When Mike Westendorf was a little boy, all he dreamed about was becoming a meteorologist-
(yep, a true "weather man"). As he ventured into his young adult life he worked hard at his dream and proudly accomplished his goal. But?just as he was in the thick of a successful career, God decided to reveal the fact that He had another "forecast" for Mike's life?and so? just like the shape of the clouds, a new direction in Mike's life began to take form.

Mike Westendorf grew up in a Christian home and received a grounded Christian education. His family history included a long line of men who chose Pastoral life as their vocation. Although Mike could have pursued the same path, it was a passion for two things; weather and music that kept him from the pulpit. His pursuit of an Atmospheric Sciences degree and a career in the field of meteorology came with God's blessing and hard work. Eventually he made a move to the Twin Cities where he became involved in a growing enterprise that combined weather with radio. Mike ultimately was heard on 200+ radio stations a day providing both live and recorded weather updates which gained him recognition as a weather "personality" in the communities he served. On the music side? although Mike had been involved in the vocal aspect of music through his involvement in professional chorale and a family musical trio-he only picked up the guitar initially as an elective in college. This instrument, however, would eventually become a source of therapy for him and ultimately a pathway for music ministry.

Outside of the traditional church, Mike had deep thoughts and reflections in regard to his life as a Christian and found songwriting to be a creative outlet. Although he had worked on a family project entitled Christmas Is (2003) it wasn't until he released a nine song EP titled Another Day (2004) that listeners could get a real sense of his songwriting capability. Ironically, Mike wrote the songs in this collection as a reflection of his perception of his life as it was at the time?but personal and family issues exposed the realities of life at home and Mike had to make some hard decisions in order to restore balance to his commitment to his family. However, in this time of transition, Mike never lost sight of his love for music. In 2006, he released his third album titled Run Boy Run, this time with the support and fellowship of a backing band called Restored. Yet even with the regional success of this project, Mike Westendorf felt like an outsider struggling to get to the heart of his faith. Mike put all his energy into this discernment process and with God's grace the clouds started to part and he was able to see a clearer picture for his convictions. He wholeheartedly accepted his faith mission and really learned to embrace it?for ALL that it is.

Soon enough, God gave Mike Westendorf the words to eloquently express his journey thus far, and with that Climb the Mountain (2007) came to fruition. Mike had taken all that God had directed him to see and carefully crafted it into words and music that speak of his quest for truth and authenticity-a message that clearly many can identify with and perhaps use to figure out God's "forecast" for their own lives.

Today, Mike Westendorf resides in the WI area with his wife and three children. He continues the momentum of writing and recording new music as God puts it on his heart. When he is not on the road touring, he can be found as director of music ministries at Point of Grace, which is a campus ministry project affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Mike looks forward to sharing the message of how God's grace became more apparent in his life when he least "predicted" it, and hopes it will inspire others to "climb the mountain" of faith, for clarity in their spiritual quest.