When Daddy Travels

Wives are not the only ones who have to adjust to the traveling schedule of the youth ministry. Children may struggle with it as well.

Some kids are born “travelers.” They love to go, go, go. Others are homebodies from birth. They only sleep well in their own beds. Some enjoy meeting new people, others are shy and unsure of new situations. You and your husband have to make your own decisions about whether or not it is conducive for your children (and for your students) to come along on youth trips.

However, being left behind for trip after trip is hard for kids sometimes. Especially when Daddy has such a busy schedule when he is home. Obviously, it is important that when Daddy is home (particularly during the summer, typically the heaviest on the travel) that he spends quantities of quality time with the kids. But what can we do as wives to help the kids deal with Dad’s absence and assist them in keeping a great attitude about the ministry?

Probably most important is that we have worked through our own attitudes and rid ourselves of any resentment of having to take care of the kids, house, etc. on our own during these times. If we are harboring any of that in our hearts, it WILL come out to our children. It is okay to be honest about missing our husbands, and frustrations will come up, but if our over-arching attitude is one of love, understanding and service that will rise to the top.

I almost always had a “slumber party” with our kids when Rondel was away. We would take the sleeping bags to the living room, rent movies, eat pizza and ice cream and just make a party of it. You can’t do this every night of a long mission trip, but you can plan outings and other things for your kids to look forward to while Daddy is away.

Here’s a great comment that was posted on the previous blog:

“I now have 3 children (6, 4, 13 months) who miss their daddy when he's gone, especially my middle child who loves his daddy very much. I make sure to remind them that daddy needs to have some fun too and that its a good thing for daddy to do things on his own. I also make sure I have some special dinners planned and activities that normally we wouldn't do during a school week. And during the normal crazy summers of daddy being gone for 3 different weeks, we take our own "trips" to grandma's house, the zoo, or the park. The key is being creative, creative, and pray for lots of patience!! I also make sure they know that its okay to miss daddy and we may have a few tears together, but we always try to look at the positive things that daddy is doing and some great fun things that we get to do. We also pray together for him every night!”

- Michele

Whatever we choose to do to make the times special for our kids, the important thing is to create an atmosphere of love and understanding of the importance of Daddy’s “job”, not one of bitterness and loneliness.