In examining the ordinary people of the Bible--fishermen, gardeners, women, soldiers--we can discover how they sought beauty in everyday circumstances to hold onto the hope of God's perfect timing. Only when we learn to spot the lovely in the midst of hardship can we experience the transcendent peace of God that keeps us persevering when we want to give up.

We are looking for lovely because we are looking for God. We want to see where He is moving, what He has created, and how He is faithful. There's a correlation between beauty and perseverance, between looking for lovely and not giving up. As Christians, we are not promised lives of ease. And only when we learn to spot the lovely in the midst of hardship can we experience the transcendent peace of God that keeps us persevering when we want to give up. We have to be collectors. We have to look around our lives and store up the lovely moments, the profound, the simple--the ones that help us to hold on and persevere. In this 7-session Bible study, Annie F. Downs examines the ordinary people of the Bible--fishermen, farmers, musicians, women--to discover how they sought beauty in their everyday lives to hold on to the hope of God's perfect timing.

Annie helps women to identify the beauty that surrounds us and to draw strength from what it reflects about the goodness of God.

An appeal to stop the killing of birds caused by the use of their feathers in women's hats.