Hey Y'all,

Pig here, time once again for a little grunt and chat. I know that it has been awhile since you all have heard from me. My only excuse for being gone so long is I have been a little busy. But have no fear for your buddy Pig is still around to give you that great feeling you have been missing.

Today's subject for my little piglet's: C H R I S T M A S

Oh yeah, I know Christmas may be the last thing you want to hear right now, unless I have insider news for you concerning those beloved Black Friday sales you are all anxious about. Sorry I don't have any info like that. I do, however, have a feeling that some of you may look upon Christmas with a certain annoyance, be it, Christmas is the one day out of the year that is celebrated by all. It is also the time of year where a lot of us tend to go a little overboard with our spending for gifts and other things. I will talk more on that in a bit, but first I want to take a moment to describe to you what Christmas looks like from a Pigs Point of View.

Pig's Point of View

Christmas has always been a wonderful time of year, no other time of the year will you have all the colors, the smells and aromas mixed in with warm, loving feelings. All this coupled with the building of anticipation inside of you for the up coming day. We all become a little giddy with smiles that suddenly appear on our faces for no reason. We know that as the time ticks away there will be delicious food to enjoy (pounds we put on), all the presents to open (money we spend that we don't have), children smiling and laughing bustling with excitement (more like being whiny brats out of control). There will be parties to attend (with hangovers included), and don't forget the family gatherings to be had (more like time spent arguing with people you don't wish to be stuck with). Does any of that sound familiar? I'm sorry if any of that may have sounded a little negative. I didn't mean to hurt anyone's about Christmas feelings so please allow me to explain.

I love Christmas, I really do. I love all of those things I just said. It is just that I don't care for what Christmas has become. “Why Pig, what do you mean by that” you ask? Let me tell you. I used used to be caught up in all the hub-bub of Christmas, I would spend too much money on gifts, I'd party too hard, just all kinds of crazy stuff. But now I have learned to celebrate Christmas for what it truly means, I celebrate the real reason of what Christmas is all about. I would love to tell you all a Christmas story, It's a story that everytime I think of it my soul becomes renewed for Christmas once again. So imagine, if you will, we are all gathered around in the living room, sipping hot chocolate while a warm fire burns in the fireplace as snow falls outside.

Our Story

Our story today begins a few years ago in the month of September. Rainman & I were in our local Wal-Mart picking up a prescription at the pharmacy. From the waiting line you could see the lawn & garden section across the store. Here it was, the middle of September and Christmas stuff was already up Oh it was pretty, it was decorated better than a $2.00 whore. We hadn't even had Halloween yet, let alone Thanksgiving and all the Christmas stuff was planted. You know of course that I started to become a little excited at the thought of Christmas being right around the corner. I wanted to see what style of new stuff they had for outdoor decorating. Hey man, you know you have to get that stuff early and be the first one on the block to have it up. I began to tug on Rainman's pant leg wanting to go over there. He didn't say anything, he just sort of ignored my desire to go see. After we got what we came for I started to go in the direction of lawn and garden,but Rainman was much smarter as he grabbed me by the collar and pulled me the other way towards the exit door. I was heart broke not being allowed to see all the new kind of Christmas decorations they had.

We got into the truck and started to head home, I asked Rainman “who crapped in your Cheerios this morning”?

“What do you mean” he asked?

“Why didn't we look at the Christmas stuff?”

What I didn't know was I was about to get was a full blown visit from the Grinch detailing what Christmas really was. Rainman went on to explain how one must always be careful not to become caught up in all the non Christmas Bulls.... To which I responded I didn't have a clue what he meant by that, how could Christmas trees and outdoor lights be non Christmas Bulls.... I thought for sure he had some screws loose inside that bone-head of his. He went on to tell me something I was not prepared for “Pig, you can never out give the Giver”. He didn't say anything more for the rest of the way home. I of course had no F!#%ing clue what it was that he was talking about. The giver, who was the giver?

After we got home I felt a little more than deflated by what Rainman had said in the truck. My uneasiness inside made me feel that Rainman didn't care for Christmas at all and I just refuse to let that happen with my best buddy. I would rather be caught raping chickens than to let my friend not like Christmas. So that evening, we were working out in the shop on a long term project of rebuilding our dirt bike. Rainman was jamming loud on the radio while he was putting a new piston and ring set in the motor. I took this as the opportunity to talk to him. I grabbed a couple of beers out of the box and climbed up on the workbench and turned down the radio. “Dude”, I said to him as I handed him a cold one, “We need to talk.”

“What's up” he answered.

“What was up with the out give the giver comment this afternoon?”

“I was wondering how long it would take you to ask me that Pig” he answered.

Rainman stopped what he was doing, sat down on the stool and took a good drag off of his beer. He set the bottle down and looked me straight in the face as he began to tell me what Christmas was all about.

Christmas marks the day when we observe the fulfillment of the prophecies of the old testament in the bible. It is the day when God gave us his only begotten Son for the forgiveness of our sins so that we may have everlasting life with Him in Heaven. Christmas is a day when we should let go of all the junk in our lives and celebrate Christ's birth. Rejoice in Him, unite as one body of believers thankful to God for our redemption. For without Christ in our lives, we can never spend our eternity in Heaven.

“Whoa, I didn't know all of that, I just thought Christmas was a day to have a cool party and give out presents to people you like” I answered him.

“Sorry if I busted your bubble about the holiday, but here is the deal,” he began, “I used to get all caught up in the crazy over Christmas.”

“But you still do,” I interrupted. “Every year we go nuts everytime we set up the tree and the lights and stuff, we always go all out.”

“If I may Pig” he asked?

“Sorry, go on” I said taking a drag off my beer.

“Like I said, I used to get caught up in the Christmas trap” Rainman said.

“Trap?” I repeated.

“Yeah, trap. See Pig for so many years the day after Christmas was always a bummer, I would wake up and feel all empty inside, like something was wrong. I felt as though I failed to do enough for Christmas, it was like Christmas came up short.” I would go as far as to remember back in my childhood and remember all of the wonderful Christmases I has as a kid. I also thought back to how great the days after Christmas was too. But when I was no longer a kid, Christmas became a day of responsibility for me.”

“Responsibility, Really?”

“Yeap – had to make sure I had presents under that tree for everyone, even if I couldn't afford it. I felt bad the years I fell short with my giving. Then Ericka came along & I wanted her to have the same kind of Christmases I had. But then again, the day after, I felt like I didn't do enough for the holiday. I could tell that something was not right inside of me. I began to dread the coming of Christmas.”

“Oh wow” I said in complete disbelief, how could anyone dread Christmas?

“It wasn't until an old preacher I used to know got me straightened out.”

“How's that” I asked?

“By sitting down with me and talking, just like you are right now. Now let me ask you a question about the holiday Pig.”

“Shoot” I said.

“Have you ever felt like you have come up short at Christmas?” he asked.

“Well, maybe – I always figured it was the hangover talking” I stated.

Rainman looked straight into my eyes and said “think about it, real hard.”

“Well slap me silly and call me a hooker” I replied with a smile, I then realized I did in fact feel like I came up short. “So tell me, just what did that old preacher tell you?”

“He told me to read the first few chapters of Matthew and Luke in the bible, that is where you need to start at - the fulfillment of the prophecies told in the Old Testament – that is where you will find the true meaning of Christmas. That is where you will find the fulfillment of that empty feeling inside of you.”

“What if I don't understand it” I asked?

“I'll talk you through it – Bottom line is this, Christmas is about the birth of Christ. That's it, it's not about gifts, or trees, or lights. It's about love, making amends and showing someone else that you care.”

“OK, stop right there,” I said coughing from drinking the last of my beer too fast. “Hold on one minute.” I jumped down and got us two more beers from the box. “OK – that last part started to sound just a little hypocritical. You say Christmas is not about gifts and decorations and yet you do just that. Sorry dude, but that sounds like a pig in a poke to me” I said climbing back up on the bench and handed a cold one to Rainman. “Explain yourself mister.”

“Yes, I do all of those things, I enjoy doing them, they make Christmas fun for me, so let me break it down for you. First, the decorations. I buy them after Christmas at 75% off the retail price, I don't let myself get caught up in the frenzy of having to have it now. I only use multicolor decorations because each color represents a reminder of Jesus. Example: the white is for His purity, the red is for His blood spilled, the green for his everlasting life, ECT.”

“Keep going Bubba, your not not of the woods yet” I demanded.

“Second, the gifts, I never buy gifts that I cannot pay for in cash. I feel better knowing I owe no one. I also try to hand make gifts, they have more meaning than a store bought gift. I never ask for any gift for Christmas because no one can ever give me a better gift than what God gave me.

“OK Buckwheat, I'll except that answer , now spill it about the food you eat during the holiday's.”

“OK smart ass” he says to me, “Yeah, if someone has prepared a fine, tasty dish for me to enjoy, well then hell yeah I'll eat that sucker right up, what are you, nuts?”

“Ah-huh, gotcha on that one didn't I?” I taunted him. “You can't fool me. But tell me why you didn't want to look at the Christmas stuff today?”
“Pig, it's like this, big commercial businesses have ground it into our all Americans brains that in order to have a merry Christmas you have to spend lots of money and that makes good profits for them. They know that if they keep pounding on you long enough you will cave in and buy. They want you to think of Christmas as much as possible and by starting early before Halloween, they are placing messages in your brain to buy it now. Make payments, come on, don't you deserve it? You know you want it, just use that credit card and if you don't have a credit card we will give you one. You deserve it, you owe it to yourself. Never mind the fact that you will be paying for it till next Christmas, never mind the 18%-21% interest you'll be paying. Never mind the fact that you just can't afford it. And that my friend is where the emptiness inside of you comes from. You buy and buy till you can't buy anymore and they just robbed you of the true meaning of Christmas.”

“Those bastards.”

“Yeap, they're pretty slick about it, why do you think they play Christmas music in November? Pig, you just need to learn to enjoy Christmas for what it truly is, the birth of the Savior. If you keep that foremost in your Christmas, it will be the best Christmas you ever had.

That year, before we set up anything Christmas, I learned to ask questions about each thing we did to celebrate the holiday. The more I asked is the more that I learned what family traditions were. I learned family history, passed on from generation to generation. That Christmas morning I awoke to have the Merriest of Christmas of them all. My heart was filled with the joy of having the greatest gift of all.

Well that's about for now piglets, tune in later this week for my up coming blog on Thanksgiving.

Ride Hard (that way your mother-in-law falls off)

or stay Home

Pig.