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. 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 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 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 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 livin 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
The air was still cold, but even
without her coat, Ruth no longer noticed. |
