Leavin' On A Jet Plane

Tomorrow, I head off for an almost week long vacation all by myself. Yep, you read that right, alone. I'm heading off to see my Dad, Sister, BFF Amanda and a few other long, lost friends for 6 days, alone. Manning the children and holding down the homefront will be my wonderful husband extraordinaire.

A month or so ago when I booked my airline ticket I had no apprehension about leaving the kids and Luke here. In fact, I was almost giddy when I clicked "purchase" for my flight. However, as the day creeps closer I'm starting to have some anxiety. I mean, it will be Luke with the 5 kids, all by himself for nearly 6 days. Day and night. That's a lot for anyone to handle. I know it would be pushing the limits of my sanity. And, Luke doesn't want any help.

And while I'm sleeping in and being pampered (because I will totally play the pregnancy card approximately 1,000 times with my Dad) my sweet husband will be waking up early and going non-stop all day long. Oh sweet stomach please stop that churning.

I know Luke is capable of tending to the needs of all of our very, small children. I guess I just know how incredibly ready I am to see him each and every day at 6:00pm and he will not get that reprieve of another person coming in to divide and conquer.

And, if I'm being totally honest with all of you I have two other very real concerns. The first is that I would like for my husband to be mentally stable when I get back. I don't desire for this to be 6 days of you-know-what for him. The second is a tad more self centered. What if I get back and he's completely refreshed, the house is clean, our children are more educated and he doesn't even hint that it was one bit of a struggle?

I guess I'd prefer for the next 6 days of his life to be carefree and filled with joy. But, selfishly, I'd like to be missed and even welcomed home with tired, weary arms. I only say that because I know that when (and I say when because after these 6 days I will require Luke to get away for a few days) my husband goes on a vacation, I KNOW without hesitation that I will welcome him home tired and possibly totally worn out.

So, if you know Luke I'm gonna ask you to pray for him. And if you're a good man friend and you're reading this post, I'm even going to politely ask beg you to stop by and offer him some company. The kids go to bed at 8:00pm. I'm sure he'd enjoy a friendly knock on the door about 8:30. Even better if you bring a movie and some snacks.