Many of us like to avoid the stores completely during the Christmas season, but for a moment, imagine with me that you are a cashier, working at a busy Walmart during this time of the year. Now imagine that you are the only person there, running the whole store. That line would be tremendous, not to mention the state of the shelves! You would be running out of things left and right, because there would be no one (besides you) to make the orders, and you would be going crazy trying to take care of that next customer.
That is kind of how I feel, around Christmas. Some years we are *really* busy, and for a little business with only 2 real employees... it is tough.
I recently read The Hunger Games, and was struck by the fact that the "upscale" boy whose parents owned the bakery in town ate mostly stale bread. Yes, he had plenty to eat (not many others had that luxury!), but his friend commented that it didn't seem like a very nice way to live your life, always having to eat the "stale bread".
Now, I have to be careful, because I do not want to complain.
One of the big struggles is to be thankful for all of the orders that God has pouring in on us! He gave us this "toy business", and it is the nature of the industry. But it is hard on our family. The kids and I are praying every night, thanking Him for the orders, and asking Him to help us have thankful hearts. As busy as it is, this is what we NEEDED, because some extra bills came up. It is a good thing to have the business we need.
But it is hard.
We shape our lives around the "Christmas Rush", out of necessity. We start school one month early, so that we can take the month of December off if we need to. I clear the calendar of appointments, we eat freezer meals I have made ahead of time (on good years), and we wear the same 3 outfits over and over again, so that laundry can be a simple matter of washing the same load every other day-- no folding, no putting away, just fishing what we need out of the basket. :) There is more, but I won't go on. We take on various emergency measures, including sleeping at the store so that more work can be done after the kids are in bed, if need be.
It is a crazy time of year.
We are near the end of it, and we are tired. The kids are looking forward to being able to live at home again. (So am I.)
Today was going to be an especially busy day, since it is the Monday before Christmas. Monday's are busy anyway, because there are the weekend orders to get out. Add to that the pressure of needing to ship everything quickly so that everyone has a better chance of getting it before Christmas, and it was looking like a long day.
When I arrived at the store, sure enough, there was a large pile of labels waiting for me. I started in, praying for the ability to get through them all before the 4:30 cutoff when the post office closes and UPS has come so nothing else can go out. It did not seem likely, but I had a special need to get them all done, since I had taken time off this morning to attend the ladies Bible study, and I didn't want to have that be something that ate up time I should have spent packing and shipping.
So I prayed, and got to work.
I think we packed around 200 packages in a little over 5 hours. I did not loose my energy or motivation, because if I started to it seemed like the Lord was whispering in my ear, "Keep working and We'll get this done!" So I kept on, and my time counted right down to the last minute when I took the last of the last out the back door to see Brian was just getting his vehicle loaded up. That whole stack of labels went out!
I didn't expect that to be possible, but the way it played out, I must acknowledge that it certainly was God's blessing on a very busy day! (Thank you, Lord!)
When I went to get "round 2", it wasn't there. Then I remembered my husband had something scheduled for tonight. There wasn't going to BE a round 2! When I looked at the clock, I discovered it was only 5, and we had time to go HOME for supper!
This is only the 2nd or 3rd time we have eaten at home (except for Sunday's) since the rush began, if I remember right. What a blessing! The kids are excited, we can eat in a warm home, we can eat on real plates, and we will all have a chair to sit in.
Now that I am home, and supper is in the oven, I see that there are piles of work. I'm not sure if I should start with the dishes, the laundry, or the mess in the living room, but I am not going to forget to be thankful for the unexpected blessings of the day. :)
Thanks You, Lord!!!
