“One day, she was amazed to discover that when he was saying, “as you wish” what he meant was, “I love you.”
“… and even more amazing was the day she realized, she truly loved him back.”
I love The Princess Bride movie. I have never read the book, but I have viewed the movie record times. It is a story that truly has something for everyone … adventure, drama, violence, comedy and romance … all wrapped up at a SciFi format. I love every element of it! The actors who play each part have become those characters, and the lines get repeated in conversations, and even in wedding ceremonies (such as the “mawwiage” scene).
But it is the line, “as you wish” that holds my attention most, especially today, as hubby and I celebrate our twenty-forth wedding anniversary today.
Marriage, really, is so much like the struggles faced by Wesley and Buttercup.
Sometimes there are sword fights, but the swords are our tongues and the hits are with words … the scars are far slower to heal than any physical blow.
Sometimes there are poisons in our drinks in the forms of what we drink that the world keeps offering, such as dissatisfaction, selfishness, arrogance, and pride.
Sometimes there are giants in our way and they might be in the forms of illness, difficulties with conceiving, job problems, financial problems, and more.
Sometimes we push each other down a steep embankment, or would like to, when it seems that we no longer know that man or woman who we married.
Sometimes we are surrounded by the enemy, and it seems that our enemy is our spouse.
Sometimes we have been tortured by regrets … maybe even the regret of having said, ‘I do’ in the first place. But regrets can come in any form that leads our hearts to dissatisfaction.
Sometimes we are temporarily paralyzed … with fear.
Sometimes there really are ROUS (rodents of unusual size) that attack your loved one, but they might be found in the form of nasty neighbors, beastly bosses, sarcastic soccer moms, malicious church members or repulsive Canadian Revenue workers (or so I’ve heard).
Always, there is an evil king, who is out to destroy you and your love, in the form of Satan who is out to “steal and kill and destroy …” (John 10:10a)
But, like Wesley and Buttercup, we have the foundation of “as you wish” as the pervading theme of our marital lives.
Whenever Buttercup ordered her farm-boy, Wesley to do a task for her, his only response was “as you wish.” He did not whine and complain, he did not state his rights, he did not compare her to other girls … he simply fulfilled her request … selflessly. Eventually the meaning of “as you wish” (I love you) was understood in the heart of Buttercup, and her requests were no longer orders, by favors accompanied by ‘please’ (perhaps her own version of “as you wish”). In time, Wesley’s choice to love Buttercup unconditionally, and selflessly created an intense response of the same from she to him.
In twenty-four years of marriage, I have blown it over and over, and hubby and I have experienced many struggles … some brought on by the enemy, but many brought on by our inability to … serve each other, with an “as you wish” attitude.
To have an “as you wish” attitude is to serve without expectation of reciprocation.
To have an “as you wish” attitude is to never give up when it gets difficult.
To have an “as you wish” attitude is to always think the best of the intentions of our spouse.
To have an “as you wish” attitude is to say I love you in every little thing we do for the other.
After all:
“This is true love … you think this happens everyday?”
itsawonderfilledlife 