To those who don’t know Christ, “sacrifice” might seem like an ugly word, something you’d never want to connect to marriage. But for believers whose eternal life depends on Christ’s sacrifice and who are called to make our lives a living sacrifice to God, we trust Jesus knew what he was talking about when he said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Talking about sacrifice in abusive marriages can be dangerous and inappropriate, but for others, the notion of sacrificing to make your spouse’s dreams come true can be one of the most effective tools to make your spouse feel cherished and to make yourself feel blessed to live with such a happy, fulfilled spouse. Helping your spouse do something outside of their marriage that God has uniquely gifted and called to do can greatly benefit the marriage itself. It certainly has for Donnie and Jaclyn, and Dennis and Barbara, as you’ll read about here.
When Donnie and Jaclyn lived in Nashville, they had so little money they depended on food stamps. Jaclyn was pursuing a career in photography, which can take a long time to launch, and she started to feel guilty about not contributing more to the family budget.
One of her good friends worked as a waitress at a restaurant, and Jaclyn thought maybe she should do that as well.
When she brought up the idea to Donnie, he was forceful: “No, you’re not doing that. Keep pursuing your photography. One day, it’s going to become lucrative. I just know it.”
Donnie explains his thinking: “I grew up hearing women talk about how they gave up their dreams once they got married, and that’s not what I wanted to have happen with Jaclyn. I didn’t care what her dream was, to be honest. If she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, if she wanted to get a master’s degree, or if she wanted to pursue a career in photography, I was determined to help make it happen.”
This commitment came at great cost to Donnie. He had to work two jobs to make up for the lack of Jaclyn’s income. He did his regular job during the day, ate dinner with the family, then started his second job in the evening.
Continue reading this blog on Substack HERE.