Military Spouse Employment: Trusting God
“Wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God” (Ruth 1:16).
Not very long ago, military spouse employment was a hot topic. At the height of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, military families enjoyed a lot of media attention covering the challenges and difficulties of military life. I use the word “enjoyed” loosely, since any military family will tell you that those years were not exactly a great time. But at least America was paying attention.
The issues that members of the military and their families confront have not gone away, and they are still meeting these challenges with grit and resilience. The difference is that many Americans have stopped paying attention (though recent events in the Middle East briefly revived civilians’ interest in the military, mainly because many were concerned they would be sent to war).
The Challenges of Being a Military Spouse
As a military spouse, I sometimes feel like the only time my fellow countrymen care about the line of work in which my husband, friends, and family are involved is when they feel sorry for us or are worried about their own safety.
Among the challenges that are still present is spouse employment. Military spouses and their supporters have not stopped trying to help with the challenges of finding employment in a highly mobile, stressful lifestyle. The results are undeniable: Many employers and organizations are stepping up admirably to employ more military spouses. Changes in America’s professional landscape have also made flexible and remote work more common, making many jobs more accessible to military spouses. In some ways, the future has never looked brighter for professional spouses, and yet the high unemployment and underemployment rates in this community persist.
The Gifts of Being a Military Spouse
I often say that the military and its families represent the best of the American spirit. We regularly live out the corporal works of mercy in community together: We care for each other’s children, provide each other with meals, and care for and visit the sick and wounded. If you want to see a community that can minister to each other’s physical, spiritual, and emotional needs without stopping to count the cost, military families set the standard.
The military spouse community, in particular, exhibits a uniquely American hustle and drive. There is a gap between the number of military spouses who tell researchers in surveys that they’d like to work and the military spouses who are adequately employed. I have a theory about this gap: The former are answering honestly when they say they would like to work and are actively looking for work — but they will not do so at the expense of their family’s well-being. Until they can find that unicorn of a job that will let them be present for their families while their service member is gone or working unusual hours, they will opt out of the workforce, even at the cost of financial hardship.
What I learned in the employment search process is that there is a whole subculture of military spouses who have simply made their own way. They are creating and making their own remote, flexible employment opportunities by becoming creators who sell their work in their communities and online. They take the ingenuity they use to make a home and build a community from scratch every couple years when they move, and they apply it to their creative endeavors. They leverage the values of military culture — lifting each other up and helping each other out — and they apply it to their business ethos. I found one of my most lucrative freelance opportunities through a military spouse friend who simply put me in touch with her boss when I told her I was looking to take on more work.
Squaring the Circle
Because military spouses are used to doing a lot with a little, they are figuring out a way to square the circle when it comes to their professional lives. “Find something for yourself” was the sage advice that a fellow military spouse, creator, and entrepreneur gave me when I was struggling with a lifestyle that constantly asks adherents to pour themselves out for others.
As a freelancer, I have taken what I learned about trusting God through frequent moves, deployments, and time apart and applied it to my professional endeavors. I try to invite God into my daily work and my professional decisions, I pray for my clients and contacts, and I practice the Ignatian process of discernment. The most effective tools in my tool kit have been the Liturgy of the Hours — taking time throughout the day to meditate on the Psalms and offer the day’s labors to God in unity with the entire Church — and spiritual direction.
If you feel called to pray for the military, their families, and for peace during these uncertain times, many of us would appreciate the help. This Rosary for Warriors, developed by my mother during one of my dad’s deployments, is a devotion throughout the Catholic military community. Consider offering one today for your fellow Catholic women in business who are serving their families and country as military spouses.
Maggie Phillips is a freelance writer and military spouse with three small children and an incredibly patient husband. Follow her work at mrsmaggiephillips.com and on Instagram at @maggies_words.