WEBVTT 00:00.009 --> 00:02.390 Hi , I'm Chaplain Guy Reba . And this 00:02.400 --> 00:05.650 is my wife Chrissy and we've been in 00:05.659 --> 00:09.210 the military together for 24 years . My 00:09.220 --> 00:12.779 name is Chrissy Reba . He was reserved 00:12.789 --> 00:15.840 for most of that time for about 22 of 00:15.850 --> 00:18.799 those years . And I did not go with him 00:18.809 --> 00:21.031 with our kids because it was just , you 00:21.031 --> 00:24.440 know , mobilizations every now and then . 00:24.450 --> 00:26.620 And I stayed home on the farm with the 00:26.629 --> 00:28.809 boys and raised them and took care of 00:28.819 --> 00:30.930 things . I'd say how we came into the 00:30.930 --> 00:33.041 military was kind of unique . I was a 00:33.041 --> 00:35.152 school teacher and we invited a group 00:35.152 --> 00:37.263 of recruiters to come to school . And 00:37.263 --> 00:39.486 uh Christy and I actually worked in the 00:39.486 --> 00:41.263 same school . And so when these 00:41.263 --> 00:43.486 recruiters came in , you know , you had 00:43.486 --> 00:45.597 the navy talking about travel and the 00:45.597 --> 00:47.819 air force about jobs in the uh that you 00:47.819 --> 00:49.930 can do in the civilian world . And um 00:49.930 --> 00:51.763 the army talked about paying off 00:51.763 --> 00:53.819 college and I know we were trying to 00:53.819 --> 00:55.939 get out of debt . And so , you know , 00:55.950 --> 00:58.117 he looked in the back of the room , he 00:58.117 --> 01:00.339 says , Mr Ruby , do you have any school 01:00.339 --> 01:02.506 loans ? And I , I did , I had a lot of 01:02.506 --> 01:04.506 school loans . And so he said , you 01:04.506 --> 01:06.728 know , if you join the military , those 01:06.728 --> 01:08.894 would all be gone . And so I went home 01:08.894 --> 01:11.061 that night and I said , Chrissy , what 01:11.061 --> 01:10.099 do you think about me going into the 01:10.110 --> 01:12.110 military to get rid of these school 01:12.110 --> 01:15.050 loans ? And , uh , it was a decision we 01:15.059 --> 01:17.170 made together to go in the military . 01:17.190 --> 01:19.040 And of course , he was in basic 01:19.050 --> 01:21.050 training . Found out I was pregnant 01:21.050 --> 01:23.328 with our first child and we were older . 01:23.328 --> 01:26.239 We were going into this and I remember 01:26.250 --> 01:29.339 going to drill that weekend and all of 01:29.349 --> 01:32.680 the uh this uh we were all in formation 01:32.690 --> 01:34.959 and the sergeant major said , uh hey , 01:35.339 --> 01:38.120 we might have to mobilize or deploy . 01:38.129 --> 01:40.351 And we've actually talked about what if 01:40.351 --> 01:42.407 that happened with that and you were 01:42.407 --> 01:44.573 like , you need to go . And so when we 01:44.573 --> 01:46.518 uh when that happened , you know , 01:46.518 --> 01:48.518 everybody in that formation stepped 01:48.518 --> 01:50.462 forward and signed up , I'll never 01:50.462 --> 01:52.518 forget that day . And just knowing I 01:52.518 --> 01:54.629 had Chrissy supporting something like 01:54.629 --> 01:56.851 that . Uh And that really would come to 01:56.851 --> 01:59.029 pass . I would mobilize the , I don't 01:59.040 --> 02:02.860 know how many seem like uh as 02:02.870 --> 02:05.870 time went on , you know , fast forward 02:05.879 --> 02:08.046 to our boys are graduating high school 02:08.046 --> 02:11.000 and I'm still on the farm and I'm still 02:11.009 --> 02:13.231 teaching and still kind of holding down 02:13.231 --> 02:14.787 things . There was a lot of 02:14.787 --> 02:17.009 mobilization . We have about five years 02:17.009 --> 02:18.953 there where I , I didn't see him a 02:18.953 --> 02:21.120 whole lot to the kids , didn't see him 02:21.120 --> 02:20.824 a lot , you know , and I got pretty 02:20.835 --> 02:23.815 tired at that point and really wanted 02:23.824 --> 02:26.895 to be part of this . So once the kids 02:26.904 --> 02:29.126 were raised and our last time graduated 02:29.126 --> 02:31.485 high school , we just began to pursue , 02:31.494 --> 02:33.716 let's do this full time , if possible . 02:33.716 --> 02:37.645 Right . So I applied for a GR and um 02:37.654 --> 02:41.145 and also did a co a offset for bliss 02:41.154 --> 02:43.376 and that was the first time that we got 02:43.376 --> 02:45.800 to go together . Yeah . So 50 years old 02:45.809 --> 02:48.330 and just starting this new adventure in 02:48.339 --> 02:50.610 the military and it was easier not 02:50.619 --> 02:52.452 having kids . I know having your 02:52.452 --> 02:54.397 Children moving your Children from 02:54.397 --> 02:56.563 place to place . And we didn't have to 02:56.563 --> 02:58.750 do that at that point because they had 02:58.759 --> 03:01.929 gone on . But they have loved visiting 03:01.940 --> 03:04.669 every place we've gone . I think maybe 03:04.679 --> 03:06.901 because we're older , we really embrace 03:06.901 --> 03:08.790 wherever we are . To me , it's an 03:08.790 --> 03:11.203 adventure . We get to explore new areas , 03:11.212 --> 03:13.863 see new things and we love it really , 03:13.953 --> 03:15.897 I think , you know , sometimes you 03:15.897 --> 03:17.897 always focus on the negatives about 03:17.897 --> 03:20.120 being in the military as a family . And 03:20.120 --> 03:22.175 as for Chrissy , you know , a lot of 03:22.175 --> 03:24.175 times that's when the , the washing 03:24.175 --> 03:26.397 machine would break or the refrigerator 03:26.397 --> 03:28.453 would , would give out or they would 03:28.453 --> 03:30.564 die . Yeah , animals would die on the 03:30.564 --> 03:30.343 farm . It always happened when I was 03:30.352 --> 03:32.463 gone . But there was one time where I 03:32.463 --> 03:34.686 really saw the advantage of being in 03:34.695 --> 03:36.973 the military and I was with Caleb . Um , 03:36.973 --> 03:38.973 we were our oldest , we were , um , 03:39.026 --> 03:40.970 cutting a tree had fallen over the 03:40.970 --> 03:42.915 fence and we were out there , uh , 03:42.915 --> 03:45.246 cutting that tree up and we were using 03:45.255 --> 03:47.366 the tractor to haul logs back and one 03:47.366 --> 03:49.588 of the pieces on the tractor broke . It 03:49.588 --> 03:51.811 was an important part . It's called the 03:51.811 --> 03:53.922 elevator that kinda steadies the back 03:53.922 --> 03:55.866 um , of the tractor . And I was so 03:55.866 --> 03:57.866 frustrated . I mean , I was , I was 03:57.866 --> 04:00.179 upset , you know , and uh , camps like 04:00.190 --> 04:02.301 I can fix that . And I was like , how 04:02.301 --> 04:04.523 are you gonna fix , you know , a broken 04:04.523 --> 04:06.412 part on the tractor ? And come 20 04:06.412 --> 04:08.412 minutes later , he shows up with it 04:08.412 --> 04:10.468 perfectly well welded because he had 04:10.468 --> 04:12.746 learned to weld while his dad was gone , 04:12.746 --> 04:15.259 you know , how to weld . So I guess the 04:15.289 --> 04:17.619 advantages it can be good and bad . But 04:17.630 --> 04:20.329 with that being gone and , and I was a 04:20.339 --> 04:22.228 bit , I was already , had so many 04:22.228 --> 04:24.283 things to do , the kids were able to 04:24.283 --> 04:26.339 really take on more responsibilities 04:26.339 --> 04:28.339 and it ended up being a really good 04:28.339 --> 04:31.100 thing when you definitely , uh , learn 04:31.109 --> 04:33.220 to become more independent . You 04:33.320 --> 04:35.542 realize that you can do things that you 04:35.542 --> 04:37.376 didn't think you could do before 04:37.376 --> 04:39.542 talking on the telephone and getting , 04:39.542 --> 04:41.487 taking care of business , actually 04:41.487 --> 04:43.487 really good at that . Now , which I 04:43.487 --> 04:45.487 don't think it was necessarily your 04:45.487 --> 04:47.487 strength . I mean , I wouldn't have 04:47.487 --> 04:49.264 enjoyed that before , but I , I 04:49.264 --> 04:51.542 definitely could take care of business . 04:51.542 --> 04:53.764 I do most of the , you know , if I have 04:53.764 --> 04:55.987 to fly the kids in , if I have to , I'm 04:55.987 --> 04:58.098 the one that's kind of organizing all 04:58.098 --> 05:00.098 of those things . And , yeah , so I 05:00.098 --> 05:02.153 would say I feel like a lot of times 05:02.153 --> 05:02.019 when I come home I'm supporting you , 05:02.429 --> 05:04.429 you know , instead of the other way 05:04.429 --> 05:06.596 around and this is the first time that 05:06.596 --> 05:09.059 I'm not working outside . And so I'm 05:09.070 --> 05:11.850 just being available and that's been , 05:11.859 --> 05:14.137 I think really good for both of us too . 05:14.160 --> 05:16.839 It's different . But , you know , 05:16.850 --> 05:19.183 sometimes I'm like , I , he , he's like , 05:19.183 --> 05:21.461 stop trying to manage me and I'm going , 05:21.461 --> 05:23.739 I gotta have something to manage . The 05:23.750 --> 05:25.861 kids are in college . Well , they say 05:25.861 --> 05:28.028 that whatever your rank is , your wife 05:28.028 --> 05:30.510 is at least one , maybe two ranks above . 05:30.519 --> 05:33.809 So when I come home , you know , I'm 05:33.820 --> 05:36.290 coming home to , you know , Colonel , 05:36.440 --> 05:38.496 I'm definitely trying to manage it . 05:38.496 --> 05:40.496 He's in charge . Yes , ma'am . I'll 05:40.496 --> 05:42.329 take the trash out or whatever , 05:42.329 --> 05:44.496 whatever . But there are opportunities 05:44.496 --> 05:46.551 to volunteer like in the coffee shop 05:46.551 --> 05:48.869 and to still be supporting you and also 05:48.880 --> 05:51.213 supporting your ministry . Right . Well , 05:51.213 --> 05:53.436 I'm glad that we can do this together . 05:53.436 --> 05:55.529 I think I speak for all military 05:55.540 --> 05:57.989 members and I want to say thank you to 05:58.279 --> 06:00.369 our spouses and Children because we 06:00.380 --> 06:02.420 couldn't , I , I know I couldn't do 06:02.429 --> 06:05.089 this without your support , military 06:05.320 --> 06:07.059 spouse appreciation .