I get asked a lot how I handle my husband being gone all the time. My usual response is, “I just do.” There are times when it is easier to handle but there are also times when it’s hard. And for me there isn’t a rhyme or reason to which days are hard. Some days are just that…hard.

Sometimes the missing him comes in waves when he is working and sometimes it hangs out for the day. It mostly hits at night when the girls are fast asleep and I realize I am alone and the pillow next to me is empty. And sometimes it hits in the middle of the day when I wish he could be at home enjoying the little things like shared giggles, silly questions, and I really miss him during the melt downs and tantrums. Sometimes I get frustrated and not at him but just the plain fact that he isn’t there for moments I feel he should be.

With holidays amongst us it can make life a little more hard to handle. Last year was the first Christmas I experienced without him and of course it was emotional and ended up being much harder than it should have. And of course when you’re a fire family you learn to move those celebrations to another day. But it still doesn’t make it easy. This year I am so thankful that he is “supposed” to be home. And I am praying it will really happen.

So I guess this is where I come in with a positive and here is what I have…

Despite the missing him and emotions that come along with that I also realize, I am very fortunate to have a husband who misses me just as much. A husband who loves his family and cannot wait to come home and be with the girls and I. A husband who is doing a career with all the integrity a man can muster. And through it all I would be crazy not to miss that kind of man. So with Thanksgiving this week one of the things I am most thankful for is my Fireman, husband, father to my girls and my best friend.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭12:9-10‬ ‭NIV