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 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 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 a
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 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

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