Grandpa Nybakken loved life-especially when he could play a trick on somebody. At those times,
his large Norwegian frame shook with laughter while he pretended innocent surprise, exclaiming, "Oh,
forevermore!" But on a cold Saturday in downtown Chicago, Grandpa felt that God played a trick on
him, and grandpa wasn"t laughing.
     Grandpa worked as a carpenter. On this particular day, he was building some boxes for the clothes
his church was sending to an orphanage abroad. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to
find his glasses, but they were gone. He remembered putting them there that morning, so he drove back
to the church.His search proved fruitless.
     Suddenly, he realized what had happened. The glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and
fallen into one of the boxes, 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. He had spent twenty dollars for
those glasses that very morning.
     "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 vacation in the United States.He wanted
to visit all the churches that supported him, so he came to speak on Sunday night at my grandfather"s
small church in Chicago.Grandpa and his family sat in their usual seats among the small congregation
(教堂会众).
     "But most of all," he said, "I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year."
     "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 boxes arrived.When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses
lying on the top." After a long pause, 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 amazing glasses.But the director 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.