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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.
Thanks so much for joining us again today. We're Charlie and Jill and we are really privileged to have this time to share with you.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah, it's always great to come every week and share our hearts with you. And you know, our desire is just to help you.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:You know, that's our desire is to help you in any way, to help you find hope, help you get through the difficult times that you might be in the middle of.
Jill LeBlanc:That's right. So one of the ways that we want to encourage you is on our website, we have a whole blog of several different articles called Inspire. There's a tab at the top that says Inspire. We have written all of these just to be an encouragement to you. In 1 Thessalonians 5, it tells us to encourage one another and build each other up. And that is our heart, is to help you in your walk with the Lord. So I really encourage you to go to charlieandjill.com, I think it's slash inspire, or you can just go to our homepage, charlieandjill.com, and find the Inspire tab. And there's gobs of articles in there that we've written just to help you in your walk with the Lord.
Charlie LeBlanc:Absolutely.
Jill LeBlanc:And we wanna also invite you, I know we always throw this in at the end, but we really wanna invite you to join our email list because that way we can keep in special touch with you and keep you up to date with things that we're doing, events that we are putting on. Did a live event last in November, and then we're hoping to do one in December. We're still seeing if that's going to happen. I know we just started December, but we're still hoping that maybe we can get something in. But if you stay in touch with us on our email list, you will be the first ones to know about it.
Jill LeBlanc:And we have some free gifts for you. So down in the comments or in the description rather, you can go to, you'll see the link that says charlieandjill.com/welcome. And if you can sign up there, we have some free gifts for you to pick from. So also we want to mention, we have a Christmas album called The Little Child. It's one of my favorite albums that we have done, and we don't promote it very often, really just one time a year now.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:And it's got some sweet Christmas songs that have more of a modern arrangement. We took some of the classics like Oh Come All Ye Faithful, Joy to the World, Gloria, no.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah, Gloria
Jill LeBlanc:Is that what it's called? Yeah, Gloria in Exelsis Deo. Haven't gotten to listen to it yet this year, but I will be soon. But it's got some great songs, a couple that we've written, some originals. And so we want to encourage you also in the description is a link where you can find that on our in our shop page on our website.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:It's download only.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah, that's right.
Charlie LeBlanc:I would like to make a little comment about it as well that, you know, we we handpicked the songs that we wanted to put on this CD. And, you know, we didn't do the secular type of song. Not that I have anything against those, but we chose things that were more ministry orientated, things that were more Christ orientated. And, and that's why a lot of people have told us that they just get so blessed when they listen because it's got the scriptures in it. It's got the songs more about Jesus rather than the holidays.
Jill LeBlanc:People told us that it actually carries an anointing.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah. Praise the Lord.
Jill LeBlanc:You know, the people that sang it are really full of the Holy Ghost. So praise God. We want to encourage you to grab that while it's still there.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:And enjoy it for December. Yay.
Charlie LeBlanc:Well, great. Well, we also obviously have our book and several other things that we know have ministered to a lot of you in the past. And, you know, we just continue to get testimonies of people writing into us saying how much the book has helped them through tragic losses. And, and also our, these podcasts has helped so many. So feel, feel free to please write in, let us know how this is helping you.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah. We'd love to hear from you.
Charlie LeBlanc:Leave us a comment. And, and you know, we just did that, um...
Jill LeBlanc:Finding Hope For the Holidays.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:We hope you were able to go back and watch it and you can still find it.
Charlie LeBlanc:Absolutely.
Jill LeBlanc:Finding Hope For the Holidays. We just sat and had a live and just chatted about things that helped us get through this time because I don't care who you talk to. If you know someone that has sustained a tragic loss, there is just something about this time of year that makes it really difficult for those of us in the wake of the tragedy. And we talked about it. And so you can go back and find that and you can share that with other people that you know that could really use help like that.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah. You know, some churches actually have a special meeting around this time of year to minister to their congregation, to help them get through the holidays in a healthy way. And we also felt like this would be really important for us to do so. I believe it turned out really well. We actually sang a song at the end as well.
Charlie LeBlanc:So yeah, like Jill said, find it and find it finding hope for the holidays and, and let it be a blessing for you and share it around. But, you know, we've we have been talking a lot about the holidays because, like Jill said, they're tough for a lot of people. And, you know, for us, we've said this before, but it was our son was extremely ill during December. In fact, we had been having him treated at the Mayo Clinic. And then in December, we were gonna go back to St. Louis and just-
Jill LeBlanc:Just for Christmas.
Charlie LeBlanc:Spend Christmas with the family. And the doctor said, Well, if you're going to St. Louis, might want to consider packing your bags because gave us, without being rude, he said it could be his last.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah, he said the clinical trials that we were working on are failing and they really didn't have anything else to offer. So they said, you might want to get where you want to be. And that's all he said. You know, he didn't. He was really trying to be considerate.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:And he was.
Charlie LeBlanc:He was. He was very kind.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:But it was a real hard time for us. And of course, we were we were trusting the Lord for a miracle, for healing and, and all that.
Charlie LeBlanc:But again, my point is that for everybody who loses a loved one, no matter what time of year, when you approach holidays, it's always tough. I'm just saying that for us, we're remembering the time, that time, especially when he was in a lot of pain and, needing a lot of painkillers. And And then he passed on January 14 of the next year. So it's a rough time. So yeah, every time we approach these holidays, it's tough for us, but we also think about you.
Charlie LeBlanc:We think about some of you who are just experiencing your first holiday season, you know, without your loved one, and that is so hard. In fact, we have one of our dearest friends locally. We've talked about her before, but she just passed two weeks ago. And we're dealing with a lot of grief going through these holidays. In fact, she passed right around Jill's birthday and Jill said, I don't wanna celebrate my birthday because how can you celebrate, you know, your own, you know, birthday or whatever when one of your best friends has just passed.
Charlie LeBlanc:So it's so we're looking at the future of Jill's birthdays. You know, it's it's gonna be a tough time because we're always remembering her. And of course, I know some of you can say, which so many people do say, well, just rejoice because she's in heaven. And yes, we're so grateful because the Bible says that we grieve with hope and the hope is that we know that our loved ones are with Jesus and we do rejoice in salvation. We rejoice in all that the Lord has done in opening a way to heaven for us.
Charlie LeBlanc:But nonetheless, our hearts break for our friend's husband, their children, their grandchildren. They're about ready to have Thanksgiving with we've mentioned it before with an empty chair at their table. And, I'm sorry, not Thanksgiving, Christmas. Yeah. They're about to have Christmas with an empty chair at their table.
Charlie LeBlanc:And so, yeah, it's just a tough time. And
Jill LeBlanc:It is a tough time.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah. And we just always want to keep that in mind. So like Jill said, go back and see that. Now, if you did listen to our broadcast, we're kind of curious as to what you experienced at Thanksgiving like this year. If you've had a loss, can you be honest with us and tell us how it was?
Charlie LeBlanc:I mean, it may have been fine for many of you. Maybe you were surrounded by other family members that loved you and helped you, But other view of others of you may have been alone. You know, you may have or felt alone in the midst of a crowd because no one was acknowledging your loss. And so we were just curious if you don't mind just, you know, send us a little note on our website or a comment and and let us know how you managed and maybe maybe you could help us, you know, like, say, Charlie mentioned this or mentioned that when people are approaching holidays because this is what's really tough for you, you know, for me. So that would that would help us to continue to minister to you in this area.
Jill LeBlanc:And there is strength in numbers, isn't there?
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:You don't have to walk through this alone and feeling like you're alone. There are so many people that are also walking this journey, struggling, feeling like they have to hide their And you aren't alone. You are normal.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah. And it's hard and it's sad, but it's the way it is in this broken world. It's not the way God intended for our lives. We weren't created to have to experience death from other people, because we were created to live forever with the Lord in the garden before death ever happened. And so it's just not in us to have to experience this.
Jill LeBlanc:And so we have to deal with it, you know? We have to learn some tools to help move forward in a healthy manner for the rest of our lives without this special person in our lives.
Charlie LeBlanc:Right. Absolutely. You know, if you're approaching this Christmas gathering, you know, just we just really wanna encourage you to, number one, guard your heart, you know, because, people may be around you that just don't understand And, you know, they may say things to you that are unnecessary or, not sensitive to your heart. You know, they may walk up to you and say, is it the holiday so wonderful? You know, and you and you can go, yeah, you know...
Jill LeBlanc:What a wonderful time of the year.
Charlie LeBlanc:Right. You hear that song and, you know, it can be tough. And so, you know, are you preparing yourself? We encourage you to, you know, the Bible says above all in Proverbs, it says above all, guard your heart for out of it flow the issues of life. So in this whole journey of grief, that's a powerful scripture that we have to guard our hearts because it's so easy to get bitter.
Charlie LeBlanc:It's so easy to get mad at people. It's so easy to just, you know, just think that, you know, no one understands. And, you know, there's a scripture that's always blesses me. And that's in Proverbs 14:10 when we read it in the passion translation is when it really came alive to us. It says this, don't expect anyone else to fully understand both the bitterness and the joys of all you experience in your life.
Charlie LeBlanc:And listen to that again. Don't expect anyone to fully understand both the bitterness and the joys. So I think that's a healthy a healthy way to approach life in general. But in particular, if you've had a loss, you know, people just don't understand unless they've experienced it.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah. Yeah. We were talking about that this morning.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah, exactly.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah. Just, so... If they haven't walked through it themselves or been touched by it in a close manner, as beautiful of a person as they may be, most of them just really don't get it. And we have to extend a lot of mercy towards those people and grace and tolerance just so that we can maintain peace and not ruin our friendship or our relationship, you know.
Charlie LeBlanc:Right.
Jill LeBlanc:Just give them a little bit of grace because they haven't haven't been there. Lucky for them.
Charlie LeBlanc:And, you know, if you're if you're in a in a crowd of people, maybe family and so forth, and maybe you're around them and and they don't understand that. If, you know, then, you know, maybe one of them would understand. If you have a weak moment where you you just need to just talk to someone, you know, feel free to grab somebody that you consider a safe friend, someone who would understand or or a relative or, you know, and just say, can can I visit with you privately for a moment and, you know, maybe ask them for prayer or something or just share with them what's going on in your heart. I think it's good to just be transparent. I mean, I don't think you should, you know, at the table before you pray, you know, attention, everyone.
Charlie LeBlanc:I'm really hurting. I don't want you. I don't think we would ever want to do that because we don't want to draw attention to ourselves. But at the same time, if you are hurting, it is good to, you know, to let someone know if you could.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah, it really does help too.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah.
Jill LeBlanc:If you've got one confidant that you can share with, you know, that really does help. And if you don't, you've got the Lord. I don't mean that as any kind of a weird thing, but he is the friend that sticks closer than a brother.
Jill LeBlanc:And so if you just need to duck out for a few minutes and just get some time alone with him and just pour your heart out, he is right there to hold you and help you through that situation.
Charlie LeBlanc:You know, Jill, you were saying this morning about, you know, we just have to, like David did, sometimes you just have to encourage yourself in the Lord with Him. And, you know, we've talked a lot about grieving. It says grieving with hope. So we when we do grieve and we do mourn, you know, we can grieve in the arms of Jesus. We can grieve with the Lord.
Charlie LeBlanc:I mean, I really believe scripture clearly shows us that he weeps when we weep. He did it at the tomb of Lazarus. So if you're in pain, he suffered when we suffer, scripture says in Isaiah. So, you know, just remember, like Jill said, that you're never alone. He's always with us.
Charlie LeBlanc:He said he'll be with us even to the ends of the earth. And, you know, I think about a lot of the apostles and disciples as they were, you know, Jesus said in this world, you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I've overcome the world. So I just think about them sometimes as Jesus was leaving them and, you know, how alone they felt and how and then the persecution started and they just felt like all alone. But they had to draw upon the presence of the Lord, to get through even all the heavy persecution and and martyrdom, you know, many of them. And so, again, we're never alone.
Charlie LeBlanc:Thank God. And that we we do have times of mourning. We do have times of grief. But even in these family gatherings, if no one there does understand, we have someone who does understand. Thank God. And he really does. He understands. The scripture says, and I say this so often, he's touched with our feelings. He knows how we feel. And again, He suffers when we suffer, so we're not ever alone.
Jill LeBlanc:Biggest and, He is the comforter. He is the God of all comfort.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yes.
Jill LeBlanc:And he is right there with us all the time. Thank God.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yes. Yes. Amen. You know, we were talking this morning too, unfortunately about this whole area of our loved ones passing. And there's so many painful things in the world that happen to people and we don't make light of any difficulty that people go through.
Charlie LeBlanc:But but this area of of of the death of our loved ones, it is traumatic. I mean, it it it is so final. That was the word that kept coming to me this morning. That is it's final. You know, like you have other tragedies, many other travel is not all, but many of the tragedies that hit beautiful people in their lives.
Charlie LeBlanc:But there is a way to get out of it. There is a there is a a way to bounce back. There is a way to, you know, to breathe, to get through it, to find, you know, a patch on it, to fix it as best you can. I mean, there are a lot of things that aren't, but but but death is something that unfortunately is just so final. There's no way to fix it.
Charlie LeBlanc:There's no way to go back and change it. It's just it's so, so hard. And of course, as I'm saying all this, to be honest, I'm not thinking about our loss as much as I am thinking about our friends that just, are different. It just passed and their family. I'm thinking about their family that, you know, we want her back so bad, but it's final.
Charlie LeBlanc:It's done. I mean, we had a moment for resurrection desires like Lazarus, but, it didn't happen. So, so now you have to put the pieces back together. You have to find the new normal. You have to figure out how to how to breathe, how to how to love your family and, and be around them and comfort them and yet be comforted.
Charlie LeBlanc:You know, that's the tricky part is, I know my friend, who lost his wife, you know, he's got four grandkids and four kids. And so his heart is to comfort them, but their heart is to comfort him. And so there's a real beautiful thing that happens there. Everyone's looking out for each other. And we remember that so well.
Jill LeBlanc:Absolutely.
Charlie LeBlanc:When we lost Beau because our two daughters were just broken beyond words and they were like, what just happened? They're like, how could this happen? I wrote in my journal once, it's it's a nightmare.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:It's like a nightmare.
Charlie LeBlanc:You just you can't really believe that this really happened. And I know many of you are saying, amen, Charlie, I never dreamed this would happen to me or it happened to my child or happened to my mother or happened to my father. We know a dear saint that both of her parents were killed in a hurricane many years ago up north, and and she was just in shock. Was just not was a tornado, right?
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:Was a tornado up north, but it was just bam. She got the message. They're gone. And it's horrible. And unfortunately, we hear things like this with car accidents, plane accidents, murders.
Charlie LeBlanc:We were with a couple in England recently and we shared our testimony and she came up thanking me and she said, my son was murdered. It was in London, actually. And I said, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. And it had been many years. But she said they had just moved to London and they were getting themselves settled into the community and one of their one of her sons were out and, was murdered.
Charlie LeBlanc:Boom. Done. Done. Nothing you can do. That's where we need Jesus so, so bad.
Charlie LeBlanc:He, like Jill said, like you said, baby, He is the comforter and without his comfort, we are comfortless.
Jill LeBlanc:Hopeless.
Charlie LeBlanc:Hopeless. It's true.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah.
Charlie LeBlanc:And one of our dear friends said when she lost her husband, we were visiting with her a lot. And one in one of the meetings we had with her, she said, you know, she goes, the hardest thing is hope. She goes, I just I just lost all hope at first that I had no future. I don't know how I was going to pay the bills. I didn't know.
Charlie LeBlanc:I didn't know if I could make it. And she lost hope and and that's very, very common that we feel hopeless. But thank God he is. He is the God of hope.
Jill LeBlanc:And he has he has met her there.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yes. He has.
Jill LeBlanc:And over two years later, golly, she's she just it's just so cool to see how the lord has walked her through these times and is and is just bringing her through and showing her different ways to, you know, live. And it's really cool to see how God can do that for someone.
Charlie LeBlanc:It reminds me of that scripture, we say it so often, but it it is definitely one of our one of our favorites out of out of I think it's, I think it's Ecclesiastes or is it Lamentations? Let me see if I can find it. I think it's Lamentations 3:20 and I quote this a lot, but it so helps me. It's probably why I quote it so much. But it says, I will never forget this awful time as I grieve over my loss, Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this. So he dares to hope. It's like, you know, the other scripture says I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living. And so it's like it's so easy to be in despair and lose all hope.
Jill LeBlanc:And I just want to comment on that.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah, please.
Jill LeBlanc:Because when you're in that place where she was and where people find themselves you know, at the onset of a of a loss.
Charlie LeBlanc:Mhmm.
Jill LeBlanc:It it almost feels like you don't have permission to hope. And so you you can't. You just can't open your heart that way.
Charlie LeBlanc:Mhmm.
Jill LeBlanc:You know? It's like, well, why can't you have hope? But I just can't. I just can't. You know? And they feel so helpless. But boy, the Lord, like the rest of that scripture reads, you know, he he is-
Charlie LeBlanc:His mercy's-
Jill LeBlanc:-brand new every day.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah. And he helps us through these times.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah. Reminds me, Jill, of that one quote that we ran into of that lady that said, don't try to fix me. She said, I lost my son or my child.
Jill LeBlanc:Mhmm.
Charlie LeBlanc:She said, don't try to fix me. She said, just love me.
Jill LeBlanc:Yeah. She said just close your mouth, open wide your heart, and walk with me until I can see color again.
Charlie LeBlanc:Yeah. Wow. That's powerful. Yeah. That's a tough one.
Charlie LeBlanc:It's so true because when we do have that kind of loss, we, everything gets fuzzy, everything's gets blurry, everything gets gray and we don't know if we'll ever make it. You know, I just, I don't ever want to forget just how hard those first, that first year, those first few months, they were, were devastating, absolutely devastating. And let me get back to the scripture. I want to get this out of me, but, and I found it in my Bible, a little bit more verse 18 in Lamentations 3. He says, I cry out, my splendor is gone.
Charlie LeBlanc:Everything I had hoped for from the Lord was lost. That wow, that ring rang in my heart. Everything I had hoped for from the Lord was lost. And that's the way we felt because we had everything on the line. And I know many of you that you felt similar.
Charlie LeBlanc:Let me go ahead and finish this scripture. The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. And, he says, I will never forget this awful time as I grieve over my loss. And like you said, Jill, yet still I dare to hope when I remember this. And what does he remember?
Charlie LeBlanc:The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. But, you know, before I finish this, I keep going. But when I remember this and that's the that's the tricky part is is remembering and having the strength. To remember having the the enough hope, courage, courage, yeah, to remember, like like we said here, I dare to hope because I was afraid to hope again, because all of my hopes were dashed.
Charlie LeBlanc:When you hope and you don't get an answer, then you're afraid to hope. But when you have faith and don't have an answer, then you're afraid to have faith again. And we experienced that big time. It took me a long time to have faith again in God, to trust him. I'm just being honest with you.
Charlie LeBlanc:I love God with all my heart. And I know he loves me. And and I know he doesn't mind me saying this because what does it matter if I think it or say it? He he hears it the same way. And He heard it back then.
Charlie LeBlanc:I was upset with him. I did not understand. And I was afraid to trust him again because it didn't it didn't turn out. But I know it wasn't him that caused this illness and this sickness and this passing of my son. And I know everybody's got a different theology that they work with, and that's fine for you.
Charlie LeBlanc:But for me and Jill, I believe the Lord was working with us, trying to help Beau to be healed. And you say, well, Charlie, he could do anything. Well, the Bible does say that he could do no mighty miracles in his hometown because of their unbelief. So there's lots of things that the Lord wants to do in the earth.
Jill LeBlanc:He wants every person to be saved.
Charlie LeBlanc:He does. He does. And it doesn't happen. So, but we won't go there. The point being is that we really wanted hope.
Charlie LeBlanc:We needed to hope again. And it says here, I dared to hope. For us, me, for you, I know it's the same way. We're like, we dared to hope again. So, but then let me just finish the scripture, then we'll close for the day.
Charlie LeBlanc:He says, the faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Thank you, Jesus. And this is where that great song comes from. It says, for great is his faithfulness.
Charlie LeBlanc:His mercies begin afresh each morning. And we can say amen to that, that the faithfulness of the Lord to bring you through the hardest times of your life. My friends, listen, my dear friends, brothers and sisters. It could be the darkest moment of your life right now, but if you just hang in there, just weep with the Lord, cry if you need to, whatever you need to do. But know that the faithfulness of God, it says it says that he is faithful even when we are faithful less.
Charlie LeBlanc:I love that because we were faithless for a season and he was faithful.
Jill LeBlanc:Thank God.
Charlie LeBlanc:The scripture says he'll carry us through those dark, difficult times. So we encourage you to just hang in there, be strong, and we're praying for you as you approach these holidays, this holiday, Christmas. And, we love you, and we appreciate you, and we'll look forward to being again with you next week. God bless.