Alumni Spotlight: Allison Eide ’22

Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth. —Psalm 124:8 (ESV)

God’s unwavering grace is always actively working in our lives but is most evident in times of extreme difficulty. Perhaps it’s because we are desperate for Him to perform a miracle, right a wrong, remove a thorn from our side, or reveal Himself to us in an undeniable way—we are waiting expectantly for Him to act. Sometimes He does answer our deepest, most vulnerable prayers, and sometimes He allows the ugly or unthinkable to enter our reality. Either way, according to His Word, His grace is sufficient; His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).

Allison Eide knows this full well. God used Psalm 124 during a silent retreat to remind her that attacks and trials come, but God does not let them take us down. He uses them to conform us to be more like Him.

Allison has battled obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) since she was ten years old—an internally debilitating, anxiety-inducing, and often joy-stealing condition. Her strong Christian upbringing gave her a clear understanding of how Jesus sees His children, but she dealt with an isolating, all-consuming, negative, internal narrative. After doing some research about OCD, she found out that people who struggle with this disorder are often brilliantly creative.

 “When I try to fix my mind, it turns into OCD, but when I let the Lord hold my mind, He uses it for creativity.”  —Allison Eide

Allison now understands that her weakness is not something that needs to be chipped away at or fixed; God revealed to her that it is the gateway through which He will impact others and do immeasurably more than imaginable.

To Allison, being unwavering is to not actually have the strength to be anchored or immovable. It’s relinquishing control and being the most moveable follower of Christ so that He can sustain her and shine through her.

At the age of 22, after coming out of a very dark time battling anxiety and deep depression, she began to write lyrics that acknowledged for the first time, honestly, how she felt about herself. She has always used creativity as a way to express herself; this exercise was helping her sift through the layers of shame and doubt that OCD had filled her with—a prayer to the Lord, really. Two days of writing in her bedroom was followed by the Lord’s whisper, “This is for millions of people.” The song, “Love Who I Am,” from her Love Who I Am album went viral, reaching 1.5 million people around the world has given Allison a platform to encourage and offer hope to those who battle mental illness.

Her song, “LIAR (Truth Is),”reached over 4.5 million views in its first week alone. Her album release show took place on Northwestern’s campus at the Knight Performance Hall on March 29 of this year.

Music has always been an important part of Allison’s life. Her late father, Peder Eide, a successful Christian singer-songwriter who toured internationally and created 18 full-length worship albums, demonstrated the power of lyrics and authenticity through songs to Allison from the time she was a young girl.  In fact, Allison wrote her first song at the age of six.

“I long for each of my listeners to feel seen and known, being pulled out of isolation and welcomed into belonging. It’s about time that people know they are not alone.” —Allison Eide

This past year, Allison has experienced her greatest suffering and, consequently, deepest grappling with God. On April 26, 2024, her father, at the age of 56, lost his nine-month battle with stage IV cancer.  His loss was felt by many (locally, nationally, and globally) but most deeply by his wife and children.

Allison was recently in Nashville recording the songs for her second upcoming album, all of which were birthed from the pain of losing her dad, her journey accepting this loss, and her quest to replace the bitterness she felt toward God with fully abandoned trust in Him. She has seen His unwavering grace this year in undeniable ways as she has gone before Him, completely broken and raw with her emotions, so that He could show her that He was, is, and will always be faithful, grace-filled, and present with us in all circumstances. She learned that her question “Why, God?” is the safest place to be, because He knows. And that is enough.

Excerpt from the Northwestern Pilot.