May memories – 2023

May memories – 2023

It’s another month, so it’s time for another memories post!

Things worth remembering

  • sister walks
  • piano recitals
  • sand volleyball in the dark
  • wandering the greenhouse
  • learning how to soil finish
  • running for tires and parts
  • getting roller skating lessons from my little sister (progress was made, but I’m still horrible)
  • ice cream and car watching on the hill with my sisters
  • making slow motion match-striking videos that were anti-climactic
  • late night sibling movie night
  • ice cream and poetry
  • chatting on the phone with my brother
  • more volleyball (much more successful than the volleyball in the dark😂)
  • getting the first cutting of hay chopped and packed before the rain

Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness.

C.S. Lewis

What I’ve been reading

you’re not enough (and that’s okay) – Allie Beth Stuckey

When our reason behind our rest is to ensure better service to the Lord and to others, we don’t have to worry whether or not taking needed breaks is self-centered. It’s not.

I’ve been wanting to read this book ever since it came out, and I finally got my hands on a copy. Man, oh man. I’m really appreciating this deeper look at the subtle ways the self-love culture really works some lies into our mentalities.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

Just finished reading this book for the first time…so very good. I love how the storytelling is light and easy to read, but the meanings are so deep if you look for them. For a while I was sad because I hadn’t grown up reading the Chronicles of Narnia and couldn’t understand the inside conversations of Narnia enthusiasts (ha!), but I think that approaching them as an adult has made me appreciate the books so much more than I ever could have as a child.

The Horse and His Boy – C.S. Lewis

I’m enjoying this next book in the series, as well!

For this is the will of God, your sanctification.

1 Thessalonians 4:3

From the journal…

There is no day I’ll ever live that You have not seen, no trial ahead that has not crossed Your desk. You know what You’re doing, God…teach me to see the way You see. Carry this pain for me, Lord.

May I lose my sinful flesh as I draw nearer to Your heart…may the passion of Your love torch away the dross, leaving a life that is more conformed to Your will.

Did May seem to fly by for everyone else, too? What were some of your favorite parts of May?

Laurel

Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash

Comfortable or Complete?

Comfortable or Complete?

Is it my prayer to be made comfortable, or to be made complete?

The topic of joy and trials linked together has been on my mind lately, and since I haven’t shared one of these “on my heart” kind of posts in a while (it’s been mostly poetry, life updates, and trying to convince you to buy my books! XD), I thought I’d try to gather my ramblings into a blog post.

Can trials seriously be an opportunity to rejoice?

In spite of having James 1:2-4 memorized for years, I’ve been reading/recalling it wrong this whole time. In case you aren’t familiar with it, here it is…

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

James 1:2-4

Honestly, whenever I read or recited this verse, most of the last part was drowned out by the first part: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials… And to be honest, I pictured this joy as a “grin and bear it” sort of thing. A grimacing endurance of hard times because we know that good things are ahead for us as Christians (see Hebrews 12:1-2).

But in listening to this message and recent sermons and small group discussions, it finally hit me that joy isn’t just something that we’re supposed to cling to as we weather the storms of life. It’s something that can be found because of the storm.

“…count it all joy…knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”

Sure, the trial itself isn’t any fun. At all. (Unless you love pain.) But we can rejoice in the fact that the trial will refine us, revealing to us our weaknesses and showing God’s strength through us, and ultimately conforming us more purely to His image.

“But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

I mean, if that’s not encouraging…

And this we also pray, that you may be made complete.

2 Corinthians 13:9b

Then this verse popped up in my Bible time the other morning, and it made me ask myself how often I pray to be made more mature, more complete, and then come crying to God when the very trials that will give me maturity slip (and sometimes pour!) into my life.

Quite honestly, it’s often.

Very often.

But I want to stop living that way.

I want to get in the habit of embracing the struggles. Of choosing to see the end result instead of simply wailing about the current mess, while somehow managing to delight in the lovely moments of now instead of being lost in an eternal chasing of the future.

So there it is…a sort of brain dump of what I’ve been processing lately. It’s by no means an exhaustive essay, but I hope it gets some wheels turning in your head and pushes you deeper into Scripture and prayer like its doing for me.

Stay the course!

❤ Laurel

Photo by Jonathan Ouimet on Unsplash

In which Laurel Burgess interviews Laurel Luehmann

Hello, friends!

This weekend I got to answer some questions from a writing friend, Laurel Burgess! I ran into Laurel in online writing communities about two years ago, and have continued to enjoy her writing, her bubbly personality, and her hilarious sense of humor! I had such a fun time answering her questions about writing, farming, and my hopes for my writing future. If you’re interested…

read the interview here!

Laurel (the other Laurel! XD) is just so much fun, and I really enjoy her short story, Attack of the Gummy Worms.

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ATTACK of the GUMMY WORMS

Tim Rodrey is a specialist in fighting creatures and saving the world. 

What does he do specifically? Sorry, he works for the SCA. The “S” stands for secret. Next question? Uh no. The small girl with the tutu is not his sidekick. That would be his niece. He was sort of babysitting her before the gummy worms attacked the subdivision. 

That really messed things up. Good thing he’s a professional and has absolutely no fear in leading people.

It had me laughing so much! If you need a good laugh and a quick read, you should definitely check it out. The best part is that it’s available for FREE when you subscribe to Laurel’s newsletter here!

So tell me…what’s your go-to when you need a book that will make you laugh?

❤ Laurel (Luehmann)

It’s release day for Clarion Hope!

It’s release day for Clarion Hope!

Book number two is out in the world…you can find it here.✨

It wasn’t a coincidence that I chose this day as the release day…

It’s right before we celebrate the ultimate victory ever won: Christ’s victory over sin and the grave, and through Him, our own victory. That’s what this book is all about, folks.

It’s my prayer that, as you crack open this book, you are reminded of your insufficiency, Christ’s complete sufficiency, and the hope and the power He gives you through His victory.

Here’s a bit of Scripture I read this morning that I found really applicable to today…

Then comes the end, when He (Christ) delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.

The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

No more mourning.

No more tears.

No more grieving over the brokenness of a fallen world.

He has slaughtered death, and He will do it again.

Praise His name!✨

Happy release day, friends.

❤ Laurel

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

One day left!! – an untitled poem and some Scripture

One day left!! – an untitled poem and some Scripture

Clarion Hope releases TOMORROW!!!

(Yes, this is what was originally meant to be yesterday’s post smashed together with today’s post. It was a full, wonderful weekend…and that means not full of writing blog posts.:))

The Scripture in Clarion Hope

When you open Clarion Hope and page past the dedication and table of contents, you’ll find a passage of Scripture…

Now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
The night is far spent, the day is at hand.
Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

Romans 13:11-12

I couldn’t have written a better introduction for this book that calls for courage and hope on sin-torn battlefields…for the casting off of the works of darkness and the donning of the armor of light. I was reading in Romans a few months ago, and this passage just jumped out at me, begging to be included in Clarion Hope in some way.

I couldn’t say no, could I?

the untitled poem

if I fear not death…

if the Defender holds my future…

if fear does not control me…

then what, pray, can steal my courage?

This simple gem marks the beginning of the third section of Clarion Hope: slaughtered fear.

A bit of a graphic title? Perhaps. But it drives home the point that I wanted to make: fear has no control over the redeemed child of God.

As a friend of the Death-Slayer, we can…

  • walk untrodden paths in confidence
  • ride out deadly storms
  • raise a solitary voice with no fear

…and so much more. Won’t you join me for the journey?✨

See you tomorrow for release day!!

❤ Laurel

Clarion Hope’s dedication

Clarion Hope’s dedication

Four more days!!

For the windblown souls who have caught the notes of hope’s clarion call.
May these words be the hug and the shove that you need.

clarion hope’s dedication (laurel Luehmann)

Last July I typed out a dedication for Clarion Hope in the Notes app on my phone. This one is nearly verbatim.

As I wrote, gathered, and selected the poems for this collection, one of my goals was “to comfort the disturbed and to disturb the comfortable.” (That’s been attributed to a few different people, so I won’t even try.XD)

I want Clarion Hope to be a refuge of truth and encouragement for the ones who have been broken…the ones who have wondered if they are beyond healing and redemption. I want it to speak truth and life into hurting hearts, serving as a reminder that there is no wound Christ cannot heal, no sin He cannot blot out.

For the ones who have become comfortable with the walls they’ve erected around their comfort zones, I want it to be a challenge and a call to action. An encouragement to see the courage and calling that is ours in Christ. A reminder that eternity yawns beyond the grave, and that the blip of life we’re given on earth is screaming to be spent in a worthy way.

but what songs will not be sung,
and what tales will not be told
if I venture not outside my door
to burgle dragon’s gold?

from “wardrobe” – Clarion Hope

If that sounds like a reminder you need, feel free to snag your own copy of Clarion Hope here!

Do you have any favorite books that come to mind with these descriptions?

Stay the course!

❤ Laurel

More haikus!

More haikus!

Hello, friends!

Remember the haiku roundup I shared awhile ago? Here’s a sequel.:)

clumsy

what love it would take

to die to win a heart that

loves so clumsily!

effervescence

her effervescence

spilled from a deeper spring than

her frail emotions.

guitar

vibrating steel sings,

bouncing beauty through a void

and echoing joy.

laurel

You were crowned victor –

yet You placed the laurel wreath

on my guilty head.

starlight

starlight pricks the sky…

shatters the hold of darkness…

offers midnight hope.

diamond

diamond in the rough –

mere carbon turned gem by the

press of deepest pain.

Thank you to all of the Instagram friends who shared the prompts with me!

Did you have a favorite haiku?

❤ Laurel

A roundup of old posts + poems on love

A roundup of old posts + poems on love

Hello, friends!

I haven’t written anything specifically for Valentine’s Day this year, but I found some old posts I’d written along those lines and thought they were worth sharing again.

The Valentine’s Day Post – February 2021

Honest-to-goodness true love... The stuff that remains when all the beauty and romance of life is gone. When there are no happy emotions. When sin has left deep, open wounds on the heart and there seems to be nothing left but hurt. When everything that’s in you screams to leave it all and run…

Love is what picks up the pieces and painfully carries on when the road is so broken, life seems to have no direction or meaning anymore.

Love suffers long, and it’s kind.

I love it when my old writings come back and encourage me. XD You can read the full post here, if you’d like!

Straight from the Journal – Tough Gentle Love – January 2021

True love is to walk according to God’s commandments. “be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous;” (1 Peter 3:8)

I want this tough gentle love for others, Lord.

Read the whole post here!

Love Song – A Poem – March 2021

I wonder what I did

with these dirty hands

to earn

Your faithfulness

how could I be so

vile

and yet so

loved

by the God of

holiness?

One of my earlier poems…read the full poem here!

First Love – a poem – March 2022


You haven’t changed…

my heart has calloused.

Read the full poem here!

So tell me – when it comes to Valentine’s Day, are you an Ebenezer Scrooge or a Bob Cratchit? And what are some of the ways you encourage yourself to love God and others with more sincerity?

❤ Laurel

January review – 2023

And it’s the first review post of 2023!

Things worth remembering…

  • skits on New Years Day
  • gingerbread house creation
  • “bowling” night
  • many intense games of floor hockey
  • Clarion Hope’s cover reveal!!
  • making dragon eggs (they “smelled something sinful” and I won’t be doing it again)
  • getting yummy breakfasts delivered to the skid loader
  • not losing my eyesight
  • hiking
  • discovering that stinging nettle tea is actually delicious

God reveals Himself in rearview mirrors.

Ann voskamp

What I’ve been reading…

Romanov – Nadine Brandes

“Revenge would have shattered us both. But you’ve given us the opportunity to be strong. To mend our hearts instead of break them further.”

I’ve been fascinated by the tragic story of the Romanovs for years, and I really enjoyed this fantastical take on it. While it was a bit more gruesome than I would have liked, I loved the characters and the epic plot twists so much.

The Magician’s Nephew – C.S. Lewis

“In fact, Digory, you are now talking to the last man (possibly) who really had a fairy godmother…”

“I bet she was a bad fairy,” thought Digory…

I’m rereading this book with several of my friends from Bible study, and it’s been so much fun!

The Scarlet Pimpernel – Baroness Emmuska Orczy

The same deep, intense love was still there, on both sides, but each now seemed to have a secret orchard, into which the other dared not penetrate.

I’m really enjoying this story that takes place during the French Revolution!

Becoming Elisabeth Elliot – Ellen Vaughn

Her presupposition – that we are to die to self, and it is only in dying that we actually find real life – informed her views about life choices, time management, risk avoidance, public opinion…everything. This is why she was radical. This is why her life continues to be relevant today.

I’m really enjoying this deep look into the early years of one of my spiritual heroes!

The flesh must die though the heart may break – spare not the pain, oh, spare not the pain.

Ruth bell graham

From the journal…

Oh, God, help me to hold it all with open hands. Time and time again, you’ve set just the right people in my life at just the right times.

I find it so interesting that God asked the Israelites to go up to battle against Benjamin two times to suffer great loss. They came weeping to the Lord both times to ask His will, and still He told them to go up against them. Oh, strengthen me, Father, to fight boldly when You command and yet it ends in defeat.

“The Lord sat enthroned at the flood…” (Psalm 29:10) In the middle of mass destruction and the greatest catastrophe the world has ever known, the Lord retained His rule.

May I not let go merely because I hope to see You give back again. May I watch dreams burn to ashes, never to return, while still trusting the faithfulness of my God.

What were some things that you enjoyed this January?

❤ Laurel

Thoughts from four years ago

Thoughts from four years ago

In going through some old papers, I found this little piece I wrote almost exactly four years ago and thought it would be fun to share here.

The sun was warm on my hair, yet the wind blew its frosty breath in my face as I walked through the browned grasses. The solid feeling of the frozen earth beneath my feet was so ordinary…yet so wonderful.

Wisps of cloud scudded across an ocean of powder-blue sky, hovering over the golden stubble of a cornfield lately reaped. A solitary cornstalk or two stood defiantly at the horizon, piercing the sky.

I filled my lungs with the frigid air and released it again. The vapor dispersed in the wind. I could hear the wind rushing through the grasses, swelling and fading by turns in its song. I had never been to the sea, but I liked to think that it sounded like the wind in dry grasses.

Maybe someday I’ll know.

But today holds so much. So much to love, so much to feel. So many things for which to praise God.

More things than the sand by the sea.

❤ Laurel Luehmann, January 24th, 2019

I find it pretty neat that exactly two years after that was written, I was staying by the ocean for the first time. God’s timing is incredible.✨