A Message From the Teels
As our world stopped turning on July 7th from the sudden loss of our sweet Jagger Dean, our family stopped functioning. From the first phone call, our church Family did what you naturally do and you served us. Grieving parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles all are a part and attend our church and you served them just as well.
I want to be vulnerable and honest for a short moment. We know Jagger fell asleep and woke up with Jesus. I, as the mom in grief, did not understand why I couldn’t “hear” God to understand or process this pain. That was a very raw moment for me to share, and yesterday while I was being ministered to by a member of CRC, she brought clarity to something. Actions speak LOUDER than words. God was speaking through His people.
For the most part, we have stayed tucked in our safety circle, and those in our circle have been on shifts day and night serving us. That is what God was telling me even when I couldn’t hear it at the time. He was telling us to look at His people, His church, and His Shepherds.
Most of you know our family is large and spread out, which is why I am writing this email. We had many come in and even more watch Jagger’s service online. Throughout the last 7 days, the emails, calls, conversations, and texts all turn to one thing, the church of CrossRidge and what it did and is still doing for our family. The peace I have found to grasp to right now is your actions and prayers through the love of Jesus towards us. Strangers you have never met are amazed at what this church does for its family. They have heard us talk about CRC and the love we have for its people, but they saw this love played out first hand through this tragedy and to them it is foreign so it has them seeking Jesus more. It is not just our relatives either. They have been out of town family and friends who have known where we attend church but have never come. Sometimes we live and forget we are in a bubble and don’t realize not everyone has a church like ours and that was this moment for us. Your actions have truly reflected the hands and feet of Jesus and what his command and charge is, “To love others first”.
Please hear this from our family. I have never seen Pastors work harder than what we have here. I know the world kept turning even when ours stopped, but they carried us through every next minute and breathe and that has continued even as I write this. The call that our shepherds answered is a call that only those called by God can handle and manage. The Bible teaches us that pastors are our shepherds and they protect, carry, feed and lead their flock to water. Our shepherds have done that and still continue to do this daily for us.
We neither deserve nor have earned anything you have done for us, and that is truly the most peaceful thing I have gotten out of this loss. No one “deserves or earns God’s love” but He chooses to give it still.
We will never be the same through this, but God showed me that others won’t be either. Their lives changed, their relationship with our Lord changed, they found Jesus, and clung to Him through the simple act of seeing what the body of Christ looked like and did for a broken family.
I will leave with what my aunt shared with me, “you have talked for years about your church and the people and on this day I truly see they ARE your family”.
Thank you for still respecting our privacy and just being what God called His people to be.
The Teels
Celebration of Life Service was on July 11, 2020.
Support
We have set up a fund for the Teels. Any money given to this fund will go towards helping the Teels with funeral costs and other expenses.
Family Request
Stories
If you have a story about Jagger Teel you would like to share, please send those to george@crclife.org. The family would love to share some of these during the funeral service and compile all of them as a keepsake.