MyGrandpaNybakkenlovedlife—especiallywhenhecouldplayatrickonsomebody.Atthosetimes，hislargeNorwegianframeshookwithlaughterwhilehefeignedinnocentsurprise，exclaiming，“Oh，forevermore！”ButonacoldSaturdayindowntownChicago，GrandpafeltthatGodplayedatrickonhim，andGrandpawasntlaughing.

Mothersfatherworkedasacarpenter.Onthisparticularday，hewasbuildingsomecratesfortheclotheshischurchwassendingtoanorphanageinChina.Onhiswayhome，hereachedintohisshirtpockettofindhisglasses，buttheyweregone.Herememberedputtingthemtherethatmorning，sohedrovebacktothechurch.Hissearchprovedfruitless.

Whenhementallyreplayedhisearlieractions，herealizedwhathappened.Theglasseshadslippedoutofhispocketunnoticedandfallenintooneofthecrates，whichhehadnailedshut.HisbrandnewglasseswereheadingforChina！

TheGreatDepressionwasatitsheight，andGrandpahadsixchildren.Hehadspenttwentydollarsforthoseglassesthatverymorning.

“Itsnotfair，”hetoldGodashedrovehomeinfrustration.“Ivebeenveryfaithfulingivingoffmytimeandmoneytothepoor，andnowthis.”Severalmonthslater，thedirectoroftheorphanagewasonvacationintheUnitedStates.HewantedtovisitallthechurchesthatsupportedhiminChina，sohecametospeakonSundaynightatmygrandfatherssmallchurchinChicago.Grandpaandhisfamilysatintheircustomaryseatsamongthesparsecongregation.

“Butmostofall，”hesaid，“Imustthankyoufortheglassesyousentlastyear.Yousee，theyhadjustsweptthroughtheorphanage，destroyingeverything，includingmyglasses.Iwasdesperate.”“EvenifIhadthemoney，therewassimplynowayofreplacingthoseglasses.Alongwithnotbeingabletoseewell，Iexperiencedheadacheseveryday，somycoworkersandIweremuchinprayeraboutthis.Thenyourcratesarrived.Whenmystaffremovedthecovers，theyfoundapairofglasseslyingontop.”

Theorphanagedirectorpausedlongenoughtolethiswordssinkin.Then，stillgrippedwiththewonderofitall，hecontinued：“Folks，whenItriedontheglasses，itwasasthoughtheyhadbeencustom-madejustforme！Iwanttothankyouforbeingapartofthat！”

Thepeoplelistened，happyforthemiraculousglasses.Butthedirectorsurelymusthaveconfusedtheirchurchwithanother，theythought.Therewerenoglassesontheirlistofitemstobesentoverseas.Butsittingquietlyintheback，withtearsstreamingdownhisface，mygrandfather，anordinarycarpenter，realizedthatGodhadusedhiminanextra-ordinarywaytohelpsomeonewhoseneedwasbiggerthanhis！

外公尼拜肯達(dá)觀、幽默，尤其是在他與人開玩笑的時(shí)候，常假裝一臉茫然無辜的驚訝狀，那魁梧的挪威人的體魄，隨著他的笑聲抖動(dòng)著，“哦，就是這樣的！”可是，在芝加哥商業(yè)區(qū)那一個(gè)寒冷的星期六的冬日，外公感到上帝跟他開了一個(gè)玩笑，讓他怎么樣也笑不起來。

外公是個(gè)木匠，這天他正在給他所在的教堂趕制木箱，準(zhǔn)備裝上衣服送往中國(guó)的一家孤兒院。在完工后回家的路上，他伸手摸襯衣胸袋時(shí)，發(fā)現(xiàn)眼鏡不見了。他記得早晨將眼鏡放進(jìn)了衣袋，于是連忙開車回教堂去尋找，可尋遍教堂的每一個(gè)角落也沒有找到。

外公仔細(xì)回憶了這一天的情景，意識(shí)到眼鏡一定是在他干活時(shí)滑落掉進(jìn)其中的一只木箱里了。他的嶄新眼鏡要跟著運(yùn)往中國(guó)了！

那正是經(jīng)濟(jì)大蕭條最嚴(yán)重的時(shí)候，外公養(yǎng)有六個(gè)孩子，而那副眼鏡是他那天早晨剛剛花了20美元才買的！

“真是不公平，”外公沮喪極了，驅(qū)車回家時(shí)一路上都在向上帝抱怨，“我一直真誠(chéng)地奉獻(xiàn)我的時(shí)間和金錢幫助窮人，現(xiàn)在又搭上了我的眼鏡！”

幾個(gè)月后，孤兒院的院長(zhǎng)來美度假，希望參觀幫助中國(guó)孤兒院的所有教堂。這個(gè)星期日，他來到了芝加哥我外公所在的那個(gè)小教堂作演講。在這個(gè)人數(shù)不多的集會(huì)上，外公他們一家子坐在他們常坐的座位上。

“我首先要感謝你們?nèi)ツ杲o我們捐贈(zèng)的那副眼鏡，”院長(zhǎng)說，“當(dāng)時(shí)我們孤兒院剛遭劫難，什么都被砸壞了，包括我的眼鏡。我當(dāng)時(shí)簡(jiǎn)直絕望到了極點(diǎn)?！?/p>

“要知道，即便有錢我也難買到眼鏡呀。沒有眼鏡我不但看不清東西，還頭疼。我和我的同事們天天祈禱，結(jié)果，你們捐贈(zèng)的箱子到了，我的手下打開箱子，發(fā)現(xiàn)最頂層放著一副眼鏡?！痹洪L(zhǎng)頓了一會(huì)兒，會(huì)場(chǎng)啞雀無聲，大伙兒屏息靜氣。院長(zhǎng)接著說，“伙計(jì)們，我?guī)涎坨R試了試，嗬！簡(jiǎn)直就像是為我定做的！真是太謝謝你們了！”

大家靜靜地聽著，為那神奇的眼鏡高興，可心里都在想，院長(zhǎng)一定是弄錯(cuò)了，去年，他們的捐贈(zèng)物品單上并沒有眼鏡這一項(xiàng)。

此時(shí)，坐在教堂一角的外公正在靜靜流淚。我外公，一位普通的木匠，正在為上帝以一種超凡的方式，借他來幫助一位比他更需要幫助的人而欣喜呢！