Melissa Maimone - The Radiant Midnight: Depression, Grace, and the Gifts of a Dark Place

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE , OREGON

CONTENTS

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Cover design by Faceout Studio

Cover photos Ana Babii, OLaLa Merkel / Shutterstock

The Radiant Midnight

Copyright 2019 by Melissa Maimone

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97408

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-7647-3 (Trade)

ISBN 978-0-7369-7648-0 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC

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Melissa offers herself as a fearless tour guide into the unknown and gives us this compassionate book about her own journey into the dark to serve as handrails for those of us who find ourselves, willingly or not, descending into the underworlds of depression, pain, anxiety, and beyond to find the riches they hide.

Jason Gray, singer and songwriter

Melissas voice and story bear witness to the reality that the Christian narrative doesnt always follow the path of celebration and triumph. For those of us whose lives are a testament to darkness, suffering and survival, we too need to be reminded that our stories also belong to those of the family of God. The Radiant Midnight does this beautifully and honestly, offering compassionate and challenging insights along the way.

David C. Wang, ThM, PhD, associate professor of psychology, Biola University; pastor of spiritual formation, One Life City Church

As a woman who has experienced a good bit of her life in the midnight hours, Im grateful for another voice that tenderly and candidly calls attention to a subject many Christians have ignored. Melissa doesnt just set the subject in front of youshe digs deep and encourages you to push harder against the darkness than you may have ever dared to do.

Angie Smith, bestselling author of Seamless, Chasing God , and What Women Fear

I so appreciate Melissa Maimones honesty and unique perspective on battling depression and anxiety. She skillfully weaves King Davids life and words with her own, giving the reader space to battle fear, worry, and heavy sadnessyet with hope. If youre facing your own midnight, find solace and light in these hard-won words.

Mary DeMuth, author of Healing Every Day

Radiant midnight is an oxymorona combination of two contradictory terms that invite a curious mind to explore the wisdom that might hold them together. In this way, radiant midnight now establishes its place in a lexicon that has illuminated other impossible truths like sweet sorrow, wounded healer, or terrible goodness. Through her achingly personal journey, Melissa sets the night on fire with the radiance of unrelenting love, revealing what we can never see or feel when we are in the darkGod is already there.

Nicole Johnson, author of Creating Calm in the Center of Crazy and Fresh Brewed Life ; founder of Seasons Weekends

Melissa doesnt hand out Band-Aids or tidy answers. Rather, she invites us to listen for the story of redemption that God is writing for each of us, even as we wait for the light.

Jen Wise, author of The Bright Life

Melissas attempt to put her experience into words is both a gift and treasure for any reader. Her vulnerability reveals a bold, courageous woman whose aim is to ensure that you, the reader, do not have to walk your journey alone.

Andrea Tomassi, author of Live Bold

Like a good therapist, Melissa sits with you in your pain and teaches you how to sit with your own darkness. This book speaks to anyone who struggles with any type of darkness in their lifeand that would be all of us! She so accurately and vulnerably portrays the shame of the shadow that most of us feel but can never put into words. But instead of condemnation, Melissa gives a wonderful combination of humor, heart, and hope in the darkest times.

Dr. Zoe Shaw, host of The Dr. Zoe Show podcast

If you are suffering, this book is a safe space. Melissa isnt here to fix you or your feelings. Rather, she masterfully weaves Scripture, personal stories, and profound insights to offer you eternal hope that is both raw and real. As one who currently sits in the long, dark days of a midnight season, The Radiant Midnight stirred my resolve to learn to sit and learn Gods lessons rather than try to speed through the pain.

Barb Roose, author of Winning the Worry Battle

Melissas vulnerability, humor, and depth make her one of our favorite voices to hear on some of lifes harder topics. Her story and wisdom have helped illuminate the treasure to be found in our own dark places.

Katherine and Jay Wolf, coauthors and cofounders of Hope Heals

To those longing for the light to return.

You are not alone in the darkness.

T he first time I heard Melissa Maimone speak publicly about her story of affliction, I was immediately captivated. She spoke with authorityas one who authors . As one who was offering something that was emerging from the center of her soul, not something she had read about on the Internet. She spoke not as one who was talking from a distance about some thing , but rather as one bearing faithful witness to her journeytrue to its complete nature of joy and heartache, beauty and anguish, light and darkness. She told of her experience of depression not as something apart from herself, but rather as an integral element of her lifethreads that God was patiently weaving into a tapestry of such elegance and refinement that one could not help but be drawn into it. At its deepest level, her story was my own. I am confident that in The Radiant Midnight you will find your own as well.

For nearly 30 years I have practiced as a psychiatrist. My most important calling is to walk with people into places in their stories that they have not yet traveled. Their reluctance to have traversed these pathswhether consciously or nothas led them to any number of painful realities that have them on the brink. They are usually attempting to regulate states of depression, anxiety, substance (or other) addictions, broken relationships of all kinds, and any number of other emotional and behavioral maladies. At the heart of their troubles lie, among other things, their inexperience at telling their stories fully in all of their agonizing, shaming, beautiful grandeur. They have not the words to sayor the person to hear them saythat which is truest about who they are and what they are enduring.