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What do you do when the bottom drops out and life breaks in ways you never imagined? Charlie and Jill LeBlanc have walked that road, and through their personal story of loss, they’ve discovered the sustaining power of God's presence. In this podcast, they offer heartfelt conversations, Scripture-based encouragement, and the kind of hope that only comes from experience. Whether you're grieving, struggling, or searching for peace in the middle of chaos, this space is for you.
Hi there and welcome to episode 22 of the Finding Hope podcast. We're so glad you've joined us today and we've got some things to share that I believe will be a blessing to you.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah, every week we try to get in here and share our hearts and with hopes that it would bless you and strengthen you in your journey, whatever that might be. If it's been a tough road for you after the loss of a loved one, or maybe just a loss in your life in another area. But as you said, Jill, it's called Finding Hope, getting through what you never asked for.
Jill LeBlanc:Right.
Charlie LeBlanc:And so many things come into our lives that we don't ask for.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:And and boy, it can be really tough getting through some of these difficult moments, and I know that it was tough for us.
Jill LeBlanc:It certainly was tough for us. And even all these years later, there are times that it's still tough, isn't it?
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah. Well, it's true. People don't understand that, when you lose a loved one that you're really dear to, especially a child or a mother that you're close to, a brother or a sister, whatever it might be, dad.
Jill LeBlanc:Spouse.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah, spouse, especially spouses. We have a lot of friends that have lost their husbands and their wife. But these are tough things and you just don't get over it quickly.
Jill LeBlanc:Right.
Charlie LeBlanc:And we have a dear nephew of ours who lost his daughter. It was just about four years ago.
Jill LeBlanc:About five, mhmm. Yeah. Five and a half years.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah, five and a half years and they're still dealing with quite a bit of grief. Yes. And I remember when we lost Beau
Jill LeBlanc:That's not very much time.
Charlie LeBlanc:No, not very much time at all. And people would think, well hey, five years or four years or whatever, three years, you should be over it by then. Well, first of all, we've talked a lot about that word over it on this podcast. Just to refresh your memory, you're new here, we don't talk about getting it's not a matter of getting over things. Yes, there are things that you move forward.
Charlie LeBlanc:There there's a place of moving forward, but there's not a place of getting over it because really you never get over the loss of a loved one and you're not supposed to. Right. They they are part of your heart. They're part of your life. Forever.
Charlie LeBlanc:That's right.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah. So we we saw a post of of another niece who was very close with the one that passed away.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:And they were actually born one day apart.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yes.
Jill LeBlanc:The same year. And they the one that's living turned 19 just just this week, and she wrote a beautiful post to her cousin who she was extremely close with. And I just wanted to share a little part of it.
Jill LeBlanc:She was so eloquent with her
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah, she was.
Jill LeBlanc:Her her grief. She said, I think one of the hardest things to deal with in life is grief because it never goes away. No matter how many days, months, or years go by, I still remember the day you went to heaven. And, you know, it it has only been five years, but five years can seem like an eternity or it can seem like five weeks or five months. You know, it's just such a weird thing.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:And it changes through the years, doesn't it? As as you walk through it and time goes on, grief changes, it wears a lot of different faces.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah. And there are things that, as we've mentioned so often, there's things that can trigger grief in your life, you know. I was just peeking at pictures this week and I ran across a few pictures of Beau. And of course, I love looking at pictures of Beau and remembering him, But at the same time, it's it's a double edged sword, you know.
Jill LeBlanc:Right.
Charlie LeBlanc:It it there's a pain there.
Jill LeBlanc:I know.
Charlie LeBlanc:And yet there's a blessing. It's really weird.
Jill LeBlanc:I have all these pictures of him that come up on my phone. You know, I've got it set up to where every time my phone wakes up, it's a different picture that
Charlie LeBlanc:Right.
Jill LeBlanc:Not just of him, but of all my children and grandchildren and
Charlie LeBlanc:Right.
Jill LeBlanc:And you.
Charlie LeBlanc:Right. Thank you.
Jill LeBlanc:And so
Charlie LeBlanc:Well, and and then this
Jill LeBlanc:And well, let me just say
Charlie LeBlanc:Oh sorry.
Jill LeBlanc:Sorry. You know, that's okay. You know, sometimes when I look at those pictures when when Bo pops up, I'll I'll just, you know, have a warm place in my heart or sometimes I'll say, hey, Beau. You know?
Charlie LeBlanc:Mhmm.
Jill LeBlanc:But then other times, it, you know, it just gets me going. You know?
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah. Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:I'm just like right now.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah. I get it.
Jill LeBlanc:But yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:And this this thing you just read was, like you said, it it was our our niece that wrote this and and she, you know, this was her best friend.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:That that passed. They were a year apart and
Jill LeBlanc:No. A day apart.
Charlie LeBlanc:A day apart. Sorry. And so this was her would have been her nineteenth birthday.
Jill LeBlanc:Mhmm.
Charlie LeBlanc:And so her dad also we saw this on Facebook. He he said this. He said, you would have turned 19 years old today. Not a day goes by that I don't think about you. I carry you in my heart in every moment, in the quiet mornings, in the middle of a busy day, in the stillness before I sleep. I miss you more than words could ever reach, yet I'm so deeply grateful for the time God gave us together.
Charlie LeBlanc:I'll go on. He said, we laughed, we dreamed, we made memories that I will hold on to for the rest of my life. Those memories aren't just the big moments. They're the way your smile lit up a room, the way your voice made everything feel lighter, the way you could make me proud with just a look. And he goes on, I'm telling you what.
Jill LeBlanc:I know it's it's a huge loss.
Charlie LeBlanc:This this clearly shows just how hard losing a loved one is and especially a child. My goodness, this is our nephew who lost his daughter.
Jill LeBlanc:Mhmm.
Charlie LeBlanc:She was only 14 years old, I think.
Jill LeBlanc:Mhmm.
Charlie LeBlanc:14 year old little girl got cancer and they couldn't beat it. We all prayed. We all fought. Medical society did the best they could. But we lost her. And she was the sweetest thing.
Jill LeBlanc:She was awesome.
Charlie LeBlanc:And that depicts her right there, what Josh was sharing, but it's tough. You have more about her.
Jill LeBlanc:Her cousin went on to say, when Geordie first passed away, so angry at the world and lost in my faith until god came tapping me on the shoulder, reminding me it was okay to lean on him for help.
Jill LeBlanc:You know, this this young woman, she's she's a precious girl and, you know, she's had a you know, it's been a challenge. I've watched her in her struggles. And just that she would write that is is just a beautiful depiction of the Lord's mercy and kindness towards hurting people.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yes. For sure. And to think that she's only 19 years old writing that depth. And that's something I think quite often we forget is how much young people grieve over the losses of their friends, of their cousins, of their loved ones. Know for me when we lost Beau, I did not I wasn't aware at first of all the other people that were grieving around me.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:Even Beau's cousins, you know, were grieving deeply. And I didn't realize it. And and my sisters and my brothers and my sister-in-law, they were all both my sister in laws were grieving deeply.
Jill LeBlanc:Mhmm.
Charlie LeBlanc:And and I didn't I didn't get it.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah. You know?
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah. And there's so many things we can share about this, but but, you know, there are people that grieve all around us.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah. They really are.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:I know. We we just some very close friends of ours just lost a baby who she was seven months pregnant and went in for a routine checkup, and there was no heartbeat.
Jill LeBlanc:And so they had to induce labor and and deliver this baby. And, you know, those are very, very difficult times.
Charlie LeBlanc:Oh, gosh.
Jill LeBlanc:If you've been through something like that, we just wanna encourage you to one of the things that that we like to share are is one of the things is get my grammar right. When you've had a loss and there are anniversaries and special days coming up, like, for instance, the birthday of the person that was lost, that that passed. Maybe in the case of a still or like in the case of our friends that lost the baby, they've got a due date that that baby was supposed to be born.
Jill LeBlanc:That's coming up. And to plan ahead for these things, you know, don't just try to carry on with your normal life if you're able to do something different. But, you know, the first the first Christmas, the first Thanksgiving, the anniversary of their passing, or if it's a case of losing a spouse, their wedding anniversary.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:You know, just planning something. A dear friend of ours lost her husband. And then later at Christmas time, her birthday is the day after Christmas, and she was having a really special big birthday that day, that year. Right after her husband passed.
Charlie LeBlanc:Right.
Jill LeBlanc:So she made plans to go visit her daughter who lived in another country and be with her for Christmas and for her big birthday, which was much wisdom.
Charlie LeBlanc:Wow.
Jill LeBlanc:And we always do something special on the anniversary of Beau's passing. We get together with our daughters and have a nice dinner or do something. And the anniversary and his birthday. And his birthday. And, you know, we just have to.
Jill LeBlanc:I mean, Christmas is hard enough. But I do you know, I carry on because I have other family members to look after. But, you know.
Charlie LeBlanc:Little grand boys.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:That walk in the house and say, Gigi, why don't you have the Christmas tree up yet? And we go, oh, I guess we're gonna have to get started here.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:Why don't you have decorations yet?
Jill LeBlanc:I know.
Charlie LeBlanc:But yeah, it's a tough thing
Jill LeBlanc:Do what you have to do.
Charlie LeBlanc:These first are really, really tough. And it is smart, like you said, to prepare for them, especially if you're alone, or just plan to be with family, get together, like Jill said, know, Beau just celebrated his, which would have been his fortieth birthday. And so we went out to dinner with our two daughters and just spent time just loving each other and reminiscing a little bit about him. And so these are just really important issues to deal with.
Charlie LeBlanc:We just wanted to also just love on you and affirm you. We understand this kind of pain. And, you know, the Bible says to us, it says, speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. And we were just in in recently in in in England and ministering at a conference, and we were leading some worship and singing and got to preach in two churches, but we also did some little afternoon sessions. There were it wasn't a very big conference, so there was like 18 people that came for our particular session, which was all gonna be all about how to get through grief and how to, you know, learn to know God as the God of all comfort.
Charlie LeBlanc:And, we were so blessed that 18 people came and just about all of them had had significant losses in their life. What a blessing in my heart, I was just like, you know, I'm speaking up for these, they're over there in England, but I'm speaking up for you. Our heart, is speaking up for you right now. You've had loss, we understand, we're trying to affirm you that you're not crazy for crying, you're not crazy for grieving. It's a normal process that we all go through, no matter whether you're in ministry or not.
Charlie LeBlanc:We happened to be in ministry, and so you'd have thought, Well, praise God, this would have been easy. But no, this was devastating and the hardest thing that we ever experienced. And only by the grace of God are we able to have this podcast and able to share with you and encourage you in any way.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:So
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah. We were talking recently, a week or two ago, I think, just about how interesting it is that we've lost so many friends since our son passed away. I mean, incredible amount of friends and relatives. Yet it's not very many of of those, you know, either the spouse or the children or the parents of those people who passed, not very many of them have a grief ministry.
Charlie LeBlanc:Right.
Jill LeBlanc:You know what I mean?
Charlie LeBlanc:Right.
Jill LeBlanc:It's like, we didn't choose this.
Charlie LeBlanc:Right.
Jill LeBlanc:But we couldn't not do it.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:You know, the Lord began to give us things to help others.
Charlie LeBlanc:Mhmm.
Jill LeBlanc:Like the whole teaching on you do the loving, I'll do the fixing. The Lord gave you that early on.
Charlie LeBlanc:Right.
Jill LeBlanc:Maybe a year and a half in.
Charlie LeBlanc:Right.
Jill LeBlanc:To help another couple.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:And, you know, we would go on share those things with others and and they would it was, like, profound. It's like, my gosh. Yes. Absolutely.
Charlie LeBlanc:Right.
Jill LeBlanc:And so, you know, we didn't choose this path, but but we believe the Lord is giving us things to help Yes. Others to help you walk through your darkest time
Charlie LeBlanc:Yes.
Jill LeBlanc:The valley of the shadow of death.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yes.
Jill LeBlanc:And it's it's not a it's nothing no one would ever wish for anyone else.
Charlie LeBlanc:No.
Jill LeBlanc:We're just hopefully, we're able to help you.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah. Let us know if this podcast is helping you in any way. Leave us a comment.
Jill LeBlanc:Yes.
Charlie LeBlanc:Like it. Let us know, because our time is valuable. We're trying to help you. We're trying to help people understand what grief is all about. And not just for those of you who are grieving, but for your friends. We have this book called When Loss Comes Close to Home, and we've mentioned it before, it has two sections. The first section is to comfort those who mourn, but the second section is to educate others about what their loved ones are going through who have had a loss.
Charlie LeBlanc:And so, you know, we advertise the book and people come up to us and say, oh, I'm getting this book for a friend of mine who had a loss. Well, I always wanna say, read it first because you'll become a better comforter if you read it first, because you'll be able to be a better friend. It's beautiful that you're getting this book for your friend. I'm honored. Yeah, of course.
Charlie LeBlanc:But at the same time and that's the first step to being a good comforter, being a good friend, and a good support to the earth's friend. But if you read the book, you'll learn how to be a better comforter. And so, there's both ways that work on this. And, you know, scripture tells us in two Corinthians, he says to comfort others with the same comfort that you've received from the Lord. And so some of you have been through tragic losses, and it ceases to amaze me how people who have been through losses then begin to run into others who have gone through losses and they're able to love on them.
Charlie LeBlanc:They're able to help them, as I'm sure you have too. You could probably let us know all the people that you've run into and you've been able to comfort them just a little bit, just by them knowing that you went through it. And we've had people call us and say, Charlie, we know that you understand, but this is hard. Can you pray for us? Can you help us? And so, that's just part of what we do is we help one another, bear one another's burdens, the scripture tells us. And that's what we all should be doing is helping others.
Jill LeBlanc:That's right.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah. You know, there's a scripture that I always talk about, and that's 2 Corinthians 1:3 in fact I just mentioned 2 Corinthians 1:4, to comfort others with the same comfort that we've received from the Lord. But two Corinthians one:three, I just love reading this in several translations. It's the scripture that says, blessed be the God and the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it goes on to say, the father of mercies and the God of all comfort. And you know, we've talked a lot about that.
Charlie LeBlanc:In fact, we have a USB here called The God of All Comfort, where I taught on the God of all comfort. We have scripture lessons. We have, a devotional. We have lots of things on this USB. We encourage you order it on our website.
Charlie LeBlanc:But, you know, it says the father of mercies and the God of all comfort. Well, I was reading that recently in the in the NIV and it said the father of compassion and the God of all comfort. And that just jumped out of the page to me that he was not only the father of mercies, but that word mercies was translated in many translations as the father of compassion. And I don't know about you, but man, when I think about that, that you know, through all the pain of grief, through all the pain and the hurt and disappointment and anger as our nephew said, our niece said rather, the anger that she had, you know, that to know that God is a God of compassion, that he loves us, and that he'll never leave us or forsake us in the middle of this pain. And and I like the way she said that, Jill, that you read.
Charlie LeBlanc:She said she said that, the hardest thing to deal with is grief, and she said, I find comfort knowing that when I enter the gates of heaven, he'll be there, but when people love she said, when people we love die, it's hard to stand strong in faith and trust that God is right there with you, but it's the only thing we can do. And I like that because I know for us, you know, I I remember I wanted to run and leave, but I remember the scripture that said, where else can I go? You have the words of eternal life.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:And and that's the thing. We God does have words of love. God is the God of compassion. He does have words to help us in our grieving time of need.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah. He does.
Charlie LeBlanc:He's always there.
Jill LeBlanc:He is the god of all comfort.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yes.
Jill LeBlanc:And, you know, it's it's it's not that we will never laugh again or or enjoy life or have good times.
Charlie LeBlanc:Mhmm.
Jill LeBlanc:But it's just something that's a part of us now.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah. You carry it with you.
Jill LeBlanc:Forever
Charlie LeBlanc:Right.
Jill LeBlanc:On this side.
Charlie LeBlanc:Right.
Jill LeBlanc:And then once we get there, it's all gonna be over. All the sadness, you know, all the all the pain will be completely washed away.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:But but Lord will carry us through this time when the pain is there, when when the missing is there. And Yeah. I'm just so grateful for God's grace and help.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:That that he's been there for us, and he'll be there for you too.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yes. I like the way she said, God came tapping me on the shoulder.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:And, you know, I know that you you have expressed many times to our audience just how you were angry and you closed your heart to God and you closed your heart to prayer. You decide you were so upset and so confused.
Charlie LeBlanc:And yet God begin to show you little inklings of his love and and bring you closer and so go, wow. That's the Lord. And I get that. My journey was a little different than Jill's and that's something else that we teach a lot about is just how everybody's journey is different. And you know, one person will grieve really deeply, another person will grieve deeply, but it'll be a different kind of expression in their grief. But we need to respect each other in their grief journey and never judge someone who is grieving.
Jill LeBlanc:Yes.
Charlie LeBlanc:Don't judge them because that is just a no no. Because I've said this, I was saying this in our trip to England as well, that it's really a holy thing. Grief is such a broken, painful thing for the griever, but God, the scripture says, he is close to the brokenhearted. So, you've got this thing of pain hurting but you've got this loving, compassionate god, the the the the father of mercy is the father of compassion that's reaching out to a hurting soul and working with them, tapping them on the shoulder, showing them how much He loves them. And they're struggling to find that, to experience that love, they're struggling to understand that God still loves them even though they've been through all this pain.
Charlie LeBlanc:And it's a really amazing thing that's going on between the Holy Spirit, God the Father, and a broken wounded person. And that's why I talk about it and I say it's a holy thing.
Jill LeBlanc:It really is.
Charlie LeBlanc:Whenever God is dealing with a human being in the depths of their pain, It's a real holy thing.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:And we're not to judge that. We're not to step in and try to, you know, we need to be very careful to speak into that journey. And we've talked a lot about that. You know, scripture says to be slow to speak but quick to listen. And they say that you've got two ears and one mouth, and that's so you can listen more rather than talk a lot. And, and yeah, it's just it's a holy thing. And when you do speak into to someone's life as they give you permission to, don't just barge in there, but if someone gives you permission to speak into their grief journey, then do it with love and do it with kindness and do it with great reverence and fear of God. Because as we've talked about so many times, Job's friends, they sat in silence for seven days, but then they started speaking and saying, well Job is because of this, Job is because of this, because of your children, it's because of this, it's because of you and your pride, and blah blah blah blah, it's your fear, it's everything.
Charlie LeBlanc:And, know, God got very angry with them for accusing Job of all these things, and he got a little angry with Job too, because Job was saying things about God that weren't true. And so that's where Job says, you know, miserable comforters are you all. But yeah, we just need to be very careful about speaking into people's grief journey. And we should be there, we need to be quick to respond, as we've shared, we need to be quick to send a card, send a text, do something in the middle of someone's brokenness. But we also need to be very reverent and careful about what we say and when we say it.
Jill LeBlanc:We need to be representatives, good representatives of the God of compassion.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yep.
Jill LeBlanc:I love that line in your song that says, of compassion holding my heart
Charlie LeBlanc:Mhmm.
Jill LeBlanc:Lovingly making me whole.
Charlie LeBlanc:Mhmm.
Jill LeBlanc:That's a beautiful line.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:And that's that's our father. And this is who we represent.
Charlie LeBlanc:Mhmm.
Jill LeBlanc:And he wants to be that through us to help others. And through you, you're you may be walking through a really hard time, but the God of compassion also not only wants to comfort you, but he wants to use you to comfort others that that are walking through hard times.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yes. Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:So we are his representatives, his compassionate representatives. And just another plug for this, that the song that I was just referencing is in this collection, this USB, and it's also completely downloadable. You don't have to purchase USB either. But, it's a beautiful song that Charlie wrote. I guess I helped a little bit.
Charlie LeBlanc:Probably.
Jill LeBlanc:But, just it's just the word of God put to music, and that's in there along with teaching and all these other things that he mentioned. So, yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:We encourage you to get these resources and, Christmas is gonna be coming up soon, so you can buy some of these for your friends. I think it'll really bless them if someone's been through a loss this year and they're approaching Christmas for the very first time without their loved ones. It would be really good for you to find things to minister to them. And something like this, I'm just saying, I wish we would have had something like this to send to some of our friends
Jill LeBlanc:Absolutely.
Charlie LeBlanc:Back in the day. And I wish some people would have sent us things like this. But we had a lot of great support and a lot of great people that loved us and helped us through our journey. But that's what we're called to do, like Jill said. We're called to help each other.
Jill LeBlanc:We all are.
Charlie LeBlanc:Bear one another's burdens.
Jill LeBlanc:Yes.
Charlie LeBlanc:Love each other and have compassion for each other.
Jill LeBlanc:That's right.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:You know, so funny that you mentioned Christmas. Like, oh my gosh. Here it comes again.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:It just comes every year, doesn't it?
Charlie LeBlanc:Yes. It does.
Jill LeBlanc:And in just the beginning of September.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yep.
Jill LeBlanc:Wow. It's right around the corner. And we are hoping to have in, I believe, the beginning of November, a kind of like just a I think we're calling it hope for the holidays, and we're just gonna do a live, I believe it I'm not sure what
Charlie LeBlanc:Kind of life Zoom or webinar or whatever you call it.
Charlie LeBlanc:We don't know.
Jill LeBlanc:Get on our email list if you if you're not yet, and and also be following our social media. We'll be putting out link for that so you can register. It'll be free, of course. But just to help, just to prepare us all for approaching these big family holidays once again. Those are some of the hardest times of the year, not only for people who have experienced loss like we have, lost a loved one, but for those who've lost a career, those who've lost a marriage, just all kinds of loss.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:And approaching the holidays can be
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:Very difficult. Matter of fact, I think the suicide rate around the holidays is higher than many other times of the year because people just lose hope. So if you'd like to get on our email list, we have a new resource.
Jill LeBlanc:It's a collection of scriptures that we'd like to give you. It's called God's Promises for Bringing Hope.
Charlie LeBlanc:Hallelujah.
Jill LeBlanc:So there there's a link below. You can click on that and you can or you can I think go to our website? If you just go to charlieandjill.com, you'll probably find that link as well but we want to help you walk through these times. Yes. And and we'd love for you to join us on hope for the holidays.
Charlie LeBlanc:Amen.
Jill LeBlanc:And the date will be coming out soon.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yes. Alright. Well, god bless you guys. Thank you so much for joining us today. Send us your questions if you have things you want us to discuss on this, podcast, and leave us a comment. Give us a thumbs up if you liked it. Let us know how this is helping you. So God bless you, and we will see you next time.