Fightin' Off the Grinch

Each Christmas season seems to have its own personality. I have had to really struggle this Christmas season to keep the “bah hum bugs” at bay. I try to be a really positive person and look at the bright side of everything because the last thing I wanna be, especially during the holidays, is old Ebenezer himself. Sometimes it seems like it is just extra tough. I am the kind of person that when something happens, I always try to figure out why. Maybe I overanalyze things but I have really struggled this year with the Christmas “blahs”. So, being how I am, I ask myself why.

Maybe it is the steady diet of bad news that has been coming from our state as we struggle with what to do with an ever-increasing budget deficit. Maybe it is the fact that we have been too busy at our house to put up a Christmas tree. Or, maybe it is the fact that, for the first time, one of our kids is gonna be gone during Christmas. I cannot put my finger on exactly the cause or causes, but I can tell ya that being the way I am and the way I try to be, I am not gonna let the Grinch win this round. He is mean, he is ugly, and he is green. So, Grinch, you better wrap your bull wrap extra tight and you better lock the rowls on your spurs because I am fixin’ to throw ya off. You better have a protective vest on and one of those bull rider helmets because once I throw ya, I am gonna try to get in your pocket and stomp a mud hole in your green hiney. I will not tolerate “bah hum bug” in my life, especially during Christmas. Nod your head and say “outside” green dude because the chute gate just opened and you ain’t makin’ the whistle. Why? Because Christmas is bigger than you Mr. Grinch. Christmas is about the birth of our Savior. It is about that baby that was sent to Earth to save us and that blessing alone is plenty. But, when you couple the birth of Christ, which is really what it is all about, with the wonderful traditions that surround this joyous season, it is enough to melt any old Grinch into the ground just like the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz.

So, Mr. Grinch, we are gonna count blessings and not lay around here thinking about how bad everything is. I refuse. For me personally and my family, I could not hold all the blessings that we have enjoyed in our lives in the new Dallas Cowboy stadium. While you are trying to get me to be down about one of the kids being gone, that kid is “down under” in the land of boomerangs and kangaroos experiencing the trip of a lifetime. And, for the most part, we are healthy and our kids are okay. We are employed and not hungry. And we live in the greatest state in the Union made up of good, solid hard-working, God-fearing people that care about their families and enjoy the freedom to worship how we please. Oklahoma, as tough as things are right now, does not suffer from a lot of the things that other states suffer from. We have got soldiers willing to go to far away places and put their lives on the line so that we can enjoy all of the things that we take for granted and the things that you are trying to get us to forget about, Mr. Grinch. God bless those brave soldiers and their families for being willing to do that for us.

So, gather yourself up, pack your riggin’ bag and get the heck outta Dodge. I am not gonna let you win. The Christmas tree is up and the lights are shining and the wise men are headed to Bethlehem. It is gonna be Christmas and it is gonna be merry. In fact, what is that loud noise I hear in the distance? Well, I’ll be Mr. Grinch, you didn’t even make the buzzer.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the capitol, please do not hesitate to send an email to donarmes@house.gov or call me at 1-800-522-8502.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

“He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.” -Roy L. Smith