OTR spouse

[JetBlast]

I'd like to add something..

There was a couple I did wedding video for. He is a truck driver and she is about my age...mid20's. Anyways, she seemed quite excited about getting married and even went on a trip with her husband first few times, but not anymore. I can see how this can get very old, very quickly. I wouldn't want to be driving all day everyday. When I go up North from Florida, by the time I get to Georgia, I feel like I'm done.

Anyways, back to the topic, nowadays she's always in church alone and you don't have to ask to see that she's not really excited about this whole thing. I bet it sucks when she's young, has a husband and can't have him everyday nearby.
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Another friend of mine, also in church, was working construction and went "truck". It didn't last very long either. He doesn't work truck anymore. I recently talked to him and asked how he's doing, if he's still trucking and he said: "not anymore. hard on the family".

Every case is different of course, but I doubt long trips away from family is the optimal route in marriage.

 

[Obadiah]

Paul wouldn't have envisioned the job of over the road trucking, but he still gave applicable advice for the married person on this subject. He said: "Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. " (1 Cor 7:5, ESV) Notice he recommends that if a husband and wife should be separate, it should be for a "limited time" only (and limited time is a good translation of the original language in this case) and for the purpose of prayer. He's pretty clearly saying we shouldn't spend weeks and months apart on a regular basis even if for prayer and edification, much less for a job. When you look at families where one spouse is an over the road driver and the other stays home, well, it's not usually good. There's a lot of reasons that the truck stops are full of prostitutes (since it's usually the husband that is the trucker) and their wives at home (even Christian wives) tend to have many affairs. For anyone still of the age to desire intimacy, there's simply too much temptation to sin if the person's co-driver is not also his spouse.

 

[JetBlast]

Obadiah,
well said, brother sir! I totally agree.

 

[Warrior4Jesus]

I have been a truck driver since 2007 and I started out OTR gone for 30 days at a time for a lousy 3 or 4 days home then right back at it. It was one of the most miserable experiences I can recall at the time. There are several key things to consider when making this decision. 1. How strong is your relationship with God/How strong is his? 2. How strong is your relationship with him? 3. How strong are your fears and are they illogical or founded in some way. 4. Can your relationship survive absence, loneliness, doubt's questions, fear, and infidelities. These are the worst of the worst feelings and they can lead down such a dark broken hurtful path. Satan our accuser is out roaring like a lion seeking whom he may consume. Protect yourself and your family and answer those questions.