The Mail
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 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.
Author Unknown