- [Narrator] Jamie andJenna were crazy in love

and horribly in debt.

As they were planningtheir future together

the couple took a cold,hard look at their finances.

- Total combined student loans

and we both had a littlebit of credit card debt

and a car loan out, too.

It was right around $100,000.

- [Narrator] The two were both working

as part-time teaching assistants,

neither jobs pay more than 20,000 a year.

- And I remember, again,

both of us almost laughingat the mountain of debt

that we knew that we were under.

- [Narrator] Unsure of what to do next,

Jenna prayed about the debtand the future marriage.

She says, that's when God madeher an unbelievable promise.

One that she immediatelyshared with her fiance.

- Jesus is now saying us, as a couple,

are going to be debt free in five years.

- It was like, one ofthose, you gotta be kidding.

Like, there's no way that that's possible.

- [Narrator] The couple mapped out a plan

to pay off their debt.

They created a budget basedon their limited income.

They also decided their firstexpense would be tithing.

- I knew that it wassomething that would honor God

and something he calls us to do.

- When I heard the idea of tithing

would be 10% of your income,I did a quick math calculation

and I'm like, that's alot of money every month.

- [Narrator] A few monthsbefore their wedding,

both Jamie and Jenna

were offered full-time teaching positions

but with just a few weeksto go before the big day,

bad news.

Their school hadn't been taking out

the state mandated retirement deduction.

To make up for the shortfall

both Jamie and Jenna hadtheir paychecks slashed.

- They were literally taking

half of each of our salary every paycheck

for the next six pay periods.

- It felt like a gut punch,we had been working so hard.

- [Narrator] Now the twowould have to make do

with even less than they had planned.

The couple went on with the wedding

and despite their limited income,

held on to their promise from God

and stuck with their plan to tithe.

- For the first year or two we struggled

with the idea of being so restricted

and sacrificing things and notbeing able to do the things

that we saw our friends andfamily and community doing.

- [Narrator] Jamie and Jenna

picked up side jobs along the way

and continued to titheoff of what they earned

and they credit that forhelping them get through

those lean months.

- 12 weeks ago we had half a paycheck,

12 weeks later, you know, fast forward

we got through that stressor

and we didn't have to dipinto our savings at all.

- I think

continually being humbleenough to say yes to Jesus,

that he has more plansand bigger plans for us

than we could ever dream for ourselves,

I think is a big part of what tithing is

and how Jesus can reallytransform your life.

- [Narrator] The two continuedto chip away at their debt.

The school stopped garnishing their wages

and they even earned pay raises.

Their daughter was born in 2017.

Then in January of 2019,

shortly before they celebratedtheir fifth anniversary,

Jamie and Jen have paid offthe last of their $100,000 debt

just as God had promised.

- I wouldn't have believed it possible

to pay off $100,000 in debt in five years

but we said yes to Jesus,

did Jesus 1 + 1 equalswhatever he wants it to.

- Today Jamie and Jennaare still teaching.

They own a home and they'vealso started a financial blog

where they tell theworld about how tithing

put them on the road to financial freedom.

- If we hadn't committed to tithing

and made that anon-negotiable in our lives

and in our budget, thenour budget wouldn't work.

- Looking from the time westarted to where we are now,

$100,000 in five years on teaching salary,

we could not have done itwithout Jesus providing.