PICAYUNE — In a recent column I wrote: "Through my many years of counseling I have asked hundreds of married couples to recount the circumstances under which they met. Well, when I stepped down off the bus with my brief case in my left and opened the door to Butler's grocery I looked into the eyes of the woman that I would marry." She was sitting on the counter with a handsome young man that I assumed was her boyfriend. A middle aged-woman approached me with her hand extended. "I'm Lillie Butler. Are you the preacher from OBU?"

"I'm Jack Watson. I came to preach tomorrow at the Baptist Church."

"Good. This is my daughter, Johnie Lee, and this is Leo Warren."

I thought to myself, "Mrs. B., you have a lovely daughter."

Johnie Lee was wearing a brown skirt, a tan blouse and a matching brown bolero. How's that for a guy who never notices how people dress? I was impressed with the friendliness and quiet dignity of the folks in Butler's Grocery. At Mrs. Butler's direction, the boyfriend, Leo, and Johnie Lee took me out to the college and helped me locate my room for the night.

I was pleased with the number of young people who attended the morning worship services the next day. I wondered if they had come to hear the young preacher or if they came regularly. After preaching I excused myself from a called business meeting, went out into the yard and waited for the congregation to be dismissed. Mr. Crocket and a couple of other men came out of the church smiling and informed me that the church had extended a call to me as half-time pastor at the princely sum of $20.00 per trip-$40.00 a month. I had mixed emotions, being overjoyed at the opportunity and awed at the responsibility.

I soon learned that Johnie Lee Butler was useful as well as lovely. As chairman of the hospitality committee, she arranged for my supper each Saturday. After a couple of trips she and I found it more convenient for her to prepare me a light meal rather than send me to some one's home for a full dinner. Since her folks were busy across the street at the store, the two of us ate together. This was, of course, an arrangement of convenience.

We were doing something right because the college crowd was coming to church, some were taking leadership roles, and several made professions of faith and were baptized into the church fellowship. One Sunday during the invitation, I was surprised to see Johnie Lee among the young people who came forward. She explained that, while she had joined the church as a child, she was not sure that she was nature enough to understand the significance of what she was doing. She wanted to renew her vow and to signify it by being baptized along with the others.

Johnie Lee and I had a cautious courtship. We wrote an occasional letter between my trips-mostly church business of course. Recently she told me that on that first rainy Saturday afternoon, when I came into the store and introduced myself, she fully expected to become my wife someday and raise a family.

The time was July, 1942 when I made my regular trip to Warner. I was riding with the other student and offered him very little by way of companionship because my mind was on my mission to ask Johnie Lee Butler to marry me. It was a typically hot afternoon in the first week in July, I was 21 years of age, the first year of legal manhood, and about to take unto myself a wife.

Perhaps I should ask God for a sign, something specific enough to be unmistakable? Then it came to me. I would ask the Lord that Johnie Lee would be wearing a pink dress when I laid eyes on her again. I don't know why I chose pink except that I could visualize her in a dress to match her lovely complexion. That very unusual condition seemed the most natural thing in the world for me to set up and I had confidence that it would happen. I would propose after the evening service and before my ride came.

We soon stopped in front of Butler's Grocery and I went inside. As soon as my eyes adjusted from the bright Oklahoma summer sun I saw Johnie Lee leaning against the counter smiling at me dressed in a simple linen dress of the loveliest pink I had ever seen. I'm sure her halo and the gossamer wings were hallucinations of my overloaded brain. Although I expected what I saw, the reality of it was almost too much. I cannot remember the rest of the events of the weekend except the night on her front porch. That scene is indelibly etched in my brain.

As we sat talking about pleasant nonessential things I kept building up courage to ask her to marry me. Just when I was ready to speak what was on my heart I saw car lights coming up the highway from the south. I decided to wait to make sure that it was not my ride but unfortunately he turned left on main street and stopped in front of the house.

"He's a little earlier than usual," Johnie Lee commented.

"Sure is" I agreed, and under my breath, "Darn it".

On my way back to Shawnee I decided that I could propose to Johnie Lee on my next preaching day. Or, better yet, I could write her a letter and propose. A letter was not a good idea but Dad once told me that he had proposed to Mother by mail and it worked for him. I sent a proposal letter which Johnie happily kept as a sort of legal contract and answered that she was sure it was the Lord's will, that she would always love me and that her folks had given their blessing.

Brave soul that she was, Johnie Lee, at the tender age of almost 17 agreed to marry me and become a minister's wife . From that time our love for each other grew far beyond the sweet beginnings of a marriage that lasted for over two-thirds of a century. Johnie went to be with the Lord 18 months ago after a lengthy period of illness. Our extended family now consists of three sons, six grandchildren, eight great granddaughters and two great grandsons and a host of extraordinary in-laws.

Note: A number of readers have asked me to share what happened last month when took the same route to California that I took during the big depression when I was just 16 years of age. The difference between those days and today really blew my mind and it all happened in my lifetime. I'll explain in next weeks column.