Isaiah 6:8

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Sunday, July 25, 2010

I Am a Child of God

I am still pooped and don't have pictures together to begin my special blog on the trip.  My friend Bill sent me a great story and I had to share it with you since today is Sunday.  I hope you enjoy this while I get over 2500 of road travel.  A seminary professor was vacationing with his wife in Gatlinburg , TN. One morning, they were eating breakfast at a pancake 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 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 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 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!

5 comments:

Mid-Atlantic Martha said...

That IS a great story. Welcome back from your trip -- one of the best joys of travel is "coming home" - I'm sure that too is somewhat a taste of our final "coming home" as well.

Mary said...

What an awesome story! Glad you had such a good time on your trip!

Deb said...

Love that story...kind, encouraging words really do make all the difference.

I'm glad that you enjoyed your vacation.

Maybe you'll get to rest a little before school starts again.

Sweet dreams.

Mary said...

Great reminder of our divine inheritance! Hope you get some good rest!

Tina said...

What a great story! I love it.

Your trip sounded awesome. Can't wait to see the pictures.