The Letter
>
> 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 fortycents.
> "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 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.
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