Christmas in Texas

On the flat open plains of Texas, where farming and ranching still are king, Holly’s parents have established a homestead. It is a place that seems removed from time. It is a place of peace, quite and stillness. It is a home filled with things that are hard to find in the suburbs of Dallas. grew up in rural Texas.

I count many of my virtues and who I am as a person based on this upbringing. It is one of many things that drew Holly and me together. It is a common bond that is understood; a common set of morals that are taught on and by the land. This Christmas, on the high plains of the Llano Estacado, I reflected and appreciated this more than ever.

Holly’s dad is a farmer and rancher. He is a man of tremendous virtue and hardworking ethics. His whole life has been in cultivating, nurturing and growing things. He might be planting wheat, nursing a new born calf or raising grandchildren, but he is always at work. His whole mind revolves around how to help other people and things achieve their best.

I have learned a lot on the farm. I ask Galen thousands of questions. Sometimes I trip him up a little bit and ask a question that is so blatant to him that he has to stop and think how to explain it, like “How does a windmill really work?”. Other times the years of experience let the answer roll off like poetry, “Is a feedlot inhumane to cows?”. He never dodges a question or gives you too much to digest. He never dulls it down or makes it too simple. He shoots from the hip, and challenges you to grow in your understanding.

My many days on the farm have given me a lot of firsts. I saw my first new born calf. I saw my first dead calf. I herded cows by pickup truck and sorted cows onto trailers. I learned how to blow dirt out of radiators. And most importantly, why we don’t wear sandals on the farm. This Christmas I learned how to ride my first tractor. In the truest of styles, Galen gave me an option, drive the pickup back to the barn, or drive the tractor. I picked the pickup, so did Galen. He made me sit in the seat, explained the controls to me and drove in a big circle. Three minutes later and he left me alone on a tractor for the next hour. “No time like the present to learn” is Galen’s heart for growing his children. Even though they might not be his own.

Holly’s mom is the epitome of a southern mom. Never a day goes by that a home cooked meal, with dessert, isn’t served in her home. Over years of childrearing and herself holding down a job, her kids always came home to a hot meal, with dessert. She is a woman of God. The church door swing, and she is there with a casserole and a smile to welcome you in. You walk into her house and her bible is on her bedside for her daily devotional. You stay through Sunday and you will attend her Sunday school class. She reared her kids this way, and it shows. Hers is a family marked by God’s blessings, and it shows.

This Christmas, she showed me how much love she really has for her family. Selecting everyone a perfect gift, favorite dessert and taking the time to sit and talk to each and everyone of us. She was busy, tired and sick but she didn’t let that spoil her Christmas with the family.

Christmas is special. This year I understand more about Christmas. How the farm makes it special, and how family makes the farm.

It was Christmas,
On the farm,
In Texas!