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."
