About the Author

Heidi was born into a first-generation, Christian family. She accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior at the tender age of five. She spent her early childhood on the mission field in Chad, Africa. Her education consisted of African, national schools, American, missionary schools in Africa, both public and Christian schools across America, and finally, graduating from a Christian high school in Washington state. Home, though, is and always has been in the Pacific Northwest.

Heidi has been married to her best friend, Bill, for over 36 years. They have four adult, married children and nine living grandchildren to date. Bill and Heidi have been active in the church since high school, including pastoring the youth in two different churches. After seminary graduation, they pastored in two separate churches over the course of 15 years.

Heidi suffered with depressive illness for almost twelve years. Her passion in life will forever be to use that period of suffering to encourage those who suffer from depression, to help them reconcile their faith with their illness. Further, she desire to help facilitate change in the way their loved ones and the church sees those with mental illnesses and ministers to them, showing them how to best love and support them. More than that, she wishes to spread the amazing grace of God and the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

This is her first book. It isn’t the typical, short, anecdotal paperback with easy, clicheic answers. It’s an exhaustive record of her own illness and what God taught her in it. But, in her own words:

“Something has got to change! People are dying all around us. The depressed need to discover a biblical way to reconcile their faith with their illness. They also need loved ones and the church to better understand how to love and support them. There’s no hope for surviving this with the way that loved ones and the church are currently trying to help them. One of the reasons is because they are being de-graced and it just doesn’t work for the depressed! Everything desperately needs to change, and it needs to change now! I’m telling my whole story in the hopes that it will help some.”