Lunches

These are my husbands and sons lunch bags. 

Each day I pack them with meals that are made to nourish them not only physically, but emotionally as well. 

Both my husband and son work swing or night shifts. 

Each night they miss dinner with our family. 

This includes my daughter in law and two precious grandsons. 

I look at those bags and I see dirt, and grease from their jobs. Each morning I open them to pull out the dirty containers and the no longer frozen  ice packs.

As I exam the containers I think about what they've eaten or haven't eaten. 

Both my husband and son are extremely hard workers. 

They will run 6 days a week 12 hours shifts. 

My daughter in law stays at home with my two grandsons, but this past year has brought me to working full time. 

I miss taking care of my family as my full time job and I often cave to the pressure of still having to do all that plus work full time. 

But those lunch bags remind me everyday of how hard they work. I wake every morning to the two of them on my kitchen table. I could get frustrated or mad, because I have to take them off the table, but I'm not. 

I empty them, and thank the Lord that I have a husband who works hard and a son that does the same for his little family. 

I fill them when I come home from work on a short break, and make sure the boys know they are set to go when I leave again. I leave before they do. 

I'm thankful for those lunch boxes. 

I'm thankful for my husband.

I'm thankful for my son. 

It's finding love in the little things that your spouse and your children will remember. 

When the stress of hubby being gone for long hours, and your kids are sick, your house feels like it's falling apart, your working opposite shifts of your husband, you feel like two ships passing in the night. 

Think about those meals that are being eaten alone. 

Think about those hard working hands.

Think about those long hours. (with no naps during the day) 

and take a deep breathe and take care of those men. 

"Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave"

Martin Luther