It has often been said that having a good first impression is critically important. In fact, a first impression is generally made within seven to 30 seconds of meeting someone, with some reports indicating first impressions are made within as little as a tenth of a second.

Both Billy Graham and his wife, Ruth Bell Graham, wrote about meeting each other for the first time in their autobiographies.

In his autobiography, Just As I Am, Billy Graham reflects on first meeting Ruth Bell:

In more ways than one, [Ruth Bell] was one of the belles of Wheaton campus. This I learned during my first term from a fellow I met at the Lane home, Johnny Streater. To pay his way through college, Johnny ran his own trucking service. For a price, he would haul anything in his little yellow pickup. I gladly accepted his offer of work at 50-cents an hour and spent many afternoons at hard labor, moving furniture and other items around the western Chicago suburbs.

Johnny was a little older than I and had been in the Navy before coming to Wheaton. He had a vision for the mission field and felt that God had called him to serve in China, where he intended to go as soon as he graduated. He told me about a girl in the junior class—one of the most beautiful and dedicated Christian girls he had ever met. Sounded like my type. I paid attention.

One day we were hanging around in our sweaty work clothes in front of Williston Hall, the girls’ dorm, getting ready to haul some furniture for a lady in Glen Ellyn, the next town over, when Johnny let out a whoop. ‘Billy, here’s the girl I was telling you about,” he said. ‘It’s Ruth Bell.’

I straightened up, and there she was. Standing there, looking right at me, was a slender, hazel-eyed movie starlet! I said something polite, but I was flustered and embarrassed. It took me a month to muster the courage to ask her out for a date.”

In her autobiography, It’s My Turn, Ruth Bell Graham writes about her first impression of Billy Graham:

“All I saw was a blur. I was on the steps of East Blanchard when a new student passed me. I was going up. He was going down.

He’s surely in a hurry, I thought to myself, and went on.

Sunday mornings we had prayer meeting in Williston lobby before dividing up and going out on gospel team assignments. That morning I heard a new voice pray: strong, clear, urgent.

There is a man who knows to Whom he is speaking, I thought.

I had heard about this new transfer student, who had come from a Bible college in Florida. They said he was a gifted preacher—a young man on whose shoulder God’s hand seemed to rest.

Shortly after that, a friend, Johnny Streater, introduced us. Not long after, Bill asked me for our first date—a Sunday-afternoon presentation of The Messiah.

Now one does not get to know a person by sitting and listening to a group singing, however inspiring the music. Yet that night I knew he was the one. Someone has said, ‘Feminine instinct is a great time-saver: it enables a woman to jump at conclusions without bothering with the facts.’ So I laid it before the Lord and left it there.”

Fortunately, their positive first impressions of each other were right on target, and, a few years later, the two went on to marry on a moonlit night on August, 13, 1943. Their marriage spanned more than 60 years until Ruth’s passing in June 2007. Their reliance on God from the very beginning of their relationship was the foundation for not only their marriage, but also for their ministry that impacted millions around the world. Their single determination to fully rely on God led them to each other and to all the wondrous things God had planned for their future.

You can find out more about Billy and Ruth Graham’s marriage and see Ruth Graham’s handmade wedding dress in The Journey of Faith tour at the Billy Graham Library. Plan your visit today. Admission to the tour is always free.