WEBVTT 00:00.009 --> 00:02.839 The Armed Reserve allows me to be dual 00:02.849 --> 00:05.690 headed citizen soldier . I could still 00:05.699 --> 00:08.149 do the kinds of things that I would 00:08.159 --> 00:10.159 wanna do , whether it's in my fifth 00:10.159 --> 00:12.489 journey or just really helping and 00:12.500 --> 00:14.979 having that flexibility to go places on 00:14.989 --> 00:17.399 my own schedule . And that flexibility 00:17.409 --> 00:19.409 is not the same when you are active 00:19.409 --> 00:22.930 duty when I first considered 00:22.940 --> 00:26.049 joining , I was in seminary . And so I 00:26.059 --> 00:28.281 wanted to be an officer , but I'm being 00:28.281 --> 00:30.170 told if you wanna be the really , 00:30.170 --> 00:32.281 really good officer , go and enlisted 00:32.281 --> 00:34.392 out first . And so that was the truth 00:34.392 --> 00:36.615 that was shared with me . And so II , I 00:36.615 --> 00:38.726 took it , I loved it so much . It was 00:38.726 --> 00:40.948 my intent just to do one or two years . 00:40.948 --> 00:42.948 But I loved it so much that I spent 00:42.948 --> 00:45.770 quite frankly , five years . One of the 00:45.779 --> 00:47.557 beautiful things about military 00:47.557 --> 00:50.439 chaplaincy service , I'm certified to 00:50.450 --> 00:53.430 give care to everyone , whether they're 00:53.439 --> 00:55.479 Muslim , whether they're Jewish or 00:55.490 --> 00:57.546 whether they're a person of no faith 00:57.546 --> 00:59.601 for me . That's really a part of the 00:59.601 --> 01:01.970 basis as to why I love what I do . 01:04.348 --> 01:06.459 Some of the biggest challenges or the 01:06.459 --> 01:08.626 biggest challenge for me is really the 01:08.626 --> 01:12.408 time away from my family . But it is , 01:12.418 --> 01:14.558 the sacrifice of service 01:17.180 --> 01:19.291 pastor is beautiful , is , you know , 01:19.291 --> 01:21.930 to be able to not only walk with a 01:21.940 --> 01:24.260 person in their pain , but also walk 01:24.269 --> 01:26.080 with them in their joys . It's 01:26.089 --> 01:28.145 rewarding . But again , you , you're 01:28.145 --> 01:31.860 given pieces of yourself . My very last 01:31.870 --> 01:33.981 assignment before this one , I passed 01:33.981 --> 01:36.314 at a very large church in New York City . 01:36.314 --> 01:38.148 My time as a civilian pastor was 01:38.148 --> 01:40.203 amazing . I think being able to also 01:40.203 --> 01:42.449 impact the community at the civic level 01:42.870 --> 01:45.930 uh was also beautiful . If you are 01:45.940 --> 01:47.980 armed reserve soldier , you are a 01:47.989 --> 01:51.660 soldier , period . All right . And the 01:51.669 --> 01:53.391 reason why I like to make that 01:53.391 --> 01:55.559 distinction is because mentality 01:55.569 --> 01:58.050 matters . And so if your state of mind 01:58.059 --> 02:00.470 is I'm a part time soldier , you're 02:00.480 --> 02:02.639 gonna execute your mission at a part 02:02.650 --> 02:05.500 time , excellence . The mindset that 02:05.510 --> 02:08.380 you bring to your job determines the 02:08.389 --> 02:12.389 output from your job . Any advice 02:12.399 --> 02:15.679 I would give to soldiers , civilians 02:15.940 --> 02:17.773 just to be true to who you are . 02:17.773 --> 02:19.607 Leadership matters and character 02:19.607 --> 02:19.589 matters .