He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital – the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients. Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.??Around dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited. Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.??”Who was that man?” he asked.

The nurse was startled, “He was your father,” she answered.

“No, he wasn’t,” the Marine replied. “I never saw him before in my life.”??”Then why didn’t you say something when I took you to him?”??”Well I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his Son just wasn’t here.

When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed.”

I came here tonight to find a Mr. William Grey. His son was killed in Iraq today, and I was sent to inform him. What was this Gentleman’s Name?

The Nurse with tears in her eyes answered, Mr. William Grey………….

The next time someone needs you … Just be there. Stay.

Author Unknown

It was a cold winter’s day that Sunday. The parking lot to the church was filling up quickly. I noticed as I got out of my car that fellow church members were whispering among themselves as they walked to the church.

As I got closer I saw a man leaned up against the wall outside the church. He was almost laying down as if he was asleep. He had on a long trench coat that was almost in shreds and a hat topped his head, pulled down so you could not see his face. He wore shoes that looked 30 years old, too small for his feet with holes all over them, his toes stuck out.

I assumed this man was homeless, and asleep, so I walked on by through the doors of the church. We all gathered for fellowship for a few minutes, and someone brought up the man lying outside. People snickered and gossiped but no one bothered to ask him to come in, including me.

A few moments later church began. We all waited for the Preacher to take his place and to give us the Word, when the doors to the church opened. In came the homeless man walking down the aisle with his head down. People gasped and whispered and made faces. He made his way down the aisle and up onto the pulpit he took off his hat and coat. My heart sank. There stood our preacher…he was the “homeless man.” No one said a word. The preacher took his Bible and laid it on the podium.

“Folks, I don’t think I have to tell you what I am preaching about today.” Then he started singing the words to this song: “If I can help somebody as I pass along. If I can cheer somebody with word or song. If I can show somebody that he’s traveling wrong. Then my living shall not be in vain.”

“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, ‘Whose boy are you?’

“Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store, people would ask the same question, ‘Whose boy are you?’ 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, ‘Whose boy are you?’. 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, whose boy are you?’

“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, ‘Whose boy are you’. 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, ‘Whose boy are you?’ 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 that 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 that they’re one of God’s children!

You can spend your whole life building, something from nothing
One storm can come and blow it all away — BUILD IT ANYWAY

You can chase a dream that seems so out of reach
And you know it might not ever come your way — DREAM IT ANYWAY

CHORUS: God is GREAT, But sometimes life ain’t GOOD
When I pray — it doesn’t always turn out the way I think it should.
But I do it ANYWAY – I do it ANYWAY.

This world has gone crazy — and it’s hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today — BELIEVE IT ANYWAY

You can love someone with all your heart for all the right reasons
In a moment they can choose to walk away – LOVE THEM ANYWAY

You can pour you soul out singing — a song you believe in
That tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang – SING IT ANYWAY

She was a door-to-door Avon lady by day and a Bible teacher by night and on weekends. Her name was Mrs. McGuffie. I will always remember her as a person who gave direction and inspiration to my life.

This story begins when I was a nine-year-old boy attending Sunday School and Training Union at the First Baptist Church in Howe, Texas. One Sunday evening in class, I was doing what mischievous boys will do. I was throwing spitballs across the room at a friend while Mrs. McGuffie was writing on the blackboard. As I was in the middle of launching one of my bombs, Mrs. McGuffie turned quickly and fixed her eyes on me and said, “Ronnie Corzine, you are going to be a preacher someday.” I laughed like Sarah when she was told she would have a child in her old age. Under my breath I said, “Over your dead body.”

Well, my life continued seemingly on course. I was living fast and furious as a teenager, doing my own thing and giving no thought to my future. On my 18th birthday, I was invited to a citywide crusade. That night as the minister spoke, my heart was touched as I was faced with the reality of my life, how I was living it, and what I would do to make a difference in this world. Having forgotten what Mrs. McGuffie had spoken years earlier, I went forward at the end of the service and committed my life to do God’s will. I later discovered it was God’s will for me to be a preacher of the gospel. And here I am today.

I think it is ironic that many years later I received a call from Mrs. McGuffie’s family. They said that she had just gone to be with the Lord and that she had requested that I do the funeral service. Because of her influence and the impact she had made in my life, I accepted. On that day at the First Baptist Church in Howe, Texas, I stood and told the above story to those gathered in her remembrance. “Today, I stand here over her dead body as a fulfillment of what she spoke over me many years ago as small boy.” I then proceeded with my eulogy.

So when people speak positive things concerning your life that you cannot explain or understand, do not despise them or their words. It could just be the Lord speaking to you through them about your future.