In the Trenches

Well, it is Monday morning again and as I sit here I am alone in my thoughts. Soaking up the quiet of the house on this rare occasion there are many thoughts on my heart. So, know that this post will contain many random thoughts that may only seem to flow in my mind. But I needed to put them into writing and “deal” with them before the day starts here.

See, it is 6:00am and I have been up for an hour. My husband left today. Now before you think the worst, he did not leave, leave. Just left on a business trip. But he will be gone until Friday. This is the second week in a row that he has been gone all week and frankly I don’t like it. Travel is not normal for his job. In fact in all of our married life he has never been gone longer than one night. And since having had multiple children even those one night fishing trips have been very rare. But I got a taste last week of single parenting. Man, that is a hard road.

I hate that my husband is gone. I miss him and I know he doesn’t want to go. He misses home. I know he misses the children and the children him. Katherine, our newly turned one year old, is on the brink of walking. And I am praying that she wait until the weekend to do it or until Daddy is done traveling. You see, after this week he still has one more week to travel. And that fact really STINKS!!!

I don’t like being by myself. I don’t sleep as well at night in the quiet house without him. I really don’t know how some families do it whose husband/father travels all the time. I am growing weary of it. And to add to the weariness and the heaviness of my heart this morning as my husband left is the knowledge of an upcoming doctor’s appointment today.

Would pray please for peace of mind for me while I tackle this appointment alone. It is for Josiah. He has had a tough way to go medically speaking from the start (Read here and here). Now he is over-all healthy but when something medical does happen his little body seems to always take the hard road. So, after months and months of chronic ear infections about 18 months ago my husband and I opted to have tubes inserted in his ears. It all went fine at the time of surgery and for once we thought he was actually going to take something “routine” and be “routine” about it. But at his one year check up it was discovered that one of the tubes is blocked and is not coming out. Now, the “not coming out” part is not the problem as tubes can take years to come out. The problem is the “blocked” part. I am afraid, as is the doctor, that the clogged tube is affecting Josiah’s hearing. So, if it is still clogged today we will probably be scheduling surgery to remove the tube from that ear. Today the task of the appointment and the pending surgery are almost more than I can handle. I feel lonely and alone as the week starts out.

But I know that I have wonderful friends and family that will be here for me. I have a full week of things to do and I know that will help. But I also know that my Savior will be here to walk through this season with me and, as scripture says, for everything there is a season, and I know that this season will soon be over and just a memory. So, through another long week of long days and lonely nights, I will cling to Jesus to be my company. And as this new day dawns, literally, I am choosing to embrace this week and spend extra time loving on my children and cleaning my house. I WILL make the most of this season. I am resolved to learn the lesson that Christ is trying to teach me through this. Whatever that may be I am praying for open eyes, ears and heart through out this week that I may learn from Him what He has in store for me.

You know, when you look at a situation as a learning experience specially made for us from our Heavenly Father, it can be rather exciting. What can we learn this week if we are just open to the teaching?

Father,
Open our hearts and ears and eyes to the teaching that you have in store for us. You are at work all around us and I pray that we will “see” it. You work everything for our good if we love You, scripture says and we claim that promise now for the coming week. Please help us to minister to others that you bring our way and to be an effective witness for You in all that we say and do. We love You and thank You for loving us. Amen.

2 Responses to “In the Trenches”

  1. Dear Amanda,
    Sorry to hear that you have to face the appointment alone today. I’ll pray the time passes quickly and your husband can come home to stay.

  2. ((((HUGS))))

    We had a series of similar travel (home for the weekend gone during the week) for two consecutive summers and it was really rough. My prayers are with you as you journey this week. You may be alone without your husband, but you are not alone without the help of our Heavenly Father! May he give you the patience, strength, and grace to make it through the coming days.

    Heidi