04 ~ Life Patterns Early Set
When I became old enough to become a boy scout I joined Troop 335 and helped to inaugurate the first Rose Festival in Tyler. Our troop marched in the parade and we helped direct traffic. As a boy scout I made my first out-of-town trip other than the family vacations. The Boy Scout troop loaded up and went to Gladewater, Texas, which is about 25 miles from Tyler. What a thrill for a boy my age!
~ Becoming a boy scout soon gave way to my becoming a “girl scout,” for I had reached the age when girls were no longer unattractive. My voice changed, and in many ways I changed. I was conceited to the core. I began neglect my daily Bible reading. I dropped out of Training Union at my church and ceased to read my Bible everyday. Callie Turner was the training union director in our little church. She didn’t allow me to forget the Training Union. She would write me each week to let me know she was praying for me and urging me to come back to Training Union.
~ It might have been Callie Turner who recommended me to be a lifeguard at the Smith County Baptist Encampment during a YWA camp. That’s the Young Women’s Auxiliary of our church. What a joy it was to be a lifeguard surrounded by girls! Several attempted to be rescued while I was there. But God used that experience in a wonderful way, for it was required that all lifeguards and other staff members attend each preaching service. Brother E. L. Williams was the pastor of the camp, and I remember I got under conviction because of my life and my failure to carry out the previous promise that I had made to the Lord. One morning during a spiritual service, I walked the aisle, committing my life full-time to preaching. My experiences in the business world had come to a halt and I determined that I would preach. The very next week after my decision I was invited to preach at a little rural church in Smith County. Then I had opportunities to go with my church to the regular jail services on Sunday where brother Roselle, who was in charge of the prison ministry, asked me to preach. The fact of the matter is I preached anywhere I could. I was fifteen years of age when I began to preach.
~ I was a student at James S. Hall Junior High School where I played football and lettered. They presented me with a beautiful white sweater with an “H” on the front of it and a sleeve that indicated I had lettered one year. What a time I had with the football team! I had purchased a T-model Ford for twenty five dollars, had stripped the top of it and enjoyed carrying as many of the team members as I could in it.
~ When I finished my junior high work, the first day at Tyler High School I wore the football sweater and discovered a cute-looking blonde in the office where we were signing up for our classes. She was a newcomer to Tyler, having transferred from the Wichita, Texas, school system. As I stood at the counter I winked at her and she returned my wink. I’ve often told people, “Be careful; a wink will get you into trouble!” For me it led to a life of happiness.
~ Our very first day, as Providence would have it, in our study hall the seats were assigned by alphabet. They were double seats, and as the names came down the row I found that the very person that was assigned to the seat next to mine was the girl I had winked at in the registration office. I took her home that day in my T-model Ford. Just as we stopped in front of her house, her younger brother came out asking for gum. I thought to myself he had had experience with other boys [dating his sister].
~ I went with Faye Hutton all during my high school experience. I violated one of the principles I had in later years: that you should not go steady at that age of life lest you be dominated by the person you are going with and be shut out from all social contacts with others. But it became easy for me to go steady because I had grown tired of explaining to every girl I met why I did not do certain things and why I had a religious background and was a preacher. Faye accepted that, and our romance flourished. Faye was not a Christian when I first met her and I used the opportunity to introduce her to my group of friends in training union. She soon found a warm atmosphere, and her heart became fertile for the gospel, which she heard in our little church. Soon she was converted and was baptized. Even before we were married she would join me in going to some of the rural places where I preached.