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| This ambitious reader reminds me of what’s most important |
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He caught me off guard as I put down my Sunday afternoon cup of coffee to answer the knock at the door. I had no idea who he was, but he would soon be a good friend, as I greeted this dairyman from the Netherlands.
He was visiting friends in Canada and the States and just happened to be in my Dutch dairy farming neighborhood, and decided he would throw caution to the wind and find this farm wife columnist he read in Holstein International. “Surprised” by his visit is a total understatement.
I quickly cleared the dinner table of the dishes, made another pot of coffee and thanked God for my craving for peanut butter cookies that afternoon as I put a plate of fresh treats down in front of Frans.
My husband and I sat down to visit and suddenly, I was plagued with thoughts of what I was wearing – and was mortified! I had on a ratty, hand-me-down t-shirt and old shorts. I was comfortable, but not presentable for company, especially company that came all the way from Holland.
As we visited, I tried to keep my mind from running through all the things that were left undone around the farm. Luke was mowing the hayfield (yard), which had grown quickly due to the rain and needed to be trimmed and looked hideous. My kitchen was a mess from dinner.
My laundry room had its typical Sunday mountain of laundry sitting there in plain sight and, of course, because the bathroom is in the middle of being remodeled, the old toilet was sitting right there in the yard, waiting to be disposed of and greeting everyone who stopped by. If there was ever a bad time for a visitor, this was the time.
But the longer we talked, the less I worried about what was left undone and the more I thought about what a privilege it was to have Frans stop in. He mentioned that after reading in one of my columns – where I wrote about being too star-struck to introduce myself to some highly respected Holstein breeders at the New York Spring Carousel – he decided he would just plug my location into his GPS and find me.
How often do we take the time to meet the people we want to meet? How often do we let these great relational opportunities slip by because we are too busy to go out of our way, on our way? And how many blessings have we missed out on because of the busy lives we lead, absent of any margins to keep us in balance?
So I want to thank Frans for his boldness and our new friendship, and for reminding me once again that life is too short to worry about the small stuff, and our relationships with people is what’s most important.
(A side note about Frans; He and his wife have five children from age 14 down to 7, four boys and a girl. They have a 90-cow registered Holstein family farm in Holland.)
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication. |
| 6/2/2011 |
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