They were looking for a youth pastor, and Leonard knew the preacher and thought he’d take a chance on a kid fresh out of school. Leonard had convinced me that I needed to go to a little junior college and pick up a two year degree in communications. The classes themselves were boring, except for the Speech class, which was terrifying. I got through the class okay, though, and learned something valuable about myself: I could speak in front of people. The first time I got up to talk, my voice disappeared. Once I found it, I sounded like a timid bird. But slowly I began to loosen up. I hit my stride in that class when I realized the first fundamental truth of this life: most people just want you to tell them what they want to hear. Double-check me on that; you’ll find that it’s true. Most folks are happy if you just maintain the balance in their lives. Once I figured out how to do that—and I was already doing it on a smaller scale, with people like Brother Leonard—I was ready. I drove down to Little Rock in the snow and met the preacher and let him look me over.
