This is such a special episode.

Not only has Curtis' mother Ellen been through her own fair share of grief and pain, but she joins us today to talk about what it's been like to be the mother of a grieving son, and to be so close to all that has happened to Curtis, Michal, the kids, and now Crystal and her kids.

This episode is packed full of faithful wisdom from a life of pursuing God.

You can see why Grandma C is so popular with everyone who meets her!

Join us to hear even more nuance and insights about Curtis' life and the ups and downs of the past few years.

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro

5:56 Grandma's cancer

12:11 Grandpa's testimony

13:23 Ellen's testimony

15:13 Musical ministry opportunity

18:44 Uncle Dan

24:17 Curtis' father after Vietnam

28:39 Leaving a rough family situation

33:46 Never remarried

40:09 Life lessons from Mom

51:02 Being the mother of a son going through divorce

53:22 Meeting Michal

56:09 Michal gets sick

1:06:26 Mom started the adoption trend!

1:10:01 The joys of life

1:15:29 Prayer

This might be the most complete version of our grief story we've ever told.

What an honor to share it with the people at Fostoria Church of the Nazarene.

Curtis starts right from the beginning...

Him at 6 years old, packed into his mom's VW, driving away to start life anew.

Through a messy divorce, remarriage and Michael dying suddenly.

Into Crystal's story of abandonment, remarriage, then widowhood.

Through coming together in miraculous ways, only to have Michael's kids' dad die right before Curtis and Crystal were supposed to get married.

Guys God is in this.

He's in the hard. He's in the hurt.

Let Him do a miraculous work in your life by trusting Him and running into those hard places.

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro

6:12 Curtis' story growing up

15:25 Hidden family problems to tragedy

27:06 Crystal's story of grief

35:05 God's story weaving our lives together

42:44 More tragedy

46:19 Breakthrough

48:18 Run to the hard

WE FINALLY GOT MARRIED!

After an absolute roller coaster this past year that delayed our wedding including more trauma, more grief, and more death, we are so excited to finally be married and start a new life together with all of our amazing kids.

In this episode you'll hear how it all happened - including a big surprise - what our plans are, and how we're adapting to this new reality.

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CHAPTERS

0:00 We're married!

2:11 Major God breakthrough

7:16 Breakthrough + Tragedy

15:48 The wedding

20:45 God's work through Chris and Crystal's brother

24:25 The elephant in the room

27:11 The God wave

31:05 In tune with God in relationship

39:50 20 more good years?

43:20 God moves in Crystal's life

50:46 Surrender

Curtis reflects on year three of grief after the passing of his wife, Michal.

What began as crushing sorrow has slowly transformed into a season of quiet healing, memories, and even new beginnings.

Curtis opens up about how grief changes with time...how the pain softens but the love and lessons remain.

From walking through loss with his fiancée Crystal to finding hope amid darkness, his story is a raw and redemptive look at what it means to heal.

Whether you're in the early days of loss or years down the road, this episode will remind you that God's greatest work often begins in our deepest hurt.

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro

0:51 The difference at 3 years after loss

8:04 The many waves of grief

11:08 Acceptance

13:24 Having a relationship while grieving

14:59 Charlie Kirk's passing from a grief perspective

22:28 How the kids are grieving 3 years in

31:42 Darkness and breakthroughs

36:07 New traditions

39:49 Talking to the deceased while grieving?

46:55 Practice what you preach

Ever feel like grief has literally changed the way your brain works?

You're not alone.

It's like it rewires things in there.

Memory issues. Compartmentalization. Checking out. Difficulty connecting.

Curtis shares his raw and real experience with what he calls "grief brain" in an effort to help you know you're not alone, and hopefully to start down the path of healing.

But, we also talk about finding purpose and motivation in grief, what grieving does to relationships, and how Curtis is trying to take every thought captive with examples from his life.

Join us.

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Grief Brain

8:18 Getting Stuck in "Boxes"

18:13 Motivation in Grief

22:52 Finding Purpose in Grief

28:17 Grief Makes It Hard To Connect

39:18 Seriously Taking Thoughts Captive

41:58 Not What I Envisioned Life To Look Like

47:17 God Uses The Hard Stuff To Prepare Us

52:12 Prayer

MENTIONED

PTSD Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoI0rDmSDcM

Is it just grief that's impacting you?

Or is PTSD partially to blame?

One off-handed remark from Curtis triggered something in Crystal, who knew about PTSD, and asked him to look into it further.

Turns out, Curtis has experienced most of the top 10 most common reasons people suffer from PTSD, and exhibits many of the symptoms.

This is a whole new level of healing and growth that they're entering into. This realization is huge and hopefully gives you some permission to look a little into your past with some self-reflection to see what else you might be dealing with alongside your grief.

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro

2:40 I've experienced 8 of the top 10 reasons people have PTSD

12:33 Dealing with all the symptoms of PTSD (while grieving)

16:42 The tornado of grief and chaos recently

18:16 Helping the kids with grief and potential PTSD

21:03 Self-reflecting and the path forward

31:55 Righteous Judgement

35:10 The healing process

39:03 Why it's hard to surrender control

43:31 How will God use this?

This is the epic conclusion to our 3 part series with Curtis and Crystal, walking through the absolute "shipwreck" of their lives right now.

They're grieving their spouses deaths...

Curtis' step-children's dad passes away...

Their wedding was canceled...

Old grief is being brought to the surface as they navigate death, grief, the legal system...

Their ways of managing the overwhelm have them feeling disconnected...

There's no way you could make up something like this. It's just too much.

And yet...

By God's grace, they are here and they keep going.

Join me in this final instalment, and please...pray for them.

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro

1:40 New grandbaby!

5:51 A whole new level of grief

16:18 Grieving your husband when your fiancé is weighed down by grief

28:58 Temptations while navigating such immense grief and intensity

37:50 Everything burns down

43:14 Doing vs resting in the waiting

48:37 The children are our joy

52:15 Where is the rest and recovery?

1:00:50 How to make sure rest doesn't become destructive

1:02:38 What grieving kids need

1:12:58 The future vision

1:16:07 Crystal's vision

MENTIONED

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpWP4QmfDDE

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYxLFaLySjs

Welcome to part 2 of this unbelievable saga.

The life of Curtis Christopher, Michal's kids, and Crystal and her kids continues to plunge further into the chaos of unexpected death, compounding grief, triggers, postponed marriage, court dates, and just life with so many moving parts.

Today they dive into the difficulty of deciding to postpone a wedding, just days after their court date, blending such a unique family, sacrificial love, obedience to the Lord, and inter-family dynamics.

This is a story that would be hard to make up, because it sounds so unbelievable.

But by God's grace, Curtis and Crystal continue along the path to build a safe, stable, loving home for these kids while they continue to wait on God's timing and trust Jesus to bring everything to fruition, in His time.

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro

0:42 Sudden death, grief triggers, and about to get married

8:36 When grief shuts you down emotionally

19:41 The rollercoaster of postponing our wedding

32:32 Blending families in a very unique situation

37:09 Sacrificial love

43:03 Another layer of grief impacting relationships

50:30 Obedience and the wilderness

57:42 The enemy is trying to split us up