Urban Report

With Christ There Is a New You

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Yvonne Lewis (Host), William Gailliard

Home

Series Code: UBR

Program Code: UBR000128A


00:01 Who says that a person can't change?
00:03 Stay tuned to meet a man who has changed
00:05 and helps others to do so as well.
00:07 My name is Yvonne Lewis
00:09 and you're watching Urban Report.
00:33 Hello and welcome to Urban Report.
00:36 My guest today is William Gailliard
00:38 Author of "Simply Thinking Big Every Day in Every Way"
00:42 and Motivational Speaker.
00:44 Welcome to Urban Report Bill.
00:46 Well, I'm glad to be here thank you very much.
00:48 So, you have a really interesting story
00:52 and I think our Viewers just need to know your journey.
00:56 Before we get into the book or anything like that
00:59 let's talk about Bill Gailliard,
01:01 who is Bill Gailliard, where did you from?
01:03 Charleston, South Carolina.
01:05 Okay, and tell us about your family.
01:07 My father was a pastor
01:10 in the African-Methodist Episcopalian church
01:12 for over 40 years and I'm the 9th of 10 children.
01:16 So you had nine siblings.
01:19 That's right.
01:20 Ten children... well, I'll bet
01:22 holidays were fun at your house, right?
01:23 Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely...
01:25 I was number nine
01:26 and they were hoping that I would be the last.
01:29 And then there was one after you, right?
01:31 And they were glad he came along.
01:33 Laughter...
01:35 So, what kind of a child were you, Bill?
01:37 Well, first of all I want to begin by saying
01:40 I was the middle child even though I was number nine
01:43 I was in between number eight and number ten
01:46 so that made me a middle child. Okay...
01:49 And of course the number 8th child
01:52 seemed to have gotten all the good gifts
01:55 I mean, my brother... two years older than myself,
02:01 could fix anything,
02:03 he was well-read,
02:05 and he was a straight "A" student
02:06 Ah...
02:08 and then I was caught in between him and the baby.
02:12 Ah... with all that that implies right...
02:16 With all that that implies... that's right.
02:20 And, of course, it seems as though
02:22 everything that broke around the house
02:24 had my name attached to it.
02:25 Ah...
02:27 so were you the child that kind of...
02:29 didn't feel like he could get it right?
02:31 Just couldn't ever get it right, that's right.
02:33 That was from early on.
02:37 Okay, so how did that impact you growing up?
02:40 Well, it caused me to really want to get it together...
02:47 go the extra mile, I had to fight for everything
02:50 and I was never right
02:52 and I use that quite a bit today
02:55 when people say, "You always want to be right"
02:58 I say, "No... I'm used to being wrong"
03:00 and so during those early years, it was really rough on me
03:08 I just... just could not ever seem to get it right.
03:12 How were your grades?
03:13 Well, that was the good part the Lord did bless me
03:19 to be able to do well in school
03:21 and I only remembered one time when I struggled with Algebra
03:26 and my brother two years older than myself
03:30 helped me quite a bit
03:33 when I flunked my first Algebra test
03:36 and just didn't think that I needed to study
03:40 because I was pretty good in Math
03:42 and, of course, when I flunked that test
03:45 I said, "What happened?" and then he took me...
03:48 sat me down and taught me Algebra
03:51 up until late that night and from that point on
03:54 we were the best of friends.
03:56 Now, before then, we were not.
03:57 Really? That's right.
03:59 So it took this failure, so to speak,
04:04 in Algebra... Right...
04:05 to kind of bring you and your brother together.
04:07 Absolutely, I mean, he was always loving me
04:10 but because everything was going his way
04:13 and there was the sibling rivalry
04:18 and I was the underdog all the time
04:23 and so I was always fighting for my place
04:26 but from that point on I admired him.
04:30 That's awesome.
04:32 And that turned things around.
04:33 Yes... yes... yes... so, as a child then
04:37 you had certain challenges to overcome
04:40 being the "middle child" at the end of the line,
04:43 so to speak, That's right.
04:45 so you had those challenges to overcome
04:47 there were some other things
04:48 that happened to you though
04:50 because I read in the book that you got into a habit
04:53 of doing what?
04:55 Of stealing... that's right...
04:57 ever since I knew myself, I would steal
05:00 without a blink of an eye I would steal.
05:03 Now, how did it start?
05:05 Well, it was just around the house
05:07 just one thing after another
05:10 I just developed this habit of taking that which was not mine
05:14 and there were many stories that I could...
05:18 there are many stories that I could give
05:21 but one that I remember... is... my sister was 18-years-old then
05:26 my Sis would always send us money through the mail
05:30 and I knew the money was coming
05:31 and I would look for the mail to come
05:34 and I would always go and take the money out
05:36 before it got there.
05:38 Oh, she would get cash...
05:39 Cash... those were the days when they would send cash
05:41 through the mail and I would take the money out
05:44 that was very bad, but that was one of the habits.
05:46 Now, during those days,
05:48 there were also Pay-Telephone Booths
05:52 and this is one of the whippings that I can still remember, right
05:58 because I was going to the telephone booth
06:02 taking the money out of the telephone booth
06:05 and my brother, two years older than me,
06:09 told on me and that was one of the
06:11 whippings that I can still remember... today...
06:13 And that was before you guys got close, right?
06:16 That was way before that
06:17 but he was always telling though
06:20 he was always telling on me
06:21 and it was all about trying to help me stay out of trouble.
06:24 Hmmm... What I discovered later
06:27 is that he really loved me Hmmm...
06:29 but I didn't see it as "love" in those days
06:32 he was always tattle-taleing. Yes... yes... yes...
06:35 So, how long did this stealing phase of your life last?
06:40 Oh, it lasted until I was at least
06:44 in Seventh Grade because I don't remember
06:46 having a problem with it after
06:49 Seventh Grade.
06:50 What stopped you?
06:52 Well, there were many things that happened
06:54 to bring me to the point of making an intelligent decision
06:59 that it wasn't worth it, that's what really happened
07:02 I came to the point where I realized
07:04 it just wasn't worth it
07:07 and so one of the things that happened
07:10 is that in Sixth Grade, my Sixth-Grade Teacher
07:15 had the class that they called, "The Good Class"
07:21 and so I was in "The Good Class"
07:23 What was it, the Honors Class?
07:25 The Honors Class... Hmmm... hmmm...
07:26 and so, I was in that class
07:28 and... but she knew that I had a habit of getting into fights
07:33 and so that was another problem I had as well
07:36 that's why... on the front of my book I said,
07:39 "Anyone can change"
07:40 because I had the habit of getting into fights
07:43 now I didn't pick the fights but I really liked a good fight.
07:46 You didn't start it but you finished it.
07:51 I really would... you know...
07:53 that's where my reputation came from.
07:55 Okay... I didn't back down from a fight
07:58 but anyhow, she really tried her best to reach me,
08:01 tried her best to reach me,
08:04 and I would help clean the class up.
08:07 Well, the kids didn't like to clean up
08:09 but I liked to clean up,
08:10 that's one of the things that I did learn
08:13 early on from my mom
08:14 because I was the only one of the boys
08:17 that woke up early every morning
08:20 when mom was up, cooking
08:22 and starting the fire
08:24 that's the kind of kid I was, I was around my mom
08:27 so... to some extent I was a "Mother's Boy"
08:30 Hmmm... hmmm..
08:31 and so I learned to clean up very early
08:34 cleaning up at the school now, was no problem
08:37 because that was something that I did at home
08:40 and so that was one of the things that...
08:44 she embraced me with allowing me to be around her
08:48 that was one of the things that she did to embrace me
08:53 to see whether she could win me
08:54 and as a result I got very close to her
08:58 she got very close to me but she would never put my name
09:03 on the Honor Roll List because she wanted me to know
09:08 that she wasn't going to let me represent her class
09:12 until I made some changes. Hmmm...
09:15 And so... So your grades...
09:17 Grades were already...
09:19 Your grades were Honor Roll Level?
09:20 Yes... But she wouldn't put you
09:22 on the Honor Roll?
09:23 She would not put me on the Honor Roll
09:25 How did that make you feel?
09:26 Very bad... very bad... I didn't like it
09:28 and we never discussed it
09:30 it's just that, I can still remember
09:32 the first time when I knew I had made the Honor Roll
09:34 and I was waiting for my name to be called
09:37 and it wasn't called,
09:38 I said, "Whew"... I remember the feeling
09:41 Hmmm... hmmm...
09:43 well I wanted to say something but I didn't say anything
09:45 and I eventually figured out why she was doing it
09:48 and I just had to accept it.
09:51 Hmmm... wow...
09:53 But it got my attention.
09:54 Okay, so this is one of the ways that you stopped stealing.
09:57 Was this one of the things that made you stop stealing?
10:00 No, the thing that got me to stop stealing
10:03 was the fact that because I got close to her
10:05 and I would clean up the classrooms,
10:07 after school,
10:10 on this particular day her pocketbook was sitting
10:14 on the top of the desk and I saw it
10:19 and my mind said,
10:21 "Get that pocketbook"
10:24 that little voice... Hmmm... hmmm...
10:26 and it just didn't look like the right thing to do
10:30 so I left the classroom
10:35 and was walking from 100 to 200 yards
10:40 away from the school and she knew I had left
10:46 but it was like a spirit that comes over a person to do wrong
10:52 that spirit came over me again
10:55 and I turned around and I headed back
11:00 but she had gone to the Teachers' Lounge
11:04 but she knew she saw me
11:06 and so when I came back and she was not there
11:11 and I got the pocketbook
11:12 and interestingly enough when you do things like that
11:14 it's interestingly enough,
11:16 there was no money in the pocketbook
11:17 Hmmm... it wasn't worth it.
11:19 So I hid the pocketbook not far from our house
11:23 now, that was bad...
11:26 the boy on the next street
11:28 would end up finding the pocketbook
11:30 and taking it to school and then they told my dad
11:35 and in those days we sat around the table
11:41 to eat when dad came home
11:42 and we were at the table and just in the nick of time
11:47 when everyone had served their food,
11:50 my dad just... out of the clear blue said,
11:53 "Someone stole Mrs. Baker's pocketbook"
11:59 and with all the
12:02 acting ability that I had
12:04 I didn't change the expression on my face
12:06 I didn't skip a beat,
12:09 I didn't show any signs
12:12 that it was me
12:14 because that's what he was looking for
12:15 as a matter of fact the fork was in my hand
12:18 and it came up in this regular pace
12:20 and I just moved... just normally...
12:23 and since I passed that test, he went down to everyone else
12:27 and said that...
12:30 he asked each child
12:32 whether they had stolen the pocketbook
12:35 from the older to the next, to the next,
12:37 and then he skipped across me and went to the youngest brother
12:41 and everybody said that they didn't do it
12:43 well, the two older boys
12:45 weren't even at the school, they were in High School
12:47 and the younger boy was in a different building
12:50 the only person who was in Ms. Baker's class was me,
12:54 so he saved me for last... Hmmm... hmmm...
12:57 and he asked me, and just like I had been trained
13:02 for acting, I said, "No sir... "
13:04 so it was done so well
13:09 until everyone...
13:12 the kids by-the-way were afraid to death,
13:14 Hmmm... hmmmm...
13:15 because they knew that I was going to lose my life today
13:18 Your daddy didn't play.
13:21 this was going to be it, they were afraid for me
13:23 and so... but I passed that test
13:26 and he finally said,
13:29 "Willy, are you sure,
13:33 did you steal Mrs. Baker's pocketbook?"
13:37 I said, "No sir... " just as calm as could be
13:39 now... at that time, it seems as though
13:43 I heard the door open
13:44 and the sense that "death" was in the house.
13:48 Something bad was going to happen today
13:50 and when my dad
13:55 got up from the table,
13:57 and you could hear the chair
13:59 moving... wooh... wooh... like that...
14:01 he said, "I still think you stole the pocketbook"
14:07 he didn't know, but I had passed the test
14:11 and when that episode was over,
14:14 and as soon as "death" had gone back out the door
14:19 because he had entered in,
14:20 this was going to be someone was going to die
14:23 before the end of the day, oh my!
14:27 I had passed that test and when I walked out of there
14:30 I said, "It's not worth it" Hmmm...
14:33 with all the stress, with all the unrest,
14:38 sleepless night,
14:39 it just wasn't worth it... Hmmm... hmmm...
14:43 and so, that was one of the great
14:45 things to help me turn around
14:47 and as a child you say, "it's just not worth it"
14:51 so consequences of making poor decisions...
14:56 it's just not worth it.
14:58 And so that philosophy carried on with you
15:02 throughout your life. Yes... yes...
15:04 It's just not worth it... It's just not worth it...
15:07 that's right, and of course I had stolen one other thing,
15:10 from Mrs. Baker,
15:13 it was at the end of the school day
15:16 and there were six coconut cakes that were left over
15:21 from a King and Queen Contest,
15:22 you remember those days, the King and Queen Contest,
15:25 Hmmm... hmmm... and she said,
15:26 "Take these to the car"
15:28 and I took them from the classroom to the car
15:32 and that little voice said, "She's not going to miss one"
15:36 if I knew all that was going to come from that one cake,
15:40 I'm telling you,
15:41 how can a person get that upset over one cake? in my mind...
15:48 but she got upset over that one cake
15:51 she even asked me, did I see anyone
15:53 and I just blurted out the name of some bad guy
15:57 in the neighborhood and she went to the High School
16:00 and had him in the classroom the next morning,
16:03 and the kids in the classroom were afraid for me
16:06 because this was a bad guy, I just blurted his name out
16:10 and when that episode was over, I said again,
16:13 "It's just not worth it" and my daddy had already told me
16:19 that if I didn't stop stealing around the house
16:22 that I would eventually steal abroad,
16:25 Hmmm... hmmm... and he says,
16:27 "When you steal abroad, you're going to get caught
16:30 and when you get caught,
16:33 they're going to take you to the Reformatory School
16:36 and when they take you to the Reformatory School,
16:39 you're going to stay there
16:41 until you graduate from High School,
16:44 and I'm not going to visit you...
16:45 not even once... " Hmmm...
16:47 because he had told me over and over
16:48 "you need to stop stealing"
16:50 and so, again, when that second incident happened,
16:55 with Mrs. Baker,
16:57 I said again, "It's just not worth it. "
17:00 But then the third instant,
17:03 when I stole in a Grocery Store
17:05 big Grocery Store, and I was at the Counter
17:10 with money in my pocket, but I stole a bag of candy corn
17:15 and a hand gripped me like that,
17:18 Hmmm... my goose was cooked...
17:21 my heart was beating
17:23 and all of a sudden in the middle of the aisle,
17:27 someone just appeared and walked up and says,
17:31 "He's from a good family, I know the parents,
17:34 give him another chance"
17:36 and the man released my hand
17:40 and gave me some tough words
17:44 and told me not to every come back again,
17:46 and my heart was broken on that day.
17:50 I said... my heart was broken, my daddy's words had come true
17:56 the stealing that I had been doing
17:58 at home... had gone abroad.
18:02 Hmmm... I did get caught,
18:05 but I got grace,
18:07 and that's why I talk about grace so much now,
18:09 believing in God, Yes...
18:11 believing in grace.
18:13 Yes, yes, because grace has been activated in your life
18:17 and you're the recipient
18:18 of grace. That's right, that's right,
18:20 and I came out of that store that day
18:22 in tears, with a broken heart
18:26 and I began to say, "Please change me. "
18:29 Hmmm... Oh yeah...
18:31 the God that I had heard about
18:33 I began to talk to him like... he was there
18:37 I said, "please, please change me"
18:40 I mean... broken... I wanted to change
18:43 So how did God manifest Himself to you,
18:46 how did you begin that change,
18:49 I know, after this particular incident,
18:52 was there anything else that happened
18:55 that wherein... you said,
18:56 "Wow, I really have changed God really has changed me. "
18:59 Well, what happened is that when my heart was broken,
19:05 shedding tears, it felt like a load...
19:09 I don't know whether you've ever lifted Barbells
19:11 and when you pick up the weight
19:16 that's too heavy, and you need to let it down,
19:18 that's how I felt.
19:20 A load just seemed to have fallen off of me
19:25 and I felt better
19:27 and I just knew something had happened
19:30 I didn't understand what happened
19:32 but something had happened that day and I knew
19:37 that something had happened that's all I could say.
19:42 Right... Something had happened
19:43 as a matter of fact what happened when I was in
19:48 Fourth Grade, was the fact that
19:50 I had been such a terrible fellow
19:53 in Third Grade,
19:54 so that when I got to Fourth Grade
19:58 the teacher was braced and waiting for me.
20:00 Because your reputation preceded you.
20:03 My reputation preceded me and she was looking
20:05 for that kid that was raising so much sighing in Third Grade
20:09 until... she was ready for me on the first day
20:13 but that guy never showed up on the first day
20:16 Hmmm... nor the first week,
20:18 nor the first month, nor the first semester,
20:22 and on the last day of the school year,
20:24 she said, "Son, what happened?"
20:27 She wanted to know because she said,
20:30 "I was waiting for you from the first day"
20:32 and guess what I said, I said that I was born again.
20:37 Ah... That's the only term I knew
20:40 at that time to explain to her
20:42 what had happened to me.
20:44 And how old were you?
20:45 At that time, I was just nine.
20:47 Okay. But my dad had done...
20:49 really worked on my rear end. Hmmm... hmmm... Ha... ha...
20:54 Now that's what we call
20:56 "Putting the Board of Education on the seat of my intelligence"
20:58 you know what I'm saying, ha... ha... ha...
21:01 and when you put it in... in the proper place,
21:03 it goes right to the brain,
21:05 it re-trains the brain,
21:07 if you understand what I'm talking about... ha... ha...
21:09 I hear you... I hear you...
21:11 and so, I was born again, and dad says,
21:13 "Gailliards don't act that way" Hmmm...
21:15 and so, I had a great Fourth Grade.
21:18 Hmmm... Now things... you know
21:20 just like the sign curves go up...
21:22 and so Fifth and Sixth... went down
21:25 and then Seventh... got a little better
21:28 by the time I got to Eighth, I was making good decisions
21:32 and my mom was in the background
21:34 she was saying that, "boy, if you don't change,
21:38 your daddy is not going to let you drive that car
21:42 like the other brothers. " Hmmm...
21:44 And these days,
21:46 our family was one of the few families
21:48 that had a car in our neighborhood
21:50 folks were riding the City Bus
21:52 at that time... Hmmm... hmmm...
21:54 and so she kept telling me,
21:57 "You're not going to get that Driver's License
21:59 like Junior and like James"
22:01 and that also helped me to make good choices
22:05 because I knew that I wanted the Driver's license right on time
22:09 like everybody else and so
22:11 it started helping me to think right.
22:13 Hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... so, when you became an adult
22:16 or just... in your pre... your post-adolescent years
22:22 just before adulthood... was there some pivotal event
22:28 that really changed your life?
22:29 Well, I'm thinking that what really brought about the changes
22:34 was when hand grabbed me... Hmmm...
22:37 and when my daddy's words
22:40 had come to
22:43 fruition or fulfillment
22:45 and I could hear his words saying,
22:49 "This is going to happen
22:51 and this is how I'm going to respond to it"
22:57 that helped me tremendously.
23:00 Now, by the time I became a teenager
23:03 I was an excellent church worker
23:05 now... I was in the African Methodist
23:14 Episcopalian church at this time
23:15 and he was the Pastor and I was a people's person,
23:18 I was a choir leader,
23:20 I was even a soul winner to some extent
23:24 because I would get the young kids to come to the church
23:28 he liked that and as a result he ended up giving me a car
23:33 at age 16, so these things had a lot to do
23:37 with me continuing to make right choices
23:40 because I saw that number one
23:43 I've got my permit on time at 14,
23:45 and my Driver's License on time at 16,
23:49 he allowed me to even take the School-Bus Driving Test
23:53 and I drove the school bus from 16...
23:56 from 10th, 11th and 12th grade,
23:59 this taught me that he was trusting me
24:04 to make right choices because you don't let a...
24:06 go ahead... No you finish your sentence.
24:08 You don't let a teenager drive a School Bus without showing him
24:16 that he can make responsible decisions
24:20 because every day you got under that steering wheel,
24:23 kids were doing all kinds of things on the school buses
24:27 and you had to make right choices everyday
24:29 And you're a teenager... I'm a teenager...
24:31 Wow! that's a lot of responsibility!
24:34 That was a big responsibility.
24:37 So, how did you come to write a book?
24:38 Let's talk about that... because our time...
24:40 I can't believe our time is running out
24:42 Yeah, I can't believe it either...
24:44 How did you come to write this book about thinking big?
24:47 Well, I had been going into the schools
24:50 taking the gospel into the school
24:52 and this is my little manual that I had been using
24:56 Yes... I had it all written out
24:58 what I had been doing for several years
25:00 and people were following me and a little voice said,
25:05 "If you don't write a book
25:07 someone is going to take your stuff
25:09 and they are going to write a book
25:11 and they are going to be
25:13 laughing all the way to the bank
25:15 and you're going to be crying"
25:16 that's how the book came about
25:19 because I had had this, been using it
25:22 and was not afraid to put my stuff that were unique
25:27 out there... just wasn't afraid...
25:30 And what kinds of ideas are you setting forth in the book
25:35 that are unique to you?
25:37 Play your ace... so when I go into a classroom
25:40 or to a school and I talk to kids
25:43 about improving their grades
25:45 I ask them, "How many of you are straight "A" students?"
25:48 and very few hands go up.
25:49 How many of you are A/B Honor Roll?
25:51 and a few more...
25:53 and... but for the most part
25:55 the kids are not on the Honor Roll
25:57 so I said, "How many of you
25:59 would like to make better grades?"
26:01 And all the hands go up, I said, "Very good. "
26:03 "Well, the first thing you need to do is
26:05 learn to play your ace... "
26:07 I said, "Now, if you learn to play your ace,
26:09 the grades will go up"
26:11 no two ways about it,
26:12 now what's the ace? Learn to pay attention.
26:14 I said, "You've got to learn to pay attention"
26:17 Hmmm... The "C" is for concentration
26:20 you've got to learn to concentrate
26:23 one word... means the same thing
26:26 as concentrate learn to focus
26:28 regardless of what else is going on around you
26:31 you've got to learn that, and then finally,
26:34 you've got to learn to echo...
26:36 that means, to repeat the same thing
26:38 over and over and over and over
26:40 and over again until you get it,
26:43 Okay... it doesn't matter
26:44 how many times it takes for you to get it,
26:46 you just do it until... you get it...
26:48 it may take one person three...
26:50 it may take another person nine...
26:52 it may take another person 27...
26:54 but even if it takes you 30, you do it until you get it.
26:57 I love it...
26:59 That's what you call, "Play your ace"
27:00 Play your ace. That's right.
27:02 I love that, that's awesome
27:03 would you have a lot of ideas in your book
27:06 in your motivational speaking, how can people contact you?
27:10 Let's put your e-mail address up so that people can e-mail you
27:14 That's levi35234@yahoo. com
27:17 and you're available to go to schools...
27:19 Absolutely...
27:21 Because you have been there throughout your life
27:24 you have been changed...
27:26 That's right, I have been changed...
27:27 and you want to share with others... how to do it.
27:29 That they can do it, and it's all about thinking big
27:31 one of the things that I do
27:34 is that I get them to raise their right hand
27:35 and pledge allegiance,
27:37 "I pledge allegiance to a new start
27:39 and from the bottom of my heart,
27:41 I am going to think big every day... in every way. "
27:44 I can't think of a better way to close than that
27:46 thank you so much and may God bless you
27:49 and thank you for being with us
27:50 and thank you, you know, 2nd Corinthians 5:17 says,
27:53 "Therefore if any man be in Christ,
27:55 he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
27:58 behold, all things are made new. "
28:00 Thank you so much Brother Bill, God bless you.
28:03 Tune in next time,
28:05 it wouldn't be the same without you.


Home

Revised 2015-11-10