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  would  like to 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 it's 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 he  headed back into
the alley. As she watched  them leave, 
Ruth felt a  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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