The Weight of Beauty

Fifty-nine-year-old Lilith Stewart, a widow in Summerville, SC, believes she's become useless- until the new pastor and family move into the manse across the street and her estranged adopted daughter Madelyn drops her five-year-old daughter Scarlett on Lil's doorstep. And within days of her lament to her friend Henry, Lil must concede, "I have a dog, a boy, and now a little girl . . . a little girl who can cuss like nobody's business!"

Scarlett and the pastor's young son Knox (and Sola, the stray puppy) bring new challenges and joy into Lil's life, including a renewed passion for teaching art to her young protégés while providing the love and stability both children have been deprived. She confronts these challenges with the support of her prayer partner Tilly and faith in the sovereign goodness of God, including His powerful and healing gifts of beauty.

The story takes Scarlett and Knox through their growing years into young adulthood as both struggle with his/her identity and the poor choices made by their parents, culminating in ultimate betrayal. Through it all, Lil continues to point them toward the Creator, from Whom they must find their identity and from Whom all BEAUTY originates and is bestowed.