Today on MoneyLife with Chuck Bentley

Our guest today is a remarkarkable young woman, Jenn Darnold of Flower Mound, Texas.

Jenn has a great testimony about how the Lord put a burden on her to support her husband fully through an extended period of unemployment a couple of years ago.

I was laid off once. I wasn’t prepared for unemployment. I hadn’t saved enough.

I was afraid that if I didn’t get a job quickly, Ann would lose respect for me and maybe leave me. That wasn’t true, but that’s what was going on in my mind.

Every husband and father is concerned about being a good provider. Wives sometimes don’t understand the emotions of a man between jobs. It can divide a marriage. That's worse than financial suffering.

I hope you’ll open your heart today to what God has taught Jenn and learn to minister to someone experiencing unemployment.

***

Lee and Jenn Darnold were the perfect American couple up until 2007.  Jenn, a CPA, had left the workforce to raise their two sons.  Lee had risen to Vice President of Marketing at a national homebuilder.

Then the storm hit.  In 2007, Lee lost his job and the family had to weather an extended period of unemployment.

Instead of getting frustrated or depressed with her husband’s inability to find work, Jenn decided to use the experience to explore how she could support him in his efforts.

As Jenn continued to support Lee in a godly, loving way through his time of unemployment, Lee began saying that she was “an astonishing wife.”

Jenn went on to write a short self-published book about their experience, titled In His Grip Through the Storm, which can be purchased from her Web site, AstonishingWife.com.  

Lee has since found work in sales and Jenn is now working part time as a CPA.

***

It's important to not allow financial stress to divide your marriage. Jenn had to learn to be an encourager of her husband. I applaud her humility and willingness to change.

Her husband said she was astonishing during that time. If you’re in the middle of financial stress right now, begin to intensely pray with your spouse. It helps you communicate more.

Get into God’s Word, read it everyday and ask God to speak to you through it. Find activities that keep you involved in serving other people, God will bless you with peace and joy, and it gets your focus off of you. God will protect your marriage.

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• God's Principles for Operating a Business
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