"Finding Courage, Conviction, and Confidence in Life's Low Points"

This study is such a gentle education.

The book takes the reader through five 'Valleys' (both geographic and metaphoric in nature) found in the Bible.

Each day, you read a portion of scripture and delve more into context, meaning, and application.

I loved so much about it.

First off, the artwork is stunning. Not the most important aspect, but so beautiful.

I loved that the scriptures appeared in the text.

I loved that the daily homework wasn't overwhelming. We all love Sister Beth, but we don't always have hours a day to devote to study.

I loved that there are more in this series. It's like finishing an excellent novel and knowing you get to spend more time with your favourite characters.

I didn't really dislike anything, but I'd have liked more cultural context, and I think I would have preferred going through this in community, instead of by myself.

I'm very much looking forward to more from this teacher.

8/10

Thanks to NetGalley and Tyndale House Publishers for this tender ARC.

I enjoyed how most of the scripture referenced was written out in the book. I'm used to having to switch back and forth between my study book and my Bible. This made this study a lot faster to get through. If you enjoy having your Bible open while you study you can still do that as well.

I also like how well organized this study is. This makes it easy to use for personal or group study. The book contains five lessons and each lesson has four parts. From "context" to "responding" this study's lessons are all very well done. The connections made between each lesson are done well also. The book also sticks to the main theme of valleys.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for their next study, whether it be solo or in a group setting.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

(4/5) I went into this study reading an ARC, so it was just me reading through it myself. Although you can do that, I think this study would be even better going through it with a group and discussing it within the context of community.

What I liked: I was initially drawn to this series because of the gorgeous cover art! The format of this study was helpful. Each chapter on a specific valley in the Bible was split into four sections: providing context, reading and comprehending the passage, diving deeper into understanding the passage, and then thinking through how the passage applies to our world today. The format was easy to process and I thought the discussion questions were thoughtful without being too leading. I think this study would be really accessible, even if you weren't already familiar with the stories presented.

What I wished they'd changed: I thought the gospel presentations were great, but at some points this study felt more self-focused than Jesus-focused, especially in the chapter on David. It's easy to fall prey to the applications about "our giants" etc. etc. while missing the larger point that David points us primarily to Jesus, not ourselves or our own victory. I also would have liked more historical background, context, and scholarly insights in the text (there were good resources in the end section) but that may just be my own nerdiness getting in the way of what is a very accessible study series.