Ruth went to her mail box and there
was only one letter. She picked it
up and looked at it before opening,
but then she looked at the envelope
again. There was no stamp, no post-
mark, only her name and address.
She read the letter:
Dear Ruth,
I'm going to be in your neighborhood
Saturday afternoon and I'd like to
stop by for a visit.
Love Always,
Jesus
Her hands were shaking as she placed
the letter on the table. "Why would
the Lord want to visit me? I'm nobody
special. I don't have anything to
offer." With that thought, Ruth
remembered her empty kitchen cabinets.
"Oh my goodness, I really don't have
anything to offer. I'll have to run
down to the store and buy something
for dinner." She reached for her purse
and counted out its contents. Five
dollars and forty cents. "Well, I can
get some bread and cold cuts, at least."
She threw on her coat and hurried out
the door. A loaf of french bread, a
half-pound of sliced turkey, and a carton
of milk...leaving Ruth with grand total
twelve cents to last her until Monday.
Nonetheless, she felt good as she headed
home, her meager offerings tucked under
her arm.
"Hey lady, can you help us, lady?" Ruth
had been so absorbed in her dinner plans,
she hadn't even noticed 2 figures huddled
in the alleyway. A man and a woman, both
of them dressed in little more than rags.
"Look lady, I ain't got a job, ya know,
and my wife and I have been living out
here on the street, and, well, now it's
getting cold and we're getting kinda hungry
and, well, if you could help us, lady, we'd
really appreciate it."
Ruth looked at them both. They were dirty,
they smelled bad. Frankly, she was certain
that they could get some kind of work if
they really wanted to.
"Sir, I'd like to help you, but I'm a poor
woman myself. All I have is a few cold cuts
and some bread, and I'm having an important
guest for dinner tonight and I was planning
on serving that to Him."
"Yeah, okay lady, I understand. Thanks
anyway." The man put his arm around
the woman's shoulders, turned and headed
back into the alley. As she watched them
leave, Ruth felt a familiar twinge in her
heart.
"Sir, wait!" The couple stopped and
turned as she ran down the alley after them.
"Look, why don't you take this food. I'll
figure out something else to serve my guest."
She handed the man her grocery bag. "Thank
you lady. Thank you very much!" "Yes, thank
you!" It was the man's wife, and Ruth could
see now that she was shivering. "You know,
I've got another coat at home. Here, why
don't you take this one." Ruth unbuttoned
her jacket and slipped it over the woman's
shoulders.
Then smiling, she turned and walked back
to the street... without hercoat and with
nothing to serve her guest.
"Thank you lady! Thank you very much!"
Ruth was chilled by the time she reached
her front door, and worried too. The
Lord was coming to visit and she didn't
have anything to offer Him. She fumbled
through her purse for the door key. But
as she did, she noticed another envelope
in her mailbox.
"That's odd. The mailman doesn't usually
come twice in one day." She took the
envelope out of the box and opened it.
Dear Ruth,
It was so good to see you again. Thank
you for the lovely meal. And thank you,
too, for the beautiful coat.
Love Always,
Jesus
The air was still cold, but even without
her coat, Ruth no longer noticed.
