 "A Seminary professor was
vacationing with his wife in
Gatlinburg,
Tennessee. One morning, they
were eating breakfast in 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 good 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 a
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?'"
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"The new
preacher, though, sensed the situation around him and using
discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give,
said the following to the
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 would never have amounted to anything!' And
he walked away."
"The seminary
professor and his wife were stunned. He called the waitress
over and asked her, 'Do you know that man 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 they are one of God's
children.
"The
grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of God stands
forever."
(Isaiah 40:8)
YOU'RE ONE
OF GOD'S CHILDREN. HAVE A GREAT Day!
[By JIM KILLEBREW]
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