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 th! e base o f 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?"

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!!!