Chocolate Chip Cookies
There came a day after class that both Shawn and I
needed to speak with the professor. During that same week OWU was hosting a
guest speaker from The Laborer’s Institute (TLI), the same ministry program I
had attended a few years prior. During one of the chapel services he requested
that any students who had been a part of TLI would stand up. Shawn had noticed
me stand and concluded that I couldn’t be a complete ditz if I had gone on a
mission trip before! This simple event sparked conversation between us after
class as we both finished speaking with our professor and headed back across
campus toward the cafeteria. I was surprised at the easy flow of dialogue
between us. He was very interested to learn more about TLI, and I encouraged
him to come to a small informational meeting to be held that night before the
chapel service. I would be there with other graduates of the program to answer
questions and share some of our experiences. He happily agreed to attend.
The meeting that night went smoothly, and we enjoyed
another dynamic chapel service with the guest speaker, who was so energetic,
funny, and spiritually stirring. Afterward, Shawn and I ran into each other
again down at the campus center. He was excited about what he had learned about
TLI and continued to ask me more questions. I told him that I had a scrapbook
video from my summer there, full of pictures and testimonies from all members
of my team. He surprised me by responding, “Can we watch it now?”
Shortly after, we gathered with a few other students
in the lounge area of one of the girls’ dormitories, and I popped in the tape.
(Yes, we still used VHS some in those days!) Now, before I get any further into
the events of that evening, I need to give some background information about a
specific story that the TLI speaker had shared previously that week. He
enthusiastically told us about his first encounter with his wife as a college
student years before. He noticed a pretty girl in one of the campus buildings
who looked extremely down-cast and sad. In his out-going and unabashed way, he
smiled at her, patted her shoulder, and tried to cheer her up sharing, “God
loves you!” Hours later upon returning to his dorm, his football buddies grilled
him, “Who is she?!” He had no idea what they were talking about until he
noticed a plateful of homemade chocolate chip cookies and a card with his name
on it. After devouring several cookies he opened the card to find a note of
thanks from a young woman who had desperately needed encouragement that day. He
didn’t recognize her name, so he pulled out a year book and recognized it to be
the same pretty girl he had spoken to earlier. The rest was history!
After completing the scrapbook video that night,
Shawn, I, and another guy friend of mine stood around outside chatting.
Seemingly out of the blue Shawn suddenly turned to me and asked, “Do you know
how to make chocolate chip cookies?” There was a moment of awkward silence as I
thought to myself, “Is this freshman trying to hit on me?” I don’t remember
exactly how I responded, but conversation moved on and we soon parted ways for
the evening. The next morning I told the speaker what had happened. He just
smiled and said, “I’m not saying anything!" It wouldn’t be until months
later that I would learn that Shawn was not thinking about the chocolate chip
story at all when he asked his strange question. Instead, his mind had wandered
back to a conversation that he had with a guidance counselor who was giving him
a tour of the campus before the semester started. He had encouraged Shawn to
look into forming study groups for some of his classes, and he added the
advice, “Make sure you invite some girls who know how to make chocolate chip cookies!”
It seems that Shawn thought I could be a good candidate for this. While the
study groups with cookies never materialized, something was put into motion
that night that would change both of our lives forever.
