NICE STORY

> Subject: [hypertech_boys] Nice
> Story
>
>
> 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 a 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.
>
> 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.