“Wisdom for Wealth. For Life.” Episode 35: Stewarding Marriage as a Professional Athlete

Blue Trust Sports & Entertainment Division managing director Reed Crosson and chairman of the board Nick Stonestreet recently had a conversation with Suzy and Gio Llerena about how to build marriages that are strong enough to withstand cultural pressures and the demands of life itself.

Gio is vice president of Christian Family Life, an organization dedicated to strengthening the institution of marriage by building up marriage disciple leaders in global communities. Gio and Suzy have been serving in ministry side-by-side their entire married life. For 14 years, Gio served as chaplain for the Tampa Bay Rays and worked with a ministry called Baseball Chapel, an organization that addresses the unique needs of professional sports players and their spouses.

During this time, Gio and Suzy saw firsthand the practical struggles faced by baseball players and their wives as they navigated sudden career changes, moving to new cities, and the demands of high-profile sports careers. Suzy found herself in a position to encourage and be the hands and feet of Jesus alongside the wives of the baseball players as they cared for young children and kept their careers and households running. In what would seem like a glamorous lifestyle to outsiders, the wives often struggled with loneliness, their identities, and the external pressures and expectations that come with fame and success.

As they ministered to professional athletes, Gio and Suzy were introduced to Christian Family Life’s Two Becoming One material. The faith principles found in the curriculum impacted their marriage to such a degree that they wanted to share them with every couple they meet by teaching ways to build a marriage discipleship culture.

Shifting from a performance-based marriage to a faith-based marriage

Our culture is geared toward performance, even in the marriage relationship. “Often spouses will think to themselves, ‘If my wife or husband does certain things for me, I’ll be happy.’ These performance metrics can bleed into feelings about the relationship and even influence each spouse’s mood and feelings about life,” Gio explains. “In the daily grind of work and paying bills, resentment about spousal roles can lead to rebellion.”

Suzy adds, “I must see my spouse as a gift from God who is not there to simply do things for me; he or she is there to be with me. My focus should be on my faith in God and who I am in Christ. At the same time, faith without works is dead. I will do things for my spouse out of love for him or her and because I love God and am serving Him through my marriage.”