I grew up in a parsonage because my dad was a pastor. You see, it wasn’t our house; it was the church’s house. If we wanted to paint our rooms, the committee had to approve. Sometimes they inspected the house. They said things like, “Children, did you stop up that commode?” It made me want to stop it up on purpose.

As I grew up in a parsonage, I begin to think a little neurotically. I felt that I had to please people for things to go well with my family. I remember thinking that I needed to please some special people; they were deacons. They could make it tough on my dad. I guess that’s why I believe like the little boy who said, “Jesus went around doing ministry and casting out deacons.”