A seminary professor was vacationing with his wife in Gatlinburg, TN. One morning, they were eating breakfast at a little restaurant. 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 had a friendly voice.
“Oklahoma,” the couple answered, in unison.
“Great to have you here in Tennessee,” the stranger said. “What do you do for a living?”
“I teach at a seminary.”
“Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I’ve got a great story for you.” And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and sat down at their table.
The professor groaned. Great! Just what I need – another preacher story!
The gentleman started. “See that mountain over there?” he asked, pointing out the window. “Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed mother. When he went into town with his mother, he could see people staring at him, making guesses as to who was his father. At school, the children would laugh and ask him, ‘Hey! Who’s your daddy?’ and so he stayed to himself during recess, and he ate lunch alone.”
The professor shifted in his chair as the gentleman continued.
“When he was a young teen, a new preacher came to his church. The boy 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 the boy 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 the teen, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, ‘Son, who’s your daddy?’
The boy felt as though every eye in the church was looking at him. This new preacher sensed the situation around him and using discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, said, ‘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!'”
The teen smiled for the first time in a long time, and walked out the door a changed boy. From then on, whenever anybody asked him, ‘Who’s your daddy?’ he’d just smile and tell them. ‘I’m a child of God.'”
The distinguished gentleman got up from the table. As he 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 and asked her, “Do you know who that man was – the one who was sitting at our table?”
The waitress said, “Of course. Everybody here knows him. That’s Ben Hooper. He’s governor of Tennessee!”
Do you or someone in your life need a reminder that they’re one of God’s children? Just imagine what a difference it could make if we all knew the heavenly Father personally.
(This true story was sent to me by friends, Gary and Deb.)