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'Who's
Your Daddy?'
From Atul Munshi
A seminary (a training college for priests) professor was
vacationing with his wife in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, United
States. 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 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.’
Moral:
Someone in your life today needs a reminder that they're one
of God's children. YOU'RE ONE OF GOD'S CHILDREN.
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