Tales of a Business Traveler's Wife: How Does She Do It All?

As the wife of a business traveler, I have handled home life alone for days and weeks at a time without fail or fanfare.  Over the years, I have enjoyed the reactions of people who don't have a traveling spouse, who have never spent more than a night or two away from their husbands.  Some of them look a little green-eyed at the idea, but I would hand it off in the blink of an eye.  So would my husband.  It's a skill set I wish I had no need to develop.  God put me here, and this is what I do.

He equipped the called.  It's true.  And, in the years I have served in this role I have seen --

Wide eyes as I appear in the church narthex, on time for services, with an infant and a toddler.
Amazement at my ability to leave the house alone with small children to shop or get to appointments.
Wonder at the 24-hour, no-relief time clock I checked into, but never out of, and that I hadn't hit self-destruct, yet.
Shock that I hadn't appeared unglued, unkempt, or unprepared for whatever schedule changes happened.
Larger and more sassy children in these later years.
Marveling that I can keep them occupied, fed and at scheduled activities without any relief from their out-of-town dad.

Most of all, I think that because I have never complained, cried, begged help, asked for time off or looked frazzled in any way, I perplexed people.

Seriously.  It's nothing any other parent wouldn't do in the same situation.  My husband would do it, if I had the travel role.  Anyone would, even if she doesn't think she could.  God equips a person.  He teaches patience on different levels, he throws time management into the mix, he stirs in a little chaos, a bit of loneliness, and some unexplained phenomena (the shower that drizzles about 2 cups of water in the middle of the night, only when my husband travels) to test my abilities, to see what I'm made of a little more clearly.

I have acted as the Single Mother, in a sense.  I have managed and made mistakes in everything from A to Z that a household might meet during every season or month of the year.

If it snowed, I shoveled it.
If it grew, I cut it.  Grass, hair, finger and toe nails, and sometimes low-hanging tree branches.
If it rained torrentially and filtered into the basement, I bailed it.
If it cried, I soothed it.
If it grew dirty, I cleaned it.  Diapers, kitchen floors, bathrooms, clothing, windows, siding and dishes.
If it didn't sleep, I sang to it.
If it hungered, I fed it.  Kid or cat.
If it required money, I paid it.  Doctor, dentist, preschool tuition, picture day, field trip fee, grocery bill.
If it felt lonely, I drew near.

When you are in it, you don't think a lot about it until the night grows quiet or the children nap at the same time, giving you time to think.

I do best when I don't think about how much time has passed since he left, and how much time will pass before he hugs me again and fills our home with his presence and his deep, soothing voice.  I do best when I don't consider what I might miss of him while he has to stay elsewhere.  I do best when I remember what he represents, why I feel thankful for him, and what blessings I have received because of him.

Without his traveling role, I would not have some of the abilities I have practiced in his absence.  I would depend more fully on him and probably add a different stress to his already stressful days.  I would more than likely have missed many opportunities to travel with him, and to stay in some of the fantastic places that otherwise would have strained our funds without airline miles and hotel points.

How does this wife do it all?  The Business Traveler's Wife has a full-time, all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful counterpart to her one-woman show.  He remains unseen, as he has for many years.  He's the Man of the Hour, the Beginning and the End.  He is God.

Without him, I can't make it.  With him, apparently, I can do it all.