Hi Angel,
I had not seen this before. Thank you for sharing it is a lovely story it
warms your heart.
Huggs and blessings,
Virgie and Hoshi
----- Original Message -----
From: "Angel" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 6:29 PM
Subject: MAIL BOX this is a repeat of a nice story
MAIL BOX
>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 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, b ut 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 shou lders,
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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