Dear Friends,

I’ve always been diversified; but since marrying Sam last June, I play more roles than ever. One I have already played about 20 hours this week is assistant farm hand. I’m tired!

Being a farm hand (or assistant as the case may be) is like being a mother; inasmuch as before you are finished, it’s time to start over again. And a lot of people undervalue the work. So, I have assessed, and reassessed, the value of my time. You can, after all, hire a good farm hand, if you are able to find one, for about $10 an hour.

As I’ve tried to justify (little red flag) assisting Sam as a farm hand, I wondered if we should place more value on our time. It dawned on me today that I was so caught up in how much the work was worth—if we were paying somebody else for it—that I neglected to see the real value to us of doing it.

The obvious: The rewards of any job go beyond what can be gained financially.

Besides working my muscles harder than I do when I exercise, I am learning by doing. I am learning that I can control a thoroughbred horse with a lead rope, sometimes...and that even when I can’t, I still love him. I am learning that I don’t want just anybody to groom our horses or even talk to them. And I am learning that if you want to know how a horse is feeling, you can ask the farm hand, who sees what the horse eats and how well it comes out.

I don’t want to be a full-time farm hand, but I want very much to learn to be a good one, recognize a good one, and appreciate a good one...because I love our horses. A job that’s only worth $10 an hour can be invaluable. If it teaches us to love well, it is.

If we want to be more valuable, we must be careful what we turn down because we think it’s beneath us. We must also be careful what we don’t turn down because it pays well in dollars.

In love,

Jan Denise
Columnist, Author, Speaker

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. — Oscar Wilde