There is a story I once heard that exemplifies the idea of love and loyalty… putting someone else’s needs before your own. It is one that made me wonder, in our age of texting and social media, if there were “textese,” (or SMS language) for Crying Out Loud. This is one of those stories that gave me a reaction of a compassion that welled up inside me the same way a laugh just bursts forth in response.
For My Sister
by David C. Needham
There is s true story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. The doctor explained that she had the same disease the boy had recovered from two years earlier. Her only chance of recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was an ideal donor.
“Would you give you blood to Mary?” the doctor asked.
Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said, “Sure, for my sister.”
Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room. Mary, pale and thin, Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned.
As the nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny’s smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube.
With the ordeal almost over, Johnny’s voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence.
“Doctor, when do I die?”
Only then did the doctor realize why Johnny had hesitated, why his lip had trembled when he agreed to donate his blood. He thought giving his blood to his sister would mean giving up his life. In that brief moment, he had made his great decision.
…and yet he did it anyway!! He was willing to give up his own life to save his sister. That’s heroic.
I am a big proponent of the desire of my children’s heart. Sometimes they brake things, sometimes they cause harm to our family, but if their motives are pure… if they intended to bless their mother, or build up their sibling, or in this case give up their own life (he believed that to be the reality, and went along with it anyway) for someone else – sacrifice – I do my best to be respond to the heart, rather than the practical outcome.
You see it in your own life, when your child was a baby, and “didn’t know any better” you gave them grace when the got into trouble, or chose to love on you when you were hurting. It works the same way, and I truly believe that this is the way that God responds to us as well.