each of our boots may seem large, indeed, to many of those we
lead.
Just as Truman was sensitive to the boy, so Billy Graham has
always realized the impact of his words. He knew that even in the
most casual moments, his actions affected others, especially the
young.
Frank Thielman, who cherishes the times Billy mentored him
as an adult, also recalls the days as a boy when he was often in the
Graham house.
“I was good friends with Ned Graham. He’s about my age,”
Frank told us. “I was up at their house many times, playing with
Ned. I can remember Dr. Graham fixing us grilled cheese sand-
wiches and tomato soup when lunchtime rolled around.
“They sometimes had a penny hunt. Mrs. Graham would
hide pennies in the cracks all around the house, which is a log
cabin, and there are all sorts of cracks in the wood everywhere.
And then there would be a contest to see who could find the
most pennies.
“One time when Dr. Graham was there, he sensed that it
might make somebody feel bad who hadn’t found as many pen-
nies as somebody else, so he said, ‘I want everybody to bring their
pennies to me, and I’m going to give everyone a dollar no matter
how many pennies you have.’ So he did. Everybody came up to
him with their little bags of pennies, and he cashed them out and
gave each of us a dollar or two.”
Frank’s recollections are that Billy “just enjoyed us.” Pre-
sumably he did, and also in the “pennies” story we see his
empathy. He had no idea his son’s friend was drinking all this
in and would apply that spirit in his leadership roles himself.
Billy was just naturally sowing the seeds of his spiritual and
personal commitments.
Thielman said to us, “The Grahams are very much in private
what they claim to be in public. Dr. Graham is an integrated per-
son. He doesn’t speak beyond his own experience, beyond his
own commitments and convictions.” One of Billy’s commitments,
clearly, is to encourage and boost the young and impressionable.
The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham