A seminary professor was vacationing with his
wife in Gatlinburg, TN. One morning, they were eating
breakfast at a little restaurant, hoping to enjoy a
quiet, family meal. While they were waiting for their
food, they noticed a distinguished looking,
white-haired man moving from table to table, visiting
with the guests. The professor leaned over and whispered
to his wife, "I hope he doesn't come over here." But
sure enough, the man did come over to their table.
"Where are you folks from?" he asked in a friendly
voice. "Oklahoma," they answered. "Great to have
you here in Tennessee," the stranger said. "What
do you do for a living?" "I teach at a seminary," he
replied. "Oh, so you teach preachers how to
preach, do you? Well, I've got a really great story for
you. " And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair
and sat down at the table with the couple. The
professor groaned and thought to himself, "Great... Just
what I need... another preacher story!"
The man started, "See that mountain over there?
(pointing out the restaurant window). Not far from the
base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed
mother. He had a hard time growing up, because every
place he went, he was always asked the same question,
'Hey boy, Who's your daddy?'
Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug
store, people would ask the same question, 'Who's your
daddy?' He would hide at recess and lunchtime from
other students. He would avoid going in to stores
because that question hurt him so bad.
When he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to
his church. He would always go in late and slip out
early to avoid hearing the question, 'Who's your
daddy?' But one day, the new preacher said the
benediction so fast he got caught and had to walk out
with the crowd. Just about the time he got to the Back
door, the new preacher, not knowing anything about him,
put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, 'Son, who's
your daddy?'
The whole church got deathly quiet. He could feel
every eye in the church looking at him. Now everyone
would finally know the answer to the question, 'Who's
your daddy.'
This new preacher, though, sensed the situation around
him & using discernment that only the Holy Spirit
could give, said the following to that scared little
boy... ' Wait a minute!' he said. 'I know who you are.
I see the family resemblance now. You are a child of
God.'
With that he patted the boy on his shoulder and said,
'Boy, you've got a great inheritance. Go and claim it.'
With that, the boy smiled for the first time in a long
time and walked out the door a changed person. He was
never the same again. Whenever anybody asked him,
'Who's your Daddy?'.....he'd just tell them, 'I'm a
Child of God.' "
The distinguished gentleman got up from the table and
said, "Isn't that a great story?" The professor
responded that it really was a great story! As the man
turned to leave, he said, "You know, if that new
preacher hadn't told me that I was one of God's
children, I probably never would have amounted to
anything!" And he walked away.
The seminary professor and his wife were stunned. He
called the waitress over & asked her, "Do you know who
that man was who just left that was sitting at our
table?" The waitress grinned and said, "Of course.
Everybody here knows him. That's Ben Hooper. He's the
former governor of Tennessee!"
* * *
* * * *
* * * *
*
***Someone in your life today needs a reminder that
they're one of God's children!***
"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word
of God stands forever." ~~Isaiah
YOU'RE ONE OF GOD'S CHILDREN!!! HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!
