<TITLE>17. Par 55-58</TITLE>L-55 I said, "Look, Charlie," I said, "I know you give her a good home." I said, "You can get her anything she wants; I can't." I said, "I'm only making a small wage." But I said, "Charlie, she couldn't find anybody that thinks any more of her." And I said, "I'll work as long as there's breath in my body to work, and make her a living. And I'll do everything that I can to make her a living."
I never will forget; he's gone on too now. But he laid his hand over on my shoulder, and he said, "Bill, I'd rather you'd have her, and I know you love her, and I know she loves you. I rather you'd have her, then somebody maybe had plenty and wouldn't be good to her." Said, "After all, life doesn't consist of how much the world's goods you own, but how contented you are with the portion that's 'lotted to you." That's right, too...?...
I said, "Thank you, Charlie. I'll do all that I can."

L-56 Well, we got married; we moved into a little--a little two room place that we rented. I never will forget what we went housekeeping on. Many of you remember the depression, don't you? Oh, my. [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] About two dollars, is what the stove cost me. I went down to Sears and Roebucks and got a breakfast set that hadn't been painted, and I painted it. And I put big shamrocks all over it. I was...?... She's German and me Irish, you know, so I said, "We'll make that, paint it red with big green shamrocks on it, just... we just... We were so happy. We didn't have much of the world's goods, but we were happy. It was home.
I remember the first time that I went then... We were real happy, she was working at a shirt factory, and we were trying to get enough money together to get us some furniture. And we'd been married, oh, several months. After about a year, little Billy Paul come on the scene. Oh, she almost died. And how I walked up-and-down the floors when the little fellow was being borned. And just as soon as he was born, I heard him cry, and I screamed; I said, "Thank You, Lord, it's a boy, and his name shall be called Billy Paul." [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]

L-57 Doctor came out in a few minutes, said, "Well, reverend, I'll charge you for this linoleum you wore out all up-and-down here," he said, "but you got a boy."
I said, "Yes, his name's Billy Paul."
And I become acquainted with Brother Ryan during that time; I met him at a service one day, and heard him testify in Louisville. So, he invited me, and that's when he come to my house, and he set there one day. Now, Pentecost was a strange thing to me, and how many times he tried to tell me about it. And he was--he was setting there, and he just raised up; he threw up his hand and begin to speak with an unknown tongue. And he stopped, looked at me right straight, walked to me, laid his hand over on my shoulder, and said, "Brother Billy, you're just a lad now; there's a lot of youth to you yet. But someday that's going settle down, and Almighty God is going to use you to stir the nations." He walked out.

L-58 There's the man setting there now that did it. I love the old fellow. And he went away, went to his home, and I'd visit his home. I remember we saved our money; I never will forget how much money I had; it's six or seven dollars to make the trip, that we saved. I was tired; I'd been, as a minister and was preaching, had the little Tabernacle there. I went on a vacation; I went to see Brother Ryan, went to Dowagiac. And he, we went fishing out on the lake. On the road back I was coming home and I come down through Mishawaka. And that was my first time to ever get acquainted with the denominational Pentecostal people.
And I passed by, at I believe Mishawaka, I guess, and there was a big tabernacle there, and the people was all crowded out on the streets and everywhere, they was... I thought, "What is this?" And I seen they had "Jesus Saves" and everything on the back of their cars. So I pulled my old Ford up and stopped, and thought, "What is this?"


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