A Wonderful and Joyous Hanukkah
& Christmas Season to One and All!! May the warmth of this season fill your
body and soul with the renewal and re-birth of those blessings we
all so need. May we be renewed, and a new spirit reborn within each heart this
special time of year!
ALREADY A
NEW YEAR AND NEW OFFICE!
We are getting close to the 2015 Legislative
Session and the era of a new governor. Briefly I’ll tell you what I’ve been
doing to prepare for the coming new year and the work that’s been keeping so
many of us busy!
The election closed and the very
next day a new leadership team was elected. The new team has been busy
organizing new committees, planning new member training, and even laying out a
new parking plan! In the meantime, freshman
are getting ready for a new year like they’ve never had before, while senior
members have been working quietly on their legislation and
agenda.
As for your Representative,
I finished Thanksgiving with family only to head into Scottsdale to moderate a
panel on water issues hosted by the National Leaders Policy Conference. While I
understood the water issue in California was dire, I didn’t realize how
self-inflicted it appeared to be. That ended on Monday and Tuesday morning I
was on a flight to Washington DC for more meetings, conference work, and of
course, more discussions on the topic of public lands and water in Arizona.
Returning Saturday evening, Monday found me at the Capitol in Phoenix meeting
with both my staff, new House members, and my new committee (Ag, Water &
Lands). By the middle of the week, I was tending to
details regarding the other two committees I serve on (Energy, Environment &
Natural Resources, and Rural Affairs & Economic Development). I have kept
my schedule closed from December 20 through the end of the year, when I will be
representing Arizona at the State Agricultural Rural Leaders Conference come
January 2, 2015. Are you tired yet?
Then on January 12, 2015 the
52nd Regular
Session of the Arizona Legislature opens! But one minor thing I can’t forget,
I’m moving and I have to have my new office ready in time! I’m moving down the
hall to office 114.
I’ll say Merry Christmas
& Happy Hanukkah. I’ll see you in the
New Year! but I will
leave you with this:
A CLOSING THIS YEAR, FROM ANOTHER TIME AND ANOTHER
PRESIDENT...
“In this holiday season, we
celebrate the birthday of one who, for almost 2,000years, has been a greater
influence on humankind than all the rulers, all the scholars, all the armies and
all the navies that ever marched or sailed, all put together. He brought to the
world the simple message of peace on Earth, good will to all
mankind.
Some celebrate the day as marking
the birth of a great and good man, a wise teacher and prophet, and they do so
sincerely. But for many of us it's also a holy day, the birthday of the Prince
of Peace, a day when “God so loved the world” that He sent us His only begotten
son to assure forgiveness of our sins. The Yuletide season is characterized in
our country by the giving of gifts, a spirit of charity, and, yes, good will,
more so than at any other time of the year. Already traditional programs are
underway, drives to collect food and clothing for those who are in
need.
This holiday season, as we work our way out of a
recession, too many still find themselves without jobs, forced to cut back on
things that they once thought of as their normal pattern of living. They aren't
statistics; they're people. They're our neighbors, friends, and, yes, family,
and they make up that group that right now we call the unemployed. Their
number's greater than it has been for some time past. How about those of us who
are employed making sure that those who aren't will nevertheless have a Merry
Christmas. This is something that needs doing at the community level—neighbor
helping neighbor.
The people we're talking about
may be members of your church, brothers and sisters in your local union, or that
family across the street or down the block in your neighborhood. Surely, we can
find a way to make Christmas merry for that one who temporarily can use our
help. But remember, time is growing short, and Christmas is almost
here.
In Ephesians we read that "Each
of us has been given his gift, his portion of Christ's bounty." Well, let us
share our bounty this Christmas season. Let us offer not only our hearts and
prayers but a generous hand to those who need our help. And as we light this
tree, let us brighten the lives of those here at home and around the world whose
Christmas may not be as glowing and as cheerful as
ours.”
President Ronald
Reagan
December 16,
1982
