What a Dairy Queen Dinner Taught This Influencer About Trusting God

Published: July 13, 2026

By Mallory Mattingly

His mother’s faith and childhood meal at Dairy Queen taught Christian content creator and speaker Jason Jackson Jr. a lot about trusting God.

“I was in kindergarten at the time,” Jackson told Candace Cameron Bure on her podcast. He revealed that his mother only had $8 left for the week.

“My brother, he’s ecstatic. He’s like, ‘Yes, we’re going to Dairy Queen.’ And I remember I just sat back and I just kind of sank down in my seat and I was like, ‘Wow, like this woman is doing everything that she can for us and we don’t even realize what she’s putting herself through every day just to make sure that we have something,'” the 24-year-old recalled.

The family shared one meal at Dairy Queen.

“I mean, we had a chicken strip basket that we shared, and she got both of us ice cream cones. Now this was before inflation. You probably couldn’t get that now. But she got both of us ice cream cones. And I remember I couldn’t even enjoy the food because I was just thinking, if she had $8 before she bought this, how much does she have now?” Jackson continued.

“We still have the rest of the week left. And I didn’t know it at the time, but during that time, my mom was working as a janitor at the school. And she was making $300 a month. Not a week, a month,” he added.

When he later asked her how she was able to make ends meet, his mom responded, “That’s why I have a relationship with God, because there’s no way I could have done that without Him.”

Along with his mom, his grandparents were foundational in his faith formation.

“I would say that growing up, I didn’t grow up in the church. My mom was working, and so a lot of times church was something that we would attend if we woke up on time. It wasn’t like mandatory. But I noticed that with my friends, it was — that was a priority for them. So my mom and my grandparents, they really cultivated me knowing God or having some type of knowledge about who God is,” Jackson explained.

Jackson began creating faith-based content in 2023 after giving up his NFL dreams.

“I gave up because football was slowly becoming who I was and not what I did anymore,” he said in an I Am Second interview. “I never wanted that to be my story. I knew Jason Jackson Jr. had more to his life then just being a football player.”

His content quickly went viral, and he’s amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on his platforms. Today, his faith-filled videos pull thousands of views.

“I can’t believe that God actually chose me to live this life,” said Jackson, per Jesus Freak Hideout. “None of it is for my glory. None of it is for my praise. It’s all to give glory to God and that’s the reason why I do what I do.”

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Jackson’s journey is a powerful reminder that a foundation of faith isn’t always built within the walls of a church but often in the sacrificial example of those who love us the most.

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