Enjoy Looking For Lovely: Collecting The Moments That Matter Translated By Annie F. Downs Available As Print

Downs writes of her search to find beauty even during challenging times, to collect the moments that allow her to experience serenity and joy.
. . and to hopefully help her readers do the same, She shares many of her personal challenges and how they have shaped her, And at the end of most chapters, she gives a specific challenge to "look for lovely", Some of the challenges include

getting up early to watch the sunrise, visit a place in your town that speaks to your soul, pause and take a break/rest, listen to new worship music, reach beyond your circle of friends and get to know someone who is different than you.


Here are some of my favorite parts,

When going through a particularly difficult time, she felt alone, abandoned and misunderstood, But she survived. She writes: " my capacity to see beauty has increased in a much bigger measure than the pain I felt, My ability to feel the depths of something good was strengthened by my choice to feel the depths of pain, I don't exactly know how it works, I just know the more I hang on and feel, the more I am able to feel and each time more balm gets rubbed into the wounds of my soul.
It's sacred, right Feeling God right here, in the middle, is just as my friend described, Purely sacred. " pg.

"It's about feeling the pain, letting the sufferings be a part of your life, embracing the Romans:moments so you can process through the Romans:days so you live a Romans:hopefilled life.
If you aren't experiencing pain, you aren't experiencing beauty, Darkness makes us appreciate the beauty of the light, if you aren't allowing yourself to feel the hurt, sadness, loneliness and disappointment this fallen world has to offer, you probably aren't feeling the fullness of the joy and beauty the redeemed moments have to offer.
" pg.

" athletes don't walk away . They may pause, they may rest, but they don't give up, I thought athletes were stronger than everyone else, but I'm beginning to think they just get grace better than I do.
Grace to grow, grace to make mistakes and recover, grace to try again, " pg.

I love how she talks about how the blue and yellow paint in Monet's house made the other color look better.
"I can't forget how those colors, while truly beautiful on their own, were actually far more stunning together, Though super different, the way these colors cooperated impacted me, " pag.Then she talks about her friend Nichole and how they are very different but they complement one another and they are better together.
. . "She adds value to my life, and next to me she makes me a more beautiful Annie, " pageThen she encourages us to make friends who are different, friends from diverse backgrounds, friends who see the world differently.
I know that doing this has added immensely to the "loveliness" of my life!

"When in a blink, God stamped a statement onto my heart.
TRUST THE PATH . He meant the questions in my heart, the things I wonder about, the worries that I am going to miss Him.
I don't have to know here things are going I don't have to know the destination I just have to trust the path.
" pg.

"It makes perfect sense to me, grace and perseverance, I have learned that to be all grace is to be lazy but to be all perseverance is to be judgmental.
A good balance of grace and perseverance pushes us forward without destroying our spirit when we don't meet a goal, and it continually brings us back to our goals, our dreams, and desires in order to remember why we began, how far we have come to get here, and where we ultimately want to go.
It gives us permission to not be perfect but to strive toward excellence, " pg.

"And as I'm collecting these moments that matter, I'm actually just seeing more of Him, Because in the end that's what this is all about, When you find Jesus, you have found lovely, He is everything we need, " p.

"I am one who would rather hide my brokenness, hide hte lamp that is less than sufficient, But just like with my house, I feel God pushing me a bit to embrace my broken places and appreciate my weaknesses as much as I appreciate my strengths.
" page

"I'm a different Annie than I used to be, I had to be broken to be rebuilt, but breakdowns seem to often come before breakthroughs, right My cape of shame has long been trashed, and my days of constant selfhate have passed.
What God has done in my heart and my life and body, to be honest in the last two years is nothing short of a miracle.
I used to be a quitter now I cross more finish lines than I ever have before, I didn't know what it felt like for my character to be stretched and grown, but I do now, I thought I understood hope, but the kind of hope that has become mine in recent months is a treasure I don't want to release.
I have surrounded myself with people who are for me, for my health, and for my sanity, and it has made for a tribe I am deeply gratefukl for and indebted to.
I am growing and changing, and I like me more than I ever have, " And I am very unfinished, I bet you are, too, But I am very loved, I know you are, too, pages

I feel like I can't give a bookwithout writing at least some kind of review, I also feel really bad giving itor writing anything bad about it because the author seems like a really nice person.
Nevertheless, I'm going to put this here so that down the road I will remember why this book wasn't for me.
And I think that is what it comes down to this book was not for me, I don't think I am not her target audience, I have to think that her target audience are girls like the ones she talks about mentoring in the book, And possibly her friends, because good grief, according to the book she has a lot of friends,

So here's the simple breakdown, It read like a series of blog posts, Again, I know this is a thing right now, Bloggers write books, and they read like blogs, but that is not for me, I want books to have more depth than a blog post, And this one did not, The whole book is about her working through and getting past a breakdown, but she never goes into depth about the breakdown.
She talks about all the places she saw lovely and what that meant for her, but I never quite understood why.
Was there a time where she didn't realize what she loved What gave her joy It's like she really wanted to write a book about her break down without actually talking about her break down.
Imagine if Ann Voskamp had writtenGifts and never talked about her sister's death, Never talked about all the scary, awful ugly that happens in life that we have to see past in order to see the lovely.
It's okay to be working through things and to want to keep it all private, but it's then best to make the choice not to write a book about it.


I guess that's the short of it, It just lacked the depth needed to give the message which is a good one context, This was such a great read! Listening to Annie read her books made me feel like I was having a conversation with her.
She touched on so many lifeapplicable points for me, I started recommending the book before I was even done, Although I really liked a lot about this book I do think it is suited better to read in a devotion type manner I know a study exists and would be interested in that format.
I found the tangible challenges presented simple yet profound and appreciate her humorous writing style, The chapters were very short and easy to read, I appreciated her insight but many struggles or concepts were not at all relatable to my life so there was less connection there.
At times felt I was getting a lot of insight into the authors life/big personality which I don't really care about.
I liked the overall idea of this book looking for the lovely things in our lives, There were different things that Annie said, that encouraged and inspired me, I have to say though, this book was so talked about that I had high expectations and I honestly didn't love it.
Maybe I just didn't connect with her writing style, but I personally felt that this book was a little all over the place, vague in places, and I found myself having to reread several parts.
I started this bookyears ago, and just couldn't get into it enough to read it consistently, I appreciate her honesty and humor, I just felt like something was missing, “I want you to take every step of your life with excitement for where you are headed, And I want you to feel beautiful and confident as you do, ” But how When the enemy whispers lies that you are not smart enough, pretty enough, or rich enough Or you are too dumb, too loud, too quiet, too thin, too fat, too much or not enough What if you dont have what it takes to be who you really want to be In Looking for Lovely, Annie F.
Downs shares personal stories, biblical truth, and examples of how others have courageously walked the path God paved for their lives by remembering all God had done, loving what was right in front of them, and seeing God in the everydaywhether that be nature, friends, or the face they see in the mirror.
 Intensely personal, yet incredibly powerful, Looking for Lovely will spark transformative conversations and life changing patterns, No matter who we are and what path God has us on, we all need to look for lovely, fight to finish, and find beautiful in our every day! I honestly could not find a flow or meaning to this book.
It felt like she was rambling on and haddifferent ideas in her head, I just finished a great book that walked thru theHabits of Women that was a great study of Ruth, Picking up this book was such a watered down disappointment that I can't even waste my time to finish it, Sorry but this book is definitely one I recommend you just skip! This is a beautiful and honest book about fighting for beauty among brokenness.
Annie Downs bravely invites us into her real lifeher joys, her struggles, her hangups, and her hangoutsas she searches for the loveliness in everyday life.
This book made me want to visit Annie's stomping grounds, of Nashville, and yet also uncover my own collection of lovely right where I live too.
I finished this book in just a few days because it was captivating, inspiring and authentic,

I received an advanced copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review, .