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In December of 2016, we moved from Texas back to California where I was originally from. After the birth of our first daughter, I experienced a yearlong bout of postpartum depression and felt that being near to family and familiarity would offer some relief. That same year I attended the Spurgeon’s Sorrows conference where I met Christine Chappell.
I had been following her online for some time and felt a little nervous to introduce myself at the conference considering I get nervous around famous people (or people who are famous to me). Since my husband was with me, and he never has a problem introducing himself to anyone, he encouraged me to say hi to Christine and we had the privilege of sitting next to her during some of the sessions.
A few months later, I had the joy of seeing Christine again at the book signing for her book, Clean Home, Messy Heart. The day of the book signing was my husband’s birthday and Christine not only remembered, she brought a card for him! We still have it. On July 29, 2020, my family was in a hotel in California preparing to fly home after a trip to Hume Lake. I checked my email and there was one from Christine asking if I would be in a peer group with other ladies who love the Lord and have also experienced depression in motherhood.
The point of the group was to learn from our experiences and give her stories to draw from as she wrote her new book, Midnight Mercies. I couldn’t believe she would consider me for the opportunity and I began crying because when I went through postpartum depression, it felt never ending. When I read Christine’s email, I was on the other side of the depression and was encouraged knowing that I could use the comfort I received in Christ to comfort others.
Midnight Mercies releases today and it was my joy to be on the launch team and read this incredibly necessary book. Conversations in the church on depression in motherhood are often lacking but there have been some recently released resources seeking to address this. In Midnight Mercies, Christine takes readers through her own journey of experiencing depression as a Christian mother.
At one point, her depression was so taxing that she was admitted to a psychiatric ward. While to many this may feel like a point of failure, for Christine it was a time when Christ proved Himself near and faithful. Her writing is compassionate because she is a mother who’s experienced depression and the healing hope of Jesus who saw her through it.
Depression in motherhood comes in various ways at various times and I appreciate that Midnight Mercies contains anecdotes from mothers in different situations. To me, this was a reminder that although our circumstances may look different, God is faithful to us in all of them. Midnight Mercies contains thoughts for reflection at each chapter’s conclusion and questions to consider personally or discuss in a group setting. The content of Midnight Mercies is just shy of 100 pages making it the perfect read for depressed mothers.
Often in depression, it is difficult to do even basic tasks so I appreciated that this book’s format is sensitive to that. There are also appendices at the end of the book with additional resources to help readers face depression with the hope of the gospel. It was fun to read the acknowledgments and see my college pastor, Erick Cobb mentioned along with his wife Natasha who is one of my favorite bookstagrammers! If you are a mother who is experiencing depression or know of a mother who is, you’ll be tremendously blessed by reading Midnight Mercies.
