Sacrifice in Marriage and Ministry (an interview with Grace VanMaanen)

Show Notes

Life as a ministry wife doesn’t always look like radical revivals. Often it’s staying home while your husband leaves to minister to others or answers nonstop phone calls that interrupt family time. Unless you’re constantly lifting your eyes heavenward, it can be difficult to see eternal reward in the daily grind. Grace VanMaanen joins me today to share how prayer, intentionality, and a heavenly perspective protect her from bitterness as a ministry wife.

EPISODE GUIDE

Praying for one another creates intimacy, even when physically separated.

Be intentional about talking with your spouse about one another’s needs, both at home and apart.

Use the time that your spouse is doing ministry to engage in kingdom work of your own.

BEST QUOTES

“I think that’s what we forget: there is eternal blessing in the sacrifice. It’s that John 12:24 principle of a kernel of wheat falls to ground and dies and it produces many seeds. There’s fruit that’s born from that death, Christ being the perfect example of that. But I feel like for a wife, we don’t always recognize that sacrifice. There’s a death in our time, even in the comforts and pleasures of having your husband around. And in that death, we often forget that there is blessing. There’s an eternal reward.”

-Grace VanMaanen

“You’ve had intentional conversations with your husband, and then you’re intentional with your time when your husband is called away. You’re using that time to serve where the Lord has you. I think that can apply to any situation for husband and wife: be intentional about your decisions. For wives who feel like they’re sharing their husband with the church and starting to become resentful instead, maybe flip it on its head and say, ‘This is giving me time and opportunity to do something of my own.'”

-Christine Hoover