Holding Down the Fort: Help and Encouragement for Wives Whose Husbands Travel

I read this book while my husband was working and commuting 60+ hours a week. I had a 10 month old and was pregnant with my second. I was feeling overwhelmed, but this book really gave me perspective and helped me have a more positive attitude, and trust the Lord through the busy times. Knowing PeggySue Wells personally also made the book more special to me, since she is such a wonderful example of a loving wife and Mom with a great family! I knew that her life experience was valuable and worth listening to.

PeggySue Wells and Mary Ann Froelich are not out to paint a rosy picture of family life with a husband and father (or wife and mother) who travels. Personal interviews with families of all types make up the main substance of their brand-new book. If your spouse travels regularly, you will easily sympathize with the people interviewed and you will know you are not alone. If traveling is not part of your family's lifestyle, you will come away with a new sensitivity to families who cope with this challenge--and you'll appreciate your own situation that much more.Each chapter addresses a particular situation and gives first person accounts from people coping with that challenge. So, while reading about other people's struggles may either depress or comfort you, the extensive lists of suggestions at the end of each chapter are worth turning to again and again. Seeking to give help on many levels, pracitical advice is given for couples, for the wife, for the traveling husband, and for others including the church family. In that sense, this book has something for everyone.I have a close friend whose husband is embarking on a new ministry career that will involve regular travel. "Should I recommend this book to my friend?" I wondered. "Will it scare her to read about how hard it can be?" Maybe. But the solid advice given, the sense of trust in God's will and God's sufficiency, and the attitude that God can indeed be relied upon no matter what a family's situation pervades the book. Any reader will come away knowing where to look and Whom to turn to for all the ultimate answers. I know my friend will indeed find from this book practical help and encouragement as she now holds down the fort.