A Child of God

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
lunch time 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 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!'
 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 and 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
 he's a child of God....." 
Someone in your life today needs a reminder
that they're one of God's children!

~~~ Author Unknown ~~~