THE
LETTER
Ruth
went to her mailbox 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 postmark, only her name and address.
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 of twelve cents to last her until Monday.
Nonetheless, 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
two 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 and, 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, well, 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 her coat 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