Raising Crops by Dr. Juan Harrison
Raising Crops
About the time of the Korean War in the early 50’s I was busy stuffing dollar bills earned from picking cotton or more accurately, pulling bolls, into a Clabber Girl’s baking powder can. At 2 cents a pound it took many a trip from the cotton row to the trailer to empty my junior sized cotton sack my mother made for me. A few hundred pounds later I had enough my first-grade year to finally buy a Holstein heifer calf to start building my own herd. My calf helped me be a part of 4-H as she and her future calves kept me busy.
Looking back, I don’t remember the sweat and the time it took to have a good project back then. I do remember the feeling of accomplishment as calves were born and my investment grew. Unlike savings accounts and IRA’s, I could see and touch the fruit of my labor and the tangible rewards for the efforts I put forth.
So much of life doesn’t give us immediate gratification and instant rewards. Whether it’s planting a row of corn in the garden or a pot of herbs in the windowsill as my son likes to do, it takes time to reap the benefits and get those tasty rewards.
I told you before how a divorced friend sat in my living room years ago and commented on my wife bringing me a glass of sweet tea. I could tell he liked that but missed out on it in his first marriage. I kinda smiled at him and told him later that iced tea was the product of a mutual admiration society where I do a little laundry and dishes if I want to get some of my wishes. No room in this relationship for selfishness. Serving each other helped fertilize this field and bear some awesome crops.
I think the one that is one of the toughest yet most rewarding blessings you can get comes from our children. You invest your life and time into them; they become the motivation and reason why we work our guts out and do whatever it takes to help make their dreams come true. Then one day you reap the blessing. As we went out of state to a neighboring AFB to help get my youngest a medical clearance for him to enter the military officer training program as he entered his first year at UT, I asked, “Could I have done anything different in your life to have helped you?” The young man of few words said, “Nope, Dad, you did it right.” Some crops take longer to produce. My eldest called yesterday to talk about his new church where he serves as the Gen X Pastoral Director. He concluded with, “Love you.” Some crops may take longer but the fruit is that much sweeter.
By Dr. Juan Harrison
