Greg's Growing
10.15.25
A LESSON IN MY TOMATOES
It's the autumn of their lives.
They don't look so good.
Not healthy.
Yet ...
They're still producing.
Still providing.
Worthy of their space, and my attention.
My tomatoes remind me of us older folks.
We're in the autumn of our lives.
We don't look so good.
Maybe, not healthy.
Yet ...
We can still be producing.
Still providing.
Worthy of our space, and the attention of others.
Today, I will plant my teeth in one of these tomatoes.
It will be sweet and juicy.
Just like the ones I harvested when the plants were lovely.
I will enjoy this one just as much as those.
And I'll be grateful my plants continue to produce
in the autumn of their lives.
Everyone But Them
is a novel. Its key players—Chad and Suzanne Adams, and their children Cassidy, Harper, and Sloane—are fictional. And yet they are not.
The Adams are representative of the typical American family: raise healthy, happy children who are faithful to God and live the Golden Rule.
The Adams are representative of the typical American family: difficult situations arise and they have to figure out how to deal with them.
For the Adams, however, the difficult situation that gripped their family went beyond what they could ever have imagined, and it threatened to turn their lives upside down.
In 2015, the family watched Diane Sawyer interview the former Bruce Jenner, who revealed having gender dysphoria and being transgender. Suzanne noticed Harper was troubled. The next day, Mom and Dad asked their child about it. Harper eventually admitted feeling discomfort with being a boy, and sensing he was meant to be a girl.
At the time, transgender was barely a blip on the American radar. After diving in to resource after resource to understand gender dysphoria, Chad and Suzanne recognized that Harper had a physical condition, and it wasn't going to magically disappear.
The battle for Harper raged internally: being a boy to the world, yet feeling female inside, manifested in self-harm and suicide attempts.
The battle for the parents raged externally: desperately desiring to keep their child safe, yet striving to make wise decisions.
As events unfolded in the life of high-school star running back Harper, Chad, a pastor in a conservative church in a rural county, faced a double challenge. If it got out that Harper was transgender, the church and community would be scandalized, and Chad would be kicked out of the ministry. Outside of their group of trusted confidantes, the family had no choice but to hold their secret close, and to navigate the unfamiliar and difficult territory as best they could.
While the family strove to aid Harper, Chad did his best to help his church body comprehend his child's condition—that gender dysphoria is as real as cancer, as painful as a broken leg, and as vexing as depression—and also to recognize that a person can be both transgender and a Christian. Was there sympathy? Some. Was there understanding? Not so much. For church leaders, the idea of a person being a different gender than their outside appearance was just too foreign, too icky. Chad's choice: support Harper, or be a minister.
"A Roller Coaster Through a Hurricane":
Greg Eilers was at the center of privilege: a respected minister in a conservative church, a middle-class male in a rural community, a family man with a wife and kids.
But he harbored a deep secret—a lifetime of questioning his gender identity. In 2013, the questioning had morphed into crushing gender dysphoria, and Eilers found himself in a battle to save his life and sanity.
He also found himself in a conundrum: gender identity issues don't fit with a traditional life and conservative values. How could a man who followed all the rules, and made the church his life's work, be transgender?
In 2015, Eilers transitioned to female to resolve the internal struggle. The road to inner peace, though, was rife with sacrifices. Transitioning took him from the job he loved, put his relationships to the test, and cast him to the margins of society. Scorn replaced privilege.
Then, 2018 brought a development just as confounding as 2013's struggle, and Eilers faced yet another transition.
Through it all Eilers held firm to his faith, and found room in the Gospel for an outcast such as himself. He resolved to speak out—to share his story so others would know they're not alone, and to speak up—to educate the public about transgender and bring dignity to a highly misunderstood group of people.
A Roller Coaster Through a Hurricane is a memoir, a unique transgender experience, and an inspiration to the Christian church to lovingly minister to transgender persons.
Order this and all of my books here
"Kit & Cassie": a novel inspired by my own true story!
Kit Koehn had everything. After graduating from college, he came home to Port Serene, Michigan, to run the family business with his father. That’s where he found himself smitten with the woman who would become his wife and mother of his three children. Kit had it made.
Cassie Lake had everything. After graduating from college, the Iowa woman landed her dream job as a writer for a major Minnesota newspaper, and then a side gig with an up-and-coming food magazine. It was at the paper she found herself smitten with the man who would become her husband. Cassie had it made.
Kit’s world was overturned with his wife’s diagnosis of terminal cancer, her death leaving him heartbroken and numb. As a widowed single father, he was thankful for his kids’ two grandmothers taking up the homemaking duties, yet he soon found himself longing for independence.
Cassie’s world was overturned when she realized the man she married wasn’t who she thought he was. Then, with her father’s health preventing him from running the family farm, Cassie found herself at a crossroads.
As Kit wandered the drugstore awaiting a prescription, he found himself at the magazine rack, eyeing one titled Everyday Dining. Flipping to the cover story, featuring a recipe from Carol’s Kitchen, he said, “Now this I can do.”
Learning to cook led to Kit and his children finding their way to a sense of normalcy.
And Kit writing to the magazine to express his thanks.
And Cassie replying as the spokeswoman for Carol’s Kitchen.
But, when mailing her reply, Cassie blundered. The blunder impacted how Kit wrote his second letter—this time, not to the magazine, but directly to Cassie.
Soon, Kit & Cassie were writing to each other, cooking up a whirlwind romance that’s the stuff of movies—a seemingly impossible story that was inspired by a true story.
The true story of the author of Kit & Cassie.
Order the paperback or ebook here: https://www.amazon.com/Kit-Cassie-Greg-Eilers-ebook/dp/B0C9TWRBRT?ref_=ast_author_dp
My first two books focus on gender dysphoria and being transgender
My first two books focus on gender dysphoria and being transgender
My first two books focus on gender dysphoria and being transgender
Anyone interested in learning about gender dysphoria and what it means to be transgender benefits from these books.
In Roller Coaster, I tell my story in grueling, honest detail. In 2013, my lifetime of gender conflict had me contemplating suicide. It drove me from the parish ministry and led to my transitioning to female. I became a pariah in my church denomination. After fully transitioning, in 2018 I ceased experiencing myself as female and worked to resume living as a male.
Along the way, I learned everything about my condition and got to know other trans Christians who were ill-treated by their pastors and fellow Christians. I put it all into Ministering to Transgender Christians to provide the Christian Church with a practical resource that trans Christians might be understood and treated as the brothers and sisters in Christ whom they are.
Who are reading these books? Mothers and fathers, pastors and professors, family and friends, and lots of transgender Christians are finding information and help for them in their stations in life.
What readers are saying in reviews on my Amazon book page
My first two books focus on gender dysphoria and being transgender
My first two books focus on gender dysphoria and being transgender
A Roller Coaster through a Hurricane:
Brenda: "Greg’s book is not only informative, it is an inspiring and courageous account of his journey with gender dysphoria. I was immediately drawn in and could feel the realness of Greg’s struggles. The book is written with candor, insight, love, and dedication to his Christian beliefs. As a parent, I found hope for and deeper understanding of my own child’s journey."
Medicjac: "This book has been a lifesaver! As a Christian with a son who is transgender, this book has been invaluable in giving me insight and hope. I strongly recommend this book for anyone who is struggling."
An appreciative parent: "I appreciated several things about the book. First, in an effort to get his readers to understand his situation, he held nothing back, giving us his whole story, warts and all. Second, the book is well written. This winsome book should be read by anyone who has a relationship with someone with gender dysphoria or wants to understand better what these people are going through."
Chana: "Eloquent and thought-provoking, the author of this book does an incredible job weaving us through the tapestry of his journey with gender dysphoria. A Rollercoaster Through A Hurricane is written as beautifully as any novel I’ve ever read."
Ministering to Transgender Christians:
Colleen: "I just finished my second reading of this book. It is theologically rich! There is no other book today that offers the understanding and compassion that Church leaders need, to minister to the needs of the transgender Christians in their congregations."
Lutheran pastor: "This is a remarkably helpful book for pastors and laypeople alike because it discusses the struggle of transgender persons in a way that educates while consistently pointing to God's grace in Jesus Christ. Every angle is examined: theological, physiological, psychological, and how to be merciful and compassionate when it seems impossible to be empathetic. The discussion of myths, or what transgender is not, is a particularly helpful part of the book that seeks to break down stereotypes and foregone conclusions."
Amazon customer: " When we look to people to show us God, we're often disappointed. When we look to God to show us people, WOW. Thank you, Greg, for looking to God to show us people. This book is the most loving, calm explanation of the gender identity conversation that our children know and embrace as second nature. Greg explains the terminology, explores the science, and most of all speaks humbly and openly from his own experience."