Lovefile
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After eighteen months in the ministry, a pastor went to his file cabinet to
pull out the "Love" file.  He discovered he didn't have one.  Impossible!
It must be misfiled.  He searched among Faith and Fasting, between Healing
and Heaven.  Perhaps it was sandwiched by Christology and Christian Ed.
After all, these have to do with Love don't they?  But it wasn't there, nor
was it found after Money or ahead of Missions.

When he stopped to reflect, the Holy Spirit solved the mystery.  The Love
file was scattered, yet not misfiled.  Parts of it were found under
Patience, Kindness, Humility, Trust, Hope, Loyalty, and Perseverance.  But
the pastor found the greatest part of the Love file, squarely-centered and
deeply-seated, in Forgiveness.

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Love is the key.  Joy is love singing.  Peace is love resting.
Long-suffering is love enduring.  Kindness is love's touch.  Goodness is
love's character.  Faithfulness is love's habit.  Gentleness is love's
self-forgetfulness.  Self-control is love holding the reins.

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A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his
mother who lived two hundred miles away.  As he got out of his car he
noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.  He asked her what was
wrong and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother.  But I
only have seventy-five cents and a rose costs two dollars."  The man smiled
and said, "Come on in with me.  I'll buy you a rose."  He bought the little
girl her rose and ordered his own mother's flowers.  As they were leaving
he offered the girl a ride home.  She said, "Yes, please!  You can take me
to my mother."  She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose
on a freshly dug grave.  The man returned to the flower shop, cancelled the
wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his
mother's home.

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A little boy was told by his doctor that he could save his sister's life by
giving her some blood.  The six-year-old girl was near death, a victim of
disease from which the boy had made a marvelous recovery two years earlier.
Her only chance for restoration was a blood transfusion from someone who
had previously conquered the illness.  Since the two children had the same
rare blood type, the boy was the ideal donor.

"Johnny, would you like to give your blood for Mary?" the doctor asked.

The boy hesitated.  His lower lip started to tremble.  Then he smiled, and
said, "Sure, Doc. I'll give my blood for my sister."

Soon the two children were wheeled into the operating room -- Mary, pale
and thin; Johnny, robust and the picture of health.  Neither spoke, but
when their eyes met, Johnny grinned.

As his blood siphoned into Mary's veins, one could almost see new life come
into her tired body.  The ordeal was almost over when Johnny's brave little
voice broke the silence, "Say Doc, when do I die?"

It was only then that the doctor realized what the moment of hesitation,
the trembling of the lip, had meant earlier.  Little Johnny actually
thought that in giving his blood to his sister he was giving up his life!
And in that brief moment, he had made his great decision!

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