Labor of Love

The air is crisp. The lights are twinkling.

And somewhere carried on the winter wind, you can almost hear it whispered like a sacred refrain:

“It’s time to make the fudge.”

Not just any fudge.

Not the quick, microwave kind.

Not the cut-corners, rush-the-process kind.

This is Judi Schulz’s “Labor of Love” fudge.

And so, it begins.

55 pounds of sugar - white as fresh snowfall.

175 ounces of marshmallow cream - sweet clouds waiting to melt.

360 ounces of evaporated milk.

12.5 pounds of margarine.

18.75 pounds of chocolate chips.

200 Hershey’s bars - each unwrapped like a tiny Christmas gift.

12.5 pounds of chopped pecans.

When it’s all said and stirred, the result is breathtaking:

137 pounds of Judi’s Labor of Love.

But this is not a recipe.

It’s a ritual.

Ingredients are measured with care. Timers are watched. The stove glows for hours as chocolate and sugar surrender to the steady rhythm of stirring.

For decades, that stirring belonged to Schulz, Judi’s beloved husband of 51 years and 90 days. It was his post at the stove, his steady hand ensuring the texture was just right.

When he received his heavenly assignment, the wooden spoon was gently passed on.

Now, trusted helpers take their place under Judi’s watchful eye.

There are no shortcuts. No improvisations. The procedure is sacred and followed without exception. After all, this isn’t just fudge.

It’s a Labor of Love.

For more than forty years, Judi has poured them into tins, delivering them as Christmas gifts. But what she’s really handing out isn’t sugar and chocolate.

• It’s connection.

• It’s remembrance.

• It’s presence.

Friends, neighbors, business associates, all know the season has truly arrived when Judi’s fudge appears.

And at the Second District police station in St. Louis, officers wait with smiling anticipation. For nearly three decades, her sweet tradition has shown up at their doors, a simple but powerful reminder: someone sees you, someone appreciates you, someone cares.

This is life on mission.

Not always from a pulpit.

Not always with a microphone.

Sometimes from a kitchen stove.

Judi understands something beautiful and profound:

When you bring Jesus into the everyday things of life, even a wooden spoon becomes holy

work.

Shine the light.

Share the love.

Pour grace into a tin and deliver it with a smile.

Mission doesn’t always look grand or dramatic.

Sometimes, it looks like 137 pounds of fudge.

---

SOMETIMES, IT'S SIMPLY A LABOR OF LOVE.

---

Judi Schulz is the host of the Abide @ Green Gables microchurch in Wentzville, Missouri, USA.