Author: Gary E. Nelson
Located in: Boaz, WV
Submitted: February 16, 2009
Tell us a little about yourself. I have been a United Methodist pastor and pastoral counselor for over 30 years. My wife (Patti) of over 30 years and I have two grown children. Patti and I love to travel. I'm also a drummer and continue to love to praise the Lord, "with loud cymbals." (Psalm 150) I have been the pastor of local churches and also worked in a clinical pastoral counseling practice seeing folks of all ages about a wide variety of issues.
What was your motivation behind this project? Throughout my ministry I have worked with many struggling teens and their families. One of the earliest crisis I faced as a young pastor of a church was the suicide of one of the teens in our church's youth group. Years later, our own son began to struggle with severe depression and anxiety. After he recovered he began to share his story to help others. God placed it on my heart to write this book using his story as a guide to talk about teen depression. Our son's story and my work with many other teens and their families provides the basis for the book.
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? Simply put, I hope folks will gain HOPE and HEALING from this book. Depression is one of the top killers of teens in our country. When it doesn't kill depression steals life from the afflicted teens. I want teens and their parents to know that God's healing light of hope cannot be overcome by the darkness of this terrible illness. There is light at the end of the tunnel and it's not the light of a speeding freight train waiting to run them over. It's God's amazing LIGHT in the love of CHRIST that is waiting to offer HEALING and HOPE!
How were you personally impacted by working on this project? Writing this book was both painful and joyous. It was painful because in order to tell my son's story I had to revisit some of the times we spent walking through the valley of the shadow of death. It was joyous because I knew the ending. I was writing to proclaim God's presence in the valley and healing through the journey. Since publishing the book I have given many interviews for magazines, newspapers, radio, and television. I have also provided several seminars and workshops, including one at the Alive 08 Christian Music Festival in Ohio this past summer where I spoke to about 500 teens and adults. Through all of this it has been incredibly gratifying to see how God is using the book to reach so many who are in need of HEALING and HOPE.
Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists? At this point in my ministry and life it's hard to point out specifics since there have been so many, but I'll try to name a few. My parents, Sunday school teachers, and pastors would be on the list. I just read, "The Shack," and found it to be extremely uplifting. I also heard the musical group, "Salvadore," for the first time at the Alive 08 Fesitval and fell in love with their music.
Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know: There is HOPE and HEALING. God's LIGHT shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.
