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Time is our treasured jewel
Why is it we must fight ridiculous mob-like activity to purchase gifts at Christmas time? Because three wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus, symbols of their adoration? That word adoration has stuck with me this holiday season. The dictionary tells me adoration is "profound love or regard." Do we really have profound love and regard for everyone we get a Christmas gift for? Are we truly sharing the same sense of giving the wise men exhibited when they dropped to their knees and worshipped the baby Jesus?
Last week, I was asked if I had my Christmas shopping done or was I going to wait until Christmas Eve like every other man. This, from the man's perspective, should be presented as a serious calculated effort of weighing all the true feeling for your wife. Not jumping the gun and impulsively buying something that wouldn't mean as much. Giving the action as much time and thought as the calendar will allow. Of course this statement also has the assumption that your wife has already purchased gifts for every other person you have adoration for and the only one left is her.
No doubt a vast percentage of the wives have been shopping from their list and stumbled onto the perfect gift for themselves and figure "I better get this or all I will get is a bag of Snickers from the gas station." It is not that husbands don't have adoration for their wives, it is that we don't need one day of the year to prove it. We attempt to spread the adoration out over 365 days a year. Furthermore, if you change your pattern and suddenly get some thoughtful gift for your wife this year, she may become suspicious and wonder what you are feeling guilty about.
While some in this county may not give this gift-giving scenario enough thought, others have totally lost control of the reason for the season. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, holiday spending on pets has grown into a $5 billion business. One survey showed the average pet owner shells out $25 per animal during the holidays. Shouldn't that make the average husband jealous?
In the past year, I have told many people about the gift I gave my wife last year. I gave her a yellow highlighter and a blank calendar. The rationale behind this rather unusual gift is actually quite insightful. I spend far too many days on the road in the course of a year, which leaves her at home taking care of the kids, calving cows, getting animals back in after escapes, breaking ice and most other daily chores. So last year, with Christmas Eve upon us, the idea hit me. I would give her a yellow highlighter and she could mark five days a month as her "yellow days" on which I will be Mr. Mom. Now, thanks to the country band Lonestar, I can dedicate a song to her called "Mr. Mom" which closes by saying " Honey, you are my hero."
Incidentally, five days a month turned out to be harder than you might think and I still have some yellow days to catch up but I will fulfill that gift in the days to come. With another Christmas Eve fast approaching, I thought writing a column about my "hero" and having it published for all the world to see should count for something. Until my daughters get to the age where they ask "Dad, what do you want me to buy for you to give Mom?" I suppose I will need to pull a rabbit out of the hat in the 11th hour.
In all seriousness, someone said "It isn't how much you spend on your gift, it is the intent." In the era of Jesus birth, jewels may have had the greatest value. I contend that in today's world, time spent together is the greatest gift of all. If we don't do anything more this holiday season than read an extra story to the kids or share in better communication with the ones we profoundly love or regard, this will be a memory that will be fondly regarded in the years to come.
Editor's note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.FacesOfAg.com, or e-mail Trent at trent@loostales.com.
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