So I don’t know if you have seen the Notebook, I have, and yes I am still a man. At the end you realize that he is telling her the story of their love story everyday because she has Alzheimer’s. You think, no one does that, love like that is for the movies.
Yesterday I saw it played out. I was at BJ’s restaurant with a few other guys. It was lunch and this older couple
(70s) came in. It was obvious that the woman was worse off than the man. He was so tender with her, he guided her down the stairs, he gently took off her coat and helped her sit down. Then as they ordered and waited for their food he talked. She wasn’t into talking much it seemed, so he talked and talked. He carried on a conversation with her just to let her know he was there. When their food came he went over and cut half of her food up for her. Then he sat back down and talked and talked to her, while she ate. When she was done with some of her food, he got up again and cut the rest for her.
Then as they got up and ready to leave he got up first and went over to her side and helped her up. He was so gentle you could tell that he loved this woman very much. He delicately helped her put on her jacket again and guided her out.
Before he left Pastor Jim who was with me stopped the man and went over to him. Pastor Jim thanked the man for being such an amazing husband. The man said his wife had Alzheimer’s. The man started to tear up…then he said, you know what, last Friday we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary.
Our culture tells us that love is romantic, and fast-paced. We think of love in movies like Mr. and Mrs. Smith, or any Disney Movie. At weddings we speak of 1 Corinthians and love being patient and kind, we really have no idea.
Furthermore, our culture tells us a man is driven by desires and is masculine and a woman-chaser. That is not a real man. That old man at BJ’s was more of a man than most of America. A real man loves his wife, that takes extreme devotion and courage.
What if we thought of love and had wedding vows like this…
I will feed you when you get old.
I will talk to you when you can’t speak anymore,
I will take you out on a date even when I know you wont remember.
I will be there for you until my end or yours.
My love is not something I have to choose to do, its not a task.
I have already chosen you and I will continue to choose you until HE takes you to be back with him, for now you are mine.
I will forever and always think of you as my greatest treasure.
I was at a friends house and they have two little girls. One of the girls came to me and asked me if Leslie (my wife) was my princess. I said yes, and she will always be.
True love, is like that man and his wife…because really that is what Christ does for us.
In Him,
JC
