For some unknown reason, as a mother, I IMMEDIATELY identified with “The Endless Shift”. In fact, that is what I am now going to put on the occupation line of whatever form I find myself filling out from now on. I used to put “Professional Mommy” but from now on I am going to put “Professional Mommy currently working the endless shift”. Do you think that will fit?

Being a mom is about hard work and very long hours. It just is. So many mom’s wax poetic about the joys of motherhood – and there IS great joy. But along with that joy comes the endless shift. We clock in for our shift at the moment of conception and we clock out, well, never. Does this make you despair at times? I have to admit that I have often bemoaned the endless shift where appreciation for all that I do seems in short supply at times. But wait. It isn’t about me now is it? Oh how I wish it WAS about me, but it isn’t. It’s about serving my family and being content without any recognition at all. It’s about honoring Jesus Christ and doing it all for His glory and not my own. It’s about living out Philippians chapter 2 and putting others ahead of myself.

It is so easy to be overwhelmed with the enormous task of motherhood, it is such a serious matter. However, when I focus on the Savior and as He pours out His grace upon me, the endless shift becomes a welcome part of my life and an offering of love to my beautiful Savior.

The homemade stuff is so much better than what you can buy in the store.  I mean REALLY better!  We love it around here!  Here are the key dry ingredients in my version of chex mix: 

4 cups each;

Corn Chex
Rice Chex
Wheat Chex
Cheese Nips
Butter Pretzels (shaped like little waffles, I forget the brand)
Whole Pecans 

2 cups each;

Cashews or Peanuts
Cheerios 

The sauce is made up of 4 sticks of margarine, 4 tablespoons of Worscheshire sauce, 3 tablespoons of garlic powder and 3 tablespoons of seasoned salt.   

All you have to do is melt the butter, stir in all the other ingredients for the sauce and then pour over all the dry ingredients.  Stir everything carefully until everything is evenly coated.  Be careful not to crush up the cereal!  You have to bake the mix for 3 hours, stirring everything gently but thoroughly every hour.  Let the mix cool completely before packaging it up!  

We make enough for Bruce to share with his coworkers and for the children to take some to all of our neighbors.  I also try to have some packaged up for all of our friends and family to take home with them when they stop by to visit for the holidays! 

To be honest, I had never even heard of Advent.  Thankfully, a dear friend who attended our church at the time, opened up her home one evening in very early November to share with the ladies of the church a whole slew of ways in which to center the celebration of Christmas exactly where it is supposed to be – on Christ!  I purchased the book that Lesli recommended “Celebrating the Christian Year” by Martha Zimmerman and got started immediately gathering the materials needed for an Advent wreath.  There were SO many great ideas but we limited the changes that we made that first year.  Basically, we incorporated Advent, St. Nicholas Day and St. Lucia Day that first year.  In the years since we have included Epiphany in our celebration as well.  

One of the small things that we do now is to have Mary and Joseph travel throughout our home as they ‘journey’ to Bethlehem so as to join the rest of our Nativity scene.  Of course, the baby Jesus is nowhere to be found once the couple arrives at their less than desirable accommodations.   Late on Christmas Eve, once the children are asleep, we place the babe in the Nativity.  On Christmas morning, we light a white votive candle next to the family as a reminder to the children that Jesus is the light of the world.  

The first Christmas that we incorporated these changes, our little girl must have been about 4 years old.  She went to bed talking about baby Jesus and woke up asking if he had come yet!  I had already been downstairs to light the candle and she raced down the stairs, past the tree and the presents, and went directly to the Nativity scene.  She called out with great joy, “Mama, Daddy!  The Baby Jesus is here!  He’s here!”.  I will never forget that for as long as I live.  An incredible sense of thankfulness to God overcame me as I watched our baby delight over the Lord rather than the presents or anything else that the world has to offer in the holiday season.  What an incredible blessing!  

If you are looking for ways to enrich your celebration of Christmas and help your children see the importance of the coming of Christ at Christmas I heartily recommend Martha Zimmerman’s book.  The abundance of ideas that she offers can be somewhat overwhelming, but it also offers the opportunity for you to pick and choose the ideas that will work best for you and yours!  

And just one last suggestion.  Make SURE that you remember where you put the Baby Jesus when you take him out of the box and hide him in wait for Christmas morn.  If you don’t, you may find yourself frantically searching for him VERY late on Christmas Eve.  Ask me how I know.  ;) 

This is the opening paragraph to John Angell James’s book “Female Piety”.  I picked up the book from my church’s book table on the suggestion of a friend.  I thought I would read through it quickly.  Ahem…  I read this first paragraph through quickly, then read it again.   I distinctly remember feeling a vague urge to throw up.  I called my husband, and read it out loud to him.  He raised his eyebrows and whistled, then smiled at me.  You know, that little smile that says something like, “Wow, that must really hurt, and I’m sorry for you, and boy I’m glad that isn’t in any book I’m reading and by the way I really love you and you sure did need to hear that and I’m glad that he said it and not me, and did I tell you today how much I love you?”

 So, I picked up the book a few hundred more times in the following weeks and NEVER made it past the first paragraph.   I have pondered it over and over again ever since.  I DID eventually make it past the first page, but I must admit that it is the opening of the book that has been most helpful and convicting to me.  

Far too often I am guilty of mixing up quite the ‘bitter draught’ for my husband and children.  My prayer is that through God’s grace I will become more and more like Christ in my home, that I will genuinely repent of the sin that besets my life, and that I will grow to be the ‘Finishing Grace’ of my home, for God’s glory alone. 

Soli Deo Gloria!  Charlotte