not a single vessel of all the fleet had found its way back into port.
All night long, wives, mothers, children & sweethearts paced up & down the windswept beach, wringing their hands & calling on God to save their lost loved ones. To add to the horror of the situation, one of their cottages caught fire. Since the men were away, it was impossible to put out the blaze & save it.
When morning broke, to the joy of all, the entire fleet had returned safely to harbor in the bay. But there was one face which was a picture of despair--the wife of the man whose home had been destroyed in the fire.
Meeting her husband as he landed, she cried, "Oh, Honey, we are ruined! Our home & everything in it was destroyed by fire!" But the man exclaimed to her surprise, "Thank God for that fire! It was the light of our burning cottage that safely guided the whole fleet into port!"
I grew up in the COG/The Family and heard this over and over again. It had nothing to do with losing parents because, as you can see, nobody died but property was lost.
There were other stories we were told dealing with being willing to "forsake all" for God's work. One was titled "Please stay Mommy!". It was supposed to be about Berg's childhood and how his mother (an evangelist) often had to leave him to attend to God's work. It concluded with young Berg telling his mother, "It's ok. Don't worry about me. You go and do the Lord's work."