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Recently, I celebrated the completion of my ninth year as an over
the road truck driver. To a great many of the drivers out here, I
am still little more than a rookie. But to others, nine years is
an enviable feat. I can remember being in truck driving school
fearing I’d never get my license. I had a
difficult time doing things which the other students did with
little or no effort at all. But late at night when I was in the
yard trying to perfect my technique, I would whisper over and over
again, “I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me.” (Phil. 4:13) Even
when the task set before me was more than I could handle, I knew
where my strength came from.
I believe that if I truly trust in the Lord, He will give me the
desires of my heart. However, I do not believe this simply means
He will just arbitrarily give me whatever I want. But rather He
will put into my heart a desire for the things of God. Then
fulfill them and bring to fruition those selfsame desires.
A great deal has happened to me in nine years. Regrettably, I’ve
had a few accidents, but bless God, none of them were
considered preventable. The Lord is the primary reason why I’m
still out here. It’s taken a lot of work
but it’s been very rewarding. All told, I’ve
driven more than a million miles and if this seems a bit
exaggerated, think of it like this; I drive more miles in one
year, than most people will drive in their entire lifetime.
Amazing isn’t it?
The Lord used what I do for a living, to bring several things
about. Driving a tractor trailer has given me a renewed sense of
responsibility. In doing so, it has increased my self esteem a
thousand fold and prepared me for an entirely new way of life.
Where I was once little more than a glorified drifter I now have a
husband, a home and a family. In all honesty, I could never see
myself getting married. I was content serving the Lord with a
single heart. But He had other plans for me. Plans which included
a husband whose love for me, goes so far beyond my expectations
that it takes my breath away. I was admittedly unsure of getting
into a relationship, but Troy had no such reservations and pursued
me with absolute certainty that I was the one for him.
Since both my husband and I drive tractor trailers, it is a
natural assumption that we should drive together. But I get motion
sick and cannot sleep while the truck’s in
motion. So I’m reduced to taking Dramamine
for the sickness and Sominex for the sleeplessness. This means I’m
groggy when it’s time for me to drive, so
I take No Doz. All of this upsets my husband who worries about my
health, which effects his ability to sleep. With great
deliberation, coupled with intense pain and heartache, we decided
it would be better to drive separate trucks.
This was a tough decision to make and takes an enormous amount of
trust and great faith in one another to accomplish. We talk on the
phone everyday (it’s very expensive) and
we pray for one another constantly because prayer is the only way
we can get through the rough and often extremely lonely moments.
I have a routine I share with those who question the wisdom of
being apart at length. I tell them ‘we are
doing our part for a Drug Free America. We keep each other off
drugs by staying out of each others trucks.’
While this is a humorous way to look at a rather serious
situation, the truth of the matter is that what we love in our
work is what we love in one another. We love the solitude, the
freedom and the independence our jobs afford us. But this type of
living arrangement is not for everyone. It wouldn’t
be this easy if Troy and I had children.
The time which Troy and I spend together, is very important to us.
We spend as much quality time with one another as possible but
even then, it’s never enough and I find
myself missing him even before we leave the house on our next run.
But this too serves it’s purpose. For the
first time in my life, I now understand what the wives of these
truck drivers go through in having their husbands gone so much of
the time. At the same time, I can also relate to the drivers
themselves in being away from the house and missing out on all the
comforts of home. It’s a panoramic
perspective which I wouldn’t trade for
anything.
Because my husband and I spend so much of our time on the road,
when we come home, we have little more than forty-eight hours to
be together. We’re usually home every
other weekend, and spend most of our time doing paperwork,
cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and packing for the next trip.
To save money on rent and utilities, Troy and I rent the first
floor in his parents house and while we are gone, his mother takes
care of our two cats. When we come home we have to spend a
few minutes reassuring the cats that we missed them and still love
them very much. Punkin needs a great deal of reassurance and loves
to be coddled. Peanut however only needs someone to open and close
the door for him every fifteen minutes or so. Oh yeah, and I have
to be on call for him when he wants his back scratched. For being
obedient to my cat, I get a meow that sounds suspiciously like ‘mom?’.
He’s convinced I’m
his mommy and there’s a great deal of
satisfaction in this. A sense of normalcy in a somewhat abnormal
world.
Julie Ann Fricker-
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