Once there was a poor boy who was selling goods from door to
door to pay his way through school. One day, he found he had only
one thin dime left, and he was very hungry. He decided he would ask
for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a
lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for
a drink of water. She thought the boy looked hungry so she brought
him a large glass of milk.
He drank it slowly, and then asked, "How much do I owe you, ma'am?"
You don't owe me anything," she replied. "My Mother has taught us
never to accept payment for a kindness." He said, "Then I thank
you,
ma'am, from the bottom of my heart." As that young boy, Howard
Kelly, left that house he not only felt stronger physically, but
his faith in God and his fellow man was also strong again. He had
been ready to give up and quit, but a simple act of kindness
had
restored his faith.
Years went by, and that kind young woman became critically ill. The
local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city,
where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.
A young doctor called Howard Kelly was called in for the
consultation. When he heard the name of the town the young woman
came from, a strange light filled his
eyes. He arose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room.
Dressed in his doctor's gown he went in to see his patient. He
recognized the young woman at once. He went back to the
consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From
that day he gave special attention to the case.
After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the
business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He
looked at it, then wrote something on the edge of it, and the bill
was sent to the lady's room. She feared to open it, for she was
sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally
she looked at it, the total amount was staggering; her eyes filled
with tears of despair,
when something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She
read these scrawled words..... "Paid in full, with one glass of
milk." (Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly. Now tears of joy flooded her eyes
as her happy heart prayed: "Thank You, God, that Your love
has
spread abroad through human hearts and hands."
