It`s Okay to Be Extravagant
By Hal Haralson
[Hal Haralson practices law and religion in Austin, Texas and writes a right smart for Christian Ethics Today]
The young woman poured expensive perfume on Jesus` feet and bathed them with her hair.
One of the disciples tried to stop her saying "Master, we could buy food for the hungry with the money that perfume costs.
"She`s giving the best she has. Let her alone."
In relationships, particularly in marriage, it is all right be extravagant once in a while.
It is an effective way to express your love.
Judy and I decided to take off four days and go to New Orleans. No plan. No reason, except to get away.
It was three months ahead of her sixtieth birthday. We had been married for 41 years.
I`ve always looked for the unexpected and tried to surprise her.
For her fiftieth birthday, I had a dinner party at Green Pastures Restaurant in Austin.
I had secretly invited the most significant people in her life in the five decades she had lived.
She walked in the room to find people she hadn`t seen in years, from all over the United States. It was a whopping success.
Now, with number 60 approaching, I had to find a creative way to express my love.
We were walking down Bourbon Street the second morning. "Let`s go in here," she said, pointing to an art gallery.
As we walked in the door, Judy squealed. The painting on the wall hooked her inner child and her glee could not be contained.
It was by an Italian artist. The background was the door to a cathedral with flower vendor carts in front. It was alive with color.
The thing that grabbed Judy`s "child" were the 6 choir boys/girls in red and white pinafores on the sidewalk in front of the cathedral.
She cried. She squealed. She had the owner put it in various positions.
This went on for nearly an hour and I thought she was going to buy it.
The $2,800.00 price tag was too much. She backed out.
The next morning, she suggested we go back by the gallery.
Same routine. For nearly an hour she squealed and cried and had the owner hanging the painting in various positions.
She sat down at his desk and got out her checkbook. (Judy is a psychotherapist with 15 years of private practice…. She could buy this painting if she wanted to.)
Just as she finished the check, she stopped, changed her mind, and we left.
All the way to the hotel she argued with herself over whether she should have gotten the painting. "It was just too much." She began to list the things we could do with the money.
After we arrived at the hotel, we had something to drink and went up to the room. I made some excuse about having to go back to the lobby.
I called the gallery and spoke to the owner. "If she calls you or we come back by, tell her it`s too late.. .the painting has sold." I arranged to mail a check and have the painting shipped to my office.
As October 11th (Judy`s sixtieth birthday) approached, I got more excited. The painting had arrived at my office about a month before and I was having a hard time keeping my secret.
We had dinner at Green Pastures. All of our children were there.
I had hung the painting behind a larger painting in the private dining room.
After dinner, I said a few words and our son, David, went over and removed the larger painting.
When Judy saw the "choir boys" she almost went into hysterics. I thought we might have to call the EMS.
This was the high point of 41 years of marriage.
Extravagance is sometimes okay in expressing love..
