Shades of Light

When you are in the midst of darkness watch for the

SHADES OF LIGHT

Have you ever felt like you wear labels that others put on you or come under judgement when you battle with depression or anxiety.

Author Sharon Garlough Brown has found an impactful way to speak into the struggles of battling depression. Do not be fooled that this content is packaged in a fictional story. Telling the story through the life of Wren Crawford you will see her overwhelmed in her dark spaces searching to find shades of light. In the search she discovers hope.

ABOUT THE BOOK

“I was desperate… I couldn’t turn off the dark thoughts, no matter how hard I tried or how much I prayed. And then I spent a whole weekend in bed, and the crying wouldn’t stop, and I got really scared. I’ve had bouts with depression before – it’s kind of a cloud I’ve learned to live with, but this time was different. I felt like I was going under like I’d never feel hopeful again, and then that just made my anxiety worse and it all spiraled from there.” Wren Crawford is a social worker who finds herself overwhelmed with the troubles of the world. Her lifelong struggles with anxiety and depression are starting to overcome her. She finds solace in art, spiritual formation, and pastoral care along with traditional therapeutic interventions. But a complicated relationship from her past also threatens to undo her progress. Fans of Sharon Brown’s bestselling Sensible Shoes Series will be delighted to discover some old friends along the way. As Wren seeks healing in this beautifully written novel, readers are invited to move beyond pat answers and shallow theology into an experience of hope and presence that illuminates even the darkness.

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SHADES OF LIGHT

The Shades of Light series is more than a fiction book. It dives into depression, anxiety and into mental health.

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Study Guide

This six-week study guide is an opportunity for you to reflect on how the experiences of the characters in the novel resonate with your own experience. Daily Scripture readings and reflection questions are accompanied by an invitation to explore creativity through art and prayer collage. You’ll also be introduced to the practice of visio divina (meditating on art) through a weekly link to a piece of art by Vincent van Gogh. With simple spiritual practices, this guide offers a healing balm for those in the midst of difficult seasons.

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING:

"This novel skillfully tackles the dark topics of depression and suicide as well as the often misguided way Christians treat mental illness. It asks the hard questions such as how one should support a loved one who deals with this disease and what to do when our best intentions are ineffective in providing help and solace. Beautiful and haunting, Shades of Light is a heart-wrenching and necessary read that ultimately offers hope."

"Sharon Garlough Brown's Shades of Light is a rare and beautiful study in contrasts. Faith and doubt, control and surrender, acceptance and resistance—all are woven into the darks and lights of a story so real and provoking that you will find yourself aching, wondering, hoping, and even praying alongside her luminescent characters. The struggles of depression and anxiety, of parenting and being parented, of loving and losing aren't tied up in easy answers or simple narratives, but are lifted up for what they are: the beloved brokenness where God's light and love get in."

"In Shades of Light, Sharon Garlough Brown draws us once again into stories of faith amid suffering and hope even in the darkness. Christians face mental illness like everyone else, but too often they wrestle alone and ashamed. As we enter Wren's world of anxiety and depression, we are invited to join her muse Vincent van Gogh and the characters from the Sensible Shoes series as her 'companions in sorrow.' Sharon's unflinching and compassionate portrayal of that sacred fellowship reveals Christ himself is with us on the journey, sharing our tears and holding us in love."