A Christmas Preparation

            Ruth went to her mailbox and there was only one letter.  She picked it up and looked at it before opening.  She examined the envelope again and again.  There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and her 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 even 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 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 was what she was able to buy.  It left Ruth with a grand total of twelve cents to last her until Monday.  Nonetheless, she felt fine as she headed home, her meager offerings tucked under her arm.

“ Hey lady, can you help us please?”

Ruth has been so absorbed in her dinner plans that she didn’t even noticed the 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 streets 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, the smelled bad and frankly speaking, 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, okey 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.  Ruth could see 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 good to see you again.  Thank you very much 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.