Christian poetry – Laurel Luehmann

Reflections on a year of Beauty Even Here

August 26, 2026by Laurel LuehmannLeave a Comment

One year later, I sit here in the hour before dawn, as the sky colors lavender and pink in anticipation of the sun’s arrival, and the poetry of being able to soak in the beauty and symbolism of this hour is not lost on me.

I have spent much of my (short, I know) life waiting for the dawn…for the light of literal morning, for clarity in the light of God’s Word, for the moment when light will break over the darkest of circumstances and we will see that, truly, hope was not lost.

I have learned that the sweetest way to spend this darkest hour is to find my favorite constellation, brew a mug of coffee, and settle in with my Bible, journal, and a stack of books.

Seek the pinpricks of light afforded. Make and savor something beautiful. Fill my mind with truth, and preach it again to myself.

This, I realize today, is the essence of Beauty Even Here.

It’s a compilation of poetry that I wrote while feeling lost, directionless, confused, and disappointed by God’s timing. It’s in the spirit of Habakkuk, or Martha running to meet Jesus after her brother had been dead three days.

It’s full of poems that ask why, God?, but also of poems that cry show me, God…help me, God…heal me, God…turn my eyes to Yours.

One of my favorite lines from Beauty Even Here is nothing and everything has changed, and I feel that deeply – in a different way than I meant in that poem – a year or two later. A good deal has changed in my circumstances, but so little has changed in the tendencies of my heart: to seek the dawn of an answered prayer rather than the face of the One who is answering.

That, also, is the heart of Beauty Even Here, because I am stubborn, stuck in my ways, and so desperately need to be reminded and to remind myself to turn my eyes to Jesus in the midst of painful or unwanted circumstances, rather than just seeking relief and escape.

Spoiler alert if you haven’t read the book: He is the beauty even here.

So may we love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and learn to seek His face before we seek His hand.

He is our light, our joy, our ultimate satisfaction and beauty in both our darkest and most ordinary days.

What a gift He is!! How kind He is! We could not trust our lives to anyone better or more capable and worthy.

May He in truth be the most beautiful One to us in all our days.

Stay the course,

<3 Laurel

A small P.S. For nearly a month I’ve been wanting to get back into the habit of writing down three beautiful things that have happened/I’ve seen each day…as I’ve been writing this, I’ve been convinced that I do indeed need to get back into this habit. If you’d like to join me in doing this for just a month (hopefully you’ll get hooked on it and end up doing it for longer, hehe!), consider this your nudge and your invitation. 🙂

Poetry

manifesto of the unmarried homemaker – a poem

June 1, 2026by Laurel Luehmann6 Comments

Hello, friends!

I was digging through my Notes app (as one does) and ran across this poem from over two years ago.

I thought I’d share.✨

eleven minutes past midnight, my legs are restless for

a mad dash down a winding road,

and I just want to be home…

to curl up in a familiar bed

and know these weary bones can curl

beneath a quilt of home.

my soul stirs, too,

with my cramped and aching muscles,

and I want this journey down a winding road

to lead me safely home…

to curl for the first time in familiar Arms

that hold a depth of home I’ll never fully grasp

till then.

h o m e . . .

it’s a quiet word, unassuming, and yet

it holds the deepest

hopes and dreams of this stumbling soul.

in the scarred flesh and blood of me,

the call of home stirs…

a desire to be the smile

at the end of a man’s long day of honest work

and the refuge and sustainer of a tribe of growing souls.

something in me whispers

this is the life for which you were made,

but wisdom whispers louder visions

of sagging skin and graying hair and

I know

that even dream days fly on dying wings.

and so He teaches me to long for something greater…

to let home mean more

than a picture-perfect vision,

for home is

forgiveness in pain-shot eyes,

plans rearranged so hearts can be realigned,

and whispers of I’m here for you

in the midst of the madding crowd.

it’s a sturdy way of loving

blood and stranger just the same,

and it grows as well in hearts as it does in houses.

Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash

Poetry

God is not giving you breadcrumbs. (a poem and a link to an old post)

May 11, 2026by Laurel LuehmannLeave a Comment

You are not a Father who

pats His children on the head and

asks them to love breadcrumbs

as their playfellows feast sumptuously

at a table weighed down.

You are the Father who,

as the rest of the children run

helter-skelter after the ice cream truck,

taps us on the shoulder

with a finger to Your smiling lips

and whispers, “how about something even better?”

What is it about unanswered prayers that makes us believe God is holding out on us?

Somehow, though we have seen His faithfulness and sovereignty time and again, we need reminders of those sightings time and again. As I tend to write to preach to my own heart, I thought I’d share with this poem an old post that resonated with me again today and pairs nicely with this poem…in my opinion, at least. 🙂

a rambling post on time and hurt and promises (perhaps with a couple of poems) – Laurel Luehmann

The Lord is so wise and kind…may we learn to love His heart and will more deeply day by day!

Stay the course!

<3 Laurel

Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash

Poetry

of radios, hearing, and singing harmony – a nameless poem

April 20, 2026by Laurel Luehmann4 Comments

I wonder if, sometimes, when You speak,

all You hear is Your voice echoing off the shards of

a broken world that is plugging its ears,

or at least has the radio of its self-importance

cranked so high that

it cannot catch Your voice.

what a tragedy, to so deliberately drown

the voice of the Almighty with my own!

so open my ears to

Your voice, Your laughter, Your love songs.

catch my attention with

the things that make Your own heart beat faster.

when You speak, I want to settle at Your feet

or scramble to keep in step with You,

yanking off my stocking cap

to be sure I can catch every word.

when You laugh, I want to laugh with You,

letting my eyes follow Yours to see the joy

and abundance of gladness You see in these days.

when You sing, I want to stop my ears

to every note of wickedness so I can catch

the sweet song of Your Church living in harmony,

with each other and with Your Spirit.

I do not want to come to the end of my days to find

that, enthralled by the sound of my own voice,

I lived in dissonance with the song of the Creator.

each and every one of my days

I want to lace my life beneath Your melody

as a pleasing harmony,

drawing attention not to my own skill but

to the beauty of Your arrangement.

make me a willing musician in Your courts

forever and a day.

Uncategorized

astonished – a poem for early spring

March 23, 2026by Laurel Luehmann1 Comment

Hello, friends!

It’s become tradition for me to feel a sudden rush of poetic inspiration in the early days of spring and then churn out something bursting with hope, enthusiasm, and seasonal nature imagery.

This is what happened when I succumbed to the poetry bug this spring.

the hope that froze over in my heart this winter –

stagnant, stubborn, tenacious –

has thrilled to the breath of spring

and gurgles wild,

dripping from my fingertips, transforming me

to a Midas of sorts,

for all that I touch becomes

gilded in gold even as it lies dead…

for I know the Man whose voice reversed decay,

whose very breath filled the lungs Death claimed,

whose heart will never cease now to beat

for the ones whose fingertips have grazed

His hem and now lie panting,

a s t o n i s h e d

in the wake of His mercy.

staggering wonder of wonders…

He has not passed me by.

the power that pours out of Him

has not staunched this years-long flow of grief,

but it has sweetened the cup I must drink

to the dregs, for –

because of Him – His Father’s cup of wrath

shall never touch my lips.

(oh, glory!)

it is joy with Him now

to share in His sufferings:

to weep with Him for His church,

to ache with Him for His kingdom,

to pray with Him for His Father’s will

to outpace the snowmelt to the ends of the earth.

He is good,

He is good…

He has not passed us by.

Oh, what a gift it is to feel the world coming alive again and to be reminded that we have come alive again in Christ…and will come alive again in Him. What a gift it is to walk with Him.

Stay the course!

<3 Laurel

P.S. I thought it would be worth noting that if you love poetry with both spring-flavored nature imagery and a Lent+Easter bent, you can find that in Beauty Even Here.✨

Uncategorized

winter’s end giveaway

February 24, 2026by Laurel Luehmann23 Comments

Hello, friends!

I’ve been wanting to do a giveaway for a while now, and thought that late February would be a good time to do so for two reasons:

1.) After Valentine’s Day, there just aren’t that many fun things to be celebrating! The weather is nasty, spirits tend to be low…of course a good book or two would help.;)

2.) The books I’d like to share with you would make good late winter/early spring reads, as they’re written for those who are struggling to find joy, hope, and beauty in their current life circumstances.

I’d like to send a book (and maybe even a handwritten poetry card??) to two of you!

One person will receive a copy of Ruth Chou Simon’s Now and Not Yet. Goodness, I loved this book. I think you will, too.

Another person will receive a copy of yours truly’s book of poetry: Beauty Even Here. I’ve gabbed about this one a lot already, but looking through it the other day I remembered that there are a few poems in here that make it perfect for Lent and Holy Week! So there you go.

To enter:

Simply leave a comment on this post! Bonus (not actually, but I’ll be proud of you!) points if you share one thing that you like to do to make the drearier days of the year more lovely, or share a book, song, or Scripture that helps point you to hope and beauty.

If you do want a REAL bonus point, just make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter and let me know that you are in the comments!

I’ll pick two winners on March 13th and reach out to you in the comments.

Stay the course, friends! The days are getting longer, and the day is drawing nearer when Christ will return for His Bride. There is always something beautiful up ahead. <3

-Laurel

Poetry

a poem on normalcy

September 29, 2025by Laurel LuehmannLeave a Comment

Hello, friends!✨

I wrote a poem earlier this month that I thought I’d share here. It’s a reminder I need often! What a gift it is to walk with a sovereign God through “ordinary” days.

may I not, O Lord,

despise these hidden days…

the years stretched long with normalcy,

the months framed by the mundane.

may I never, sore impatient, kick aside

the purpose You’ve disguised in disillusion,

or rush ahead of shabby Providence.

pull me ever closer, Love,

till my racing heartbeat slows

to match the steady, loving pulse of the Divine.

Poetry

a new poem for August…at last!!

August 4, 2025August 4, 2025by Laurel Luehmann2 Comments

Hello, friends!

I haven’t shared a poem on the blog in…a very long time. Let’s change that today, shall we? I’ve come to find that I love referencing seasons and months in my poetry, and this poem reflects that. I hope it can be an encouragement to you.🫶🏼

August…

even its name on my tongue

feels like an exhale of lifted weight…

we made it.

hot, sticky mornings are s l o w l y giving way

to dawns that call for hoodies

as sunlight smiles golden through tasseled corn,

heralding harvest.

the best is yet to come…

the wait will soon be over.

we will soon sink our teeth into

crisp, sweet kernels, and

wipe the gift of butter from our chins

and exclaim in delight over the firstfruits.

we will savor

sweetness forged in the heat of summer,

and that, I believe,

is a foretaste of heaven.

Poetry, writing updates

Beauty Even Here: the book cover and the blurb

June 26, 2025June 25, 2025by Laurel LuehmannLeave a Comment

Hello, friends!!

Just a little update for you…🤭

open my eyes so that I may see

the beauty You’ve unfurled before me!

Beauty Even Here records a weariness familiar to many: one of aching restlessness on a stretch of unwanted road. But often it is that road, running through the depths of our grief and near despair, that can lead us to catch clearer glimpses of God’s goodness in our waiting, His steadfast love in the midst of our suffering, and the glimmers of hope He tucks in the cracks of our shattered dreams and expectations.

Laced with nature imagery and alternating between cadenced pieces and freestyle poetry, this cathartic collection is for the weary Christian, and seeks to offer a fresh yet deeply honest way of seeing our seasons of prolonged pain for what they are: an opportunity to long deeper still for another world, and to see more clearly the heart and love of Christ.

✨Coming August 26th, 2025✨

I can’t wait to share this collection with you!! Preorders will be opening soon, so stay tuned.🫶🏼

writing updates

Applications for my street team are OPEN!!!

June 14, 2025by Laurel LuehmannLeave a Comment

Hey, friends!✨

Release day for my upcoming poetry collection is less than two and a half months away, and I’m looking for a group of people who…

love finding beauty in the tiniest corners of life
want to see my poetry make its way a little farther in the world
can commit to helping me spread the word online about my upcoming poetry release
could go for a good bookish freebie or two (but hey, isn’t that all of us??)

If that describes you, you may be interested in joining my street team! I’ve linked the application below, and there you can find some more details about what being a street team member would entail.

Check it out!

That’s it for today, friends! Regardless of whether or not you’re able to commit to joining the street team, I am so grateful for your readership and your support. Thank you for being here!🫶🏼

Stay the course!

✨Laurel