I consider myself to still be pretty new to the military life- my husband commissioned as a chaplain in the Air Force in 2021 and we are still only on our first assignment! But these initial years have definitely opened my eyes to the differences between people’s perceptions of what the military is like versus the reality. (I’m including my own biases in that!)

And to me, that has been a gift- to be given the chance to get to know this community of people. 

Generally speaking, we see gifts in our lives as the things that just make our lives better for having them. And my first instinct would be to jokingly imply that our family’s life was, in fact, easier before we entered into the military. 

But deep down, I know it has made each of us (my husband, myself, and each of our children) better.

Better at making friends with those we otherwise would never have met, better at sympathizing with those who have gone before us and those who are just beginning, and better at appreciating different aspects of each new city and community we enter into.

And so in that way, it is a gift. 

For me personally, this process of getting to know people and families in the military has been so interesting and fun. The truth (that as someone who knew very little about anything military, I really had no former comprehension of) there are so many jobs within each branch!

And each of those jobs require a certain personality and brain suited to it. 

Throw in spouses with their own personalities and their individual, unique children, and you really get the most incredibly diverse group of people!

And each of their stories of how they came to enlist or commission, how they met their spouse, their journey of which assignments they have loved, hated, and/or tolerated… and even those times they have put themselves in dangerous situations to complete their missions.

I have genuinely relished hearing each background, all the stories, and their future goals and even their retirement dreams! 

I am still fresh enough to this whole thing that I can vividly remember when words like commissary, deployment, and Tricare were not part of our every day vocabulary.

I think back to times when I never feared a “PCS”, a government shutdown, or a pen in my dryer. 

But currently these fresh eyes can also so clearly see the beauty that is a military friendship- between service members, their spouses, and their kids.

The way those in this military lifestyle can connect with someone time and time again, with compassion because they have been there before, with kindness because they have felt those feelings before, and with humor because, as I have learned and thoroughly enjoyed, that seems to be the preferred method of dealing with it all. 

So for me personally, the greatest gift of being a military spouse has truly been the people.

I have come to admire and respect each service member and their families (that I’ve personally gotten to know, and therefore the whole) for their strength, their ability to embrace whatever comes their way, and their enthusiasm for this unusual way of life.

Air Force Spouse, Liz Guinn

Elizabeth Guinn goes by “Liz”, and loves art, photography, books, and movies. So of course her favorite places are museums, bookstores, libraries, and movie theaters! She’s been married to her husband, Jacob, for 14 years, and they have three children, Daniel, Lydia, and Hannah.

As a family, they enjoy bowling and hiking together, and playing with their Jack Russell Terrier, Phoebe. They hail from Tennessee, and began this military journey just two short years ago moving to San Antonio, Texas.

Jacob is an active duty Air Force chaplain, and Liz is a stay-at-home Mom. She volunteers at her kids’ elementary school, serves in her local church’s nursery and kids’ ministry, and is preparing to facilitate a Bible study at their base chapel’s PWOC for the first time this spring!

*To read more entries from our Finalists, Click HERE.