Have you enjoyed the journey with Meg, Mara, Charissa, and Hannah? This companion guide will take you deeper into their world and give you an opportunity to try out the spiritual practices that you've seen them engage at New Hope Retreat Center. Sensible Shoes Study Guide includes twelve weeks of daily Scripture reading, prayer, and reflection questions (five days a week) that correspond to the disciplines the women practice in the book. A group discussion guide concludes each week. Engaging the lives of these characters in their spiritual journeys will offer both a window and a mirror into your own life and relationship with Christ.

"We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen." (2 Corinthians 4:18) In a season of loss and change, Wren Crawford and her great-aunt, Katherine Rhodes, share the journey as companions in sorrow and hope. As Katherine prepares to retire as the director of the New Hope Retreat Center, she faces both personal and professional challenges-especially after the arrival of the board's candidate to replace her. Not only must she confront more unresolved grief from her past, but she's invited to embrace painful and unsettling insights about her own blind spots. How might disruption become a gift that opens the way to new growth? Wren's world is shifting and expanding as she presses forward in recovery from a period of deep depression. Still processing open questions around the death of her best friend, Casey, Wren stewards her grief by offering compassionate care to the residents of the nursing home where she now works. But the shedding of her old life is exhausting-especially as she doesn't yet see what new life will emerge. How might art continue to provide a pathway for deepening her awareness of God's presence with her? In this sequel to Shades of Light and Remember Me, fans of the Sensible Shoes series will not only be able to attend Katherine's final retreat sessions at New Hope but also encounter old and new friends along the way. Also available: Feathers of Hope Study Guide

The women of Sensible Shoes encounter new adventures and roadblocks in their spiritual journeys in Two Steps Forward. With this study guide, you can explore your own next steps as you dive into the book's spiritual formation themes along with Mara, Meg, Hannah, and Charissa. In this eight-week study guide you'll find daily Scripture readings, reflection questions, and spiritual practices designed to help you be attentive to the invitations of the Holy Spirit. Each week concludes with discussion questions and suggested practices for reading groups to do together. Individually or with a group, you are invited to meet with God and find encouragement for the path ahead.

The journeys of Hannah, Meg, Charissa, and Mara take unexpected turns in Barefoot, the third book of the Sensible Shoes series. In this study guide author Sharon Garlough Brown has crafted a practical resource to help you process the characters' stories and explore the novel's spiritual formation themes more deeply. You'll find twelve weeks of daily Scripture readings, reflection questions, and invitations to prayer, with weekly discussion questions and practices for groups to do together. Each week also features a list of spiritual disciplines used by the characters that you can incorporate into your own life with God. Individually or with a group, as you walk with the women of Sensible Shoes on holy ground, you'll be invited to encounter God in significant new ways.

2019 Christianity Today's Book of the Year - Fiction What next steps is God calling you to take? Join the characters of An Extra Mile, the final book in the Sensible Shoes series, as they journey through the seasons of Lent and Easter. In this eight-week study guide you'll dive deeper into key spiritual practices from the book, using daily Scripture readings and reflection questions designed to help you be attentive to the invitations of the Holy Spirit. Each week concludes with discussion questions and suggested practices for groups to do together. This guide offers the perfect tools for individuals and groups to explore and apply the spiritual formation themes of An Extra Mile along with Mara, Hannah, Charissa, and Becca.

Sharon Garlough Brown's novel Feathers of Hope follows Wren Crawford and her great-aunt, Katherine Rhodes, companions in sorrow and hope. As Katherine prepares to retire as the director of the New Hope Retreat Center, she faces personal and professional challenges while Wren takes the next step in her journey with depression by offering compassionate care to the residents of the nursing home where she now works. This eight-week study guide offers an opportunity 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 the practice of visio divina (meditating on art) through weekly prompts related to works by Vincent van Gogh. With simple spiritual practices, this guide provides a space for individuals and groups to process Katherine's retreat teaching as well as the themes of Feathers of Hope.

Christianity Today Book of the Year Award The women of Sensible Shoes are navigating both deep joy and devastating loss. Can they find equilibrium in the midst of all that has changed? Mara: While faced with the turmoil of divorce and chaos at home, she is also listening for a call to serve others with courage and creativity. Hannah: As she grieves the twin losses of her dear friend and her Chicago ministry position, she also begins to embrace the joys and challenges of a new marriage. Charissa: Overwhelmed by her pregnancy and the demands of her teaching schedule, she is in need of even more grace for herself and others. Becca: Bereft and filled with regrets, can she find hope for the future and a way home? In this final installment of the Sensible Shoes series, you're invited to travel with these beloved friends as they endure trials that test their trust and their willingness to walk an extra mile.

Sharon Garlough Brown's novel Shades of Light is an exploration of depression, anxiety, caregiving, and the healing journey. In particular, it offers windows into the power of art as a spiritual practice. 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.

Logos Bookstore Association Award Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist The spiritual journey takes unexpected turns for the women of Sensible Shoes in this third book of the series, continuing on from the events of Two Steps Forward. Having been challenged to persevere in hope, can they now embrace the joy of complete surrender? Mara: With two boys at home and a divorce on the way, can she let go of her resentment and bitterness and find a rhythm of grace in her "new normal"? Hannah: With Nathan by her side, can she let go of expectations-and even her reputation-as she charts a new course? Charissa: As her approaching due date threatens to collide with new professional opportunities, can she let go of her need for control and embrace the unknown future with trust? Meg: With disappointment over broken relationships and unfulfilled dreams, can she let go of her fear and worry in the face of even greater challenges that lie ahead? Join the women of the Sensible Shoes Club in a poignant story that reveals the joy that comes from laying our lives at the feet of God and standing barefoot on holy ground.

"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.

Readers' Choice Awards Honorable Mention The women from Sensible Shoes are taking their next steps in the spiritual formation journey. But each of them is finding roadblocks along the way. Meg, a widow and recent empty-nester, is off to see her daughter in London. But what does hope look like when nothing goes as planned? Charissa, a conscientious graduate student, is battling to let go of control and embrace her unexpected pregnancy. But what does hope look like when transformation is slow? Hannah, a pastor on sabbatical, is trying to find her equilibrium with rest and a new relationship. But what does hope look like when old grief keeps resurfacing? Mara, a wife and mother, longs for her difficult family life to improve. But what does hope look like when tension escalates and circumstances only get worse? Sometimes life feels like two steps forward and one step back. Find your own spiritual journey reflected in the lives of these women and discover the way forward.

Over 100,000 Copies Sold Worldwide! Midwest Publishing Awards Show Honorable Mention Sharon Garlough Brown tells the moving story of four strangers as they embark together on a journey of spiritual formation: Hannah, a pastor who doesn't realize how exhausted she is. Meg, a widow and recent empty-nester who is haunted by her past. Mara, a woman who has experienced a lifetime of rejection and is now trying to navigate a difficult marriage. Charissa, a hard-working graduate student who wants to get things right. You're invited to join these four women as they reluctantly arrive at a retreat center and find themselves drawn out of their separate stories of isolation and struggle and into a collective journey of spiritual practice, mutual support and personal revelation. Along the way, readers will be taken into a new understanding of key spiritual practices and find tangible support for the deeper life with God. If you want to travel this journey with others, you will find a group study guide and book club resources at www.sensibleshoesclub.com.

Sensible Shoes is an unusual novel, blending a fictional story with nonfiction teaching elements. Some readers view it only as a story of four characters on a journey. Others say yes to a deeper level of reading, embracing the opportunity to take a "sacred journey" along with the characters, by opening themselves to the Spirit's work and attending to God's invitations. The Sensible Shoes Leader's Guide offers two ways to invite readers into a deeper journey: first, there are resources here for a twelve-week small group experience through the Sensible Shoes Study Guide. Each week you'll be provided with a few prayer prompts for your work as a leader, tips for facilitating the group, and behind-the-scenes information about the characters and their journeys that can be used as opening materials for your sessions. The second set of resources in this guide relates to leading a retreat based on Sensible Shoes. After years of creating and speaking at Sensible Shoes Retreats, spiritual director Sharon Brown offers here content to help you design the ideal space for your context as you gather people in longer sessions to experience this material. In addition to one-day, weekend, and online program outlines, there are many creative ideas from leaders of groups who have used Sensible Shoes for retreats over the years. Sensible Shoes was written for the purpose of bringing God's healing and spiritual transformation into the lives of readers traveling in community. Is there an invitation here for you to bring this message to your community? Also available: Sensible Shoes Leader Kit and Sensible Shoes Participant Kit, with everything you need for a small group or retreat experience.

"'It is finished,' Jesus says. It's a bold declaration for us to make too. What does it mean to say 'It is finished' when so much is unfinished? It means we are people who live hope in two directions, both backward and forward. We long for the kingdom to come in fullness, even as it has already come. And we trust that the One who has begun the good work in us and for us will indeed complete it." In this sequel to Shades of Light, Katherine Rhodes, the beloved director of the New Hope Retreat Center, finds her own grief tapped by Wren Crawford's struggles with depression and loss. Through a series of letters to Wren, Katherine reflects on the meaning of Christ's suffering and shares her own story of finding hope. How does one begin to live again under the crushing weight of grief? And how can healing come when there's so much left unresolved? With Katherine as a companion in sorrow, Wren moves forward in her commitment to paint the stations of the cross for a prayer journey at New Hope, discovering along the way a deeper communion with the Man of Sorrows, acquainted with grief. Readers are invited into a similar journey of reflection through Katherine's words and Wren's paintings. At the back of the book, a devotional guide with Scripture readings, prayer prompts, and full-color art provides the opportunity to ponder the depths of God's love by meditating on Jesus' journey to the cross.