Becky and I were married in September of 1976, but we had been seeing other since September of 1973. When people would ask us how we met, we would tell them our separate versions of the story -- mine using a strict economy of words, and Becky's filling in all the important details, much as Mark's Gospel does in the triple tradition passages. The short version is that we met in the cafeteria line at Biola. I had just gotten a box of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts from home, and when I noticed a tall young lady behind me, I offered her a nut. We sat together at lunch that day, and 2 years and 8 months later I proposed to this beautiful Texan. I fear my version of the story is much duller than Becky's, and she was always quick to mention that she knew, the instant she saw me, that one day I would be her husband. What would you call that? Female intuition? A word from the Lord? No answer seems to me to be wholly conclusive. But there you have it: a fait accompli in a cafeteria line brought on by two hungry stomachs and cemented by, of all things, a nut.
