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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 into 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
that 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 and using discernment that only the Holy Spirit could
give, said the following to that scared little boy..
'Wait a minute! 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 -- the one 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!
Keep this going. You have no idea which one of Your e-mail
buddies could use a little hope today
John 3:16
A helping hand will lighten another's
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