My guest for The Happy Hour #317 is Kayla Stoecklein. In August of 2018, Kayla lost her husband, Andrew—pastor of Inland Hills Church in Chino, California—to suicide. In the wake of the tragedy, she embarked on a brave journey to better understand his harrowing battle with mental illness and, ultimately, to overcome the stigma of suicide. She also has a book releasing on September 8th called Fear Gone Wild. 

I first saw Kayla speak at Catalyst 2019, less than six months after Andrew passed away. She educated me on something very important that day when she said “My husband died by suicide.  [He] did not commit suicide, he would have never chosen that.” That has stuck with me ever since, and I’m so grateful for Kayla sharing more of her heart with us today. In this episode, Kayla shares her story of walking through this painful reality before and after Andrew’s death. She opens up about being misinformed on mental illness, rebuilding her life as a single parent, and stigmas around mental health in both society and Christian culture. She also describes the unique pain she experienced walking through this season as a pastor’s wife, and the loneliness she found herself facing. Through this, she realized that God not only wants us to confide in Him, but also in community. I love when she says, “We have to invite people into our pain.” I’m so thankful for Kayla’s courage in sharing her story with us in hopes that anyone walking through the wilderness of mental illness will be better equipped for the journey and will learn to put their hope in Jesus through it all. Be sure to pre-order Kayla’s book Fear Gone Wild, releasing on September 8th!

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