Jan Dravecky is the wife of former San Francisco Giants baseball pitcher, Dave Dravecky. Together, Jan and Dave founded the Endurance ministry, created specifically to encourage those who are facing serious illness, loss or depression.
One afternoon our kids came begging me to take them for a swim. I could see how much they wanted me to go with them, but I was numb. I couldn’t move. So Dave, who was suffering the effects of radiation treatments, took the kids to the pool without me. Something inside me snapped: ‘I can’t even go to the stinkin’ pool with my kids!’ I was incapable of carrying one more burden or doing one more task, much less feeling joy in anything. I was clinically depressed, and my fellow Christians didn’t understand why I couldn’t ‘snap out of it.’
Even though I couldn’t feel God’s presence, I kept turning to the Bible. I was desperate to reconnect with the One who had claimed me as His own and had promised to never let me go.
Five years passed before I finally made it through that dark season. I’ve learned that it takes time. Even with encouragement from the Bible. Even with counseling and treatment. And even if you have a friend who lets you honestly express your feelings without spiritualizing or sugar-coating them.
Those things can eventually bring healing, but the seeds of endurance are buried deep under the surface. And it takes time for tender stems to push their way up out of the darkness—and even more time for joy to reach full bloom.
I share my story so that others who struggle with depression will know that they are not alone and that they, too, can find the patience to endure.
Jan and Dave’s story, written in the book, When You Can’t Come Back, has been a source of encouragement to readers of every age and background. Jan tells of her own “comeback” from a crippling depression in her book, A Joy I’d Never Known.
Jan now serves as the Executive Director of Endurance, developing resources and relationships to extend the reach of the ministry. She is the primary author of Words of Endurance, our weekly email devotional.
Jan speaks with a passion and compassion on topics of depression, suffering, care giving and spiritual life.
