fiction – Laurel Luehmann

Book Reviews, Journaling, Personal, reading

November memories – 2025

December 1, 2025by Laurel LuehmannLeave a Comment

November was a gift. ❤

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him.”
Lamentations 3:24

Things worth remembering…

the maples in my backyard turning golden
wondering why Marketplace thinks I need to buy an antique coffin
playing with toddler friends
crochet project adventures
washing windows with a vengeance
getting to watch TWO stage productions with my grandma
making shortbread cookies
prayer and worship with fellow believers
God answering a question with a sermon on the radio hours later
a dear friend taking me on my first Trader Joe’s excursion
a coffeeshop writing/reading/schoolwork date with sisters
wandering Fleet Farm like a lost soul looking for bolts in all the wrong places
making a list of delightful blessings God gave this year
time with extended family and all of the laughter that ensued
getting to enjoy a glorious snowfall without having to work through it
decorating my “most tragic” little Christmas tree for the first time

Turn your eyes upon Jesus;
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
Fanny Crosby

What I’ve been reading…

Delighting in the Trinity – Michael Reeves

Indeed, in the triune God is the love behind all love, the life behind all life, the music behind all music, the beauty behind all beauty and the joy behind all joy.

My favorite non-fiction read of 2025, hands down. Read it!!

The Coronation – Olivia Lynn Jarmusch

“What. Is. That?” Millie asked, drawing out each word for dramatic effect.

“It’s called quiche,” Jillian stated simply.

“I’ve never heard of it.” Millie wrinkled her nose, “I don’t think I like it.”

This has been a cute book thus far! It’s perfect for a light evening read.

Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God – David McCasland

“We are not called to be successful in accordance with ordinary standards, but in accordance with a corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying, becoming in that way what it never could be if it were to abide alone.”

I found this book deeply impactful in high school and have been enjoying a reread.

And I will wait on the LORD,
Who hides His face from the house of Jacob;
And I will hope in Him.
Isaiah 8:17

From the journal…

May every fiber of my being magnify and rejoice in You!

Lord, let me be obedient to the point of the death of my dreams.

I am satisfied because of Who God is. Please be the first thing I seek, the One I long for in the driest of seasons. Help me to see Your lovingkindness as truly better than life.

To pray, “Thy will be done,” I must be willing, if the answer requires it, that my will be undone.
Elisabeth Elliot

What made your November memorable?

❤ Laurel

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something through one of the links I share in this post, I receive a small commission…at no extra cost to you.:)

Book Reviews, Journaling, Personal, reading, writing updates

October memories – 2025

November 10, 2025November 9, 2025by Laurel Luehmann1 Comment

Hello, friends!✨

October was so full of good things…

The measure of our love is the measure of our willingness to be inconvenienced.
Elisabeth elliot

Things worth remembering…

watching God open unforeseen doors
going to a new coffeeshop with a friend
finding another four-leaf clover
walks/bike rides with the youngest sister
dear cousins in town…
therefore walks, Dutch Blitz, talks, and a shopping trip
so much music
trying a new soup recipe (it was delish)
taking senior pictures for my sister
watching sessions from Revive Our Hearts’ True Woman Conference with some dear ladies
Farm and Fleet and burgers with a brother
a helpful webinar from Glory Writers
checking trail cams and climbing round bales

Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart…
Ephesians 6:6-7

What I’ve been reading…

Delighting in the Trinity – Michael Reeves

And that is the God revealed by Jesus Christ. Before He ever created, before He ever ruled the world, before anything else, this God was a Father loving His Son.

AHHHHH!!! Read this book!!! I’ve known the Lord since childhood, but this book digs so deeply into the triune nature of God and what it says about Him (and consequently about our relationship with Him), I feel like I’m meeting and falling in love with Him for the first time all over again.✨

Jo’s Boys – Louisa May Alcott

Prosperity suits some people, and they blossom best in a glow of sunshine; others need the shade, and are the sweeter for a touch of frost.

This one was so good, even though my favorite boy didn’t get his happy ending…

Now and Not Yet – Ruth Chou Simons

Gardening is one part labor of our hands and one part God’s sovereign care through creation. It’s a reminder to us that God often chooses to provide at the intersection of our just get started and His watch me do this.

Hands down one of the very best books I’ve read this year. I came to it expecting a recipe for surviving unwanted circumstances and came away challenged to thrive in the pieces and seasons of life I wouldn’t have chosen. It was also an encouragement to me to stop moping at the doors God’s closed to me and instead start asking Him to show me the doors He’s opening and give me the courage to walk through them. If you’re struggling with discontentment or restlessness, read this book if you can.

Before I Called You Mine – Nicole Deese

“The way to shape a child’s heart is through love. And the way to shape a child’s mind is through literature. When you read to a child, you accomplish both.”

Romance still isn’t my genre, hehe, but I so enjoy Nicole Deese’s writing style and endearing characters. I listened to the audiobook after my sister read the book, and it was so much fun to discuss it with her. I’d recommend this book if you enjoy the clean contemporary romance genre, fun-loving male MCs (think a hilarious dinosaur obsession), parts of the story told through text threads, and some adorable kids.

Loving Your Husband Before You Even Have One – Kim Vollendorf

Character is shaped by the level of God’s control in our lives.

This one popped up as a recommended audiobook on Spotify, and, to be honest, I was skeptical but in possession of lots of audiobook hours to use before the end of the month, so…I started it. I haven’t listened to much of it, but I’ve been so pleasantly surprised. Thus far it’s been a convicting and encouraging listen.

A New Song – Jan Karon

“‘Snickers has ear mites, I hope Barnabas is doin’ fine in all those sandspurs, I hope to th’ Lord you’ll check his paws on a regular basis.’ Emma was running her straw around the bottom of the cup and sucking with great expectation, but not finding much. He turned the volume down on the answering machine.”

Continuing the Mitford series…as always, it’s a lighthearted yet touching read.

Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,
And revive me in Your way.
Psalm 119:37

From the journal…

Help me to treasure and see as weighty the gaze of Your eyes alone.

I laugh in wonderstruck delight

at the order You have settled in the heavens:

the way You set Earth in its orbit

just close enough to smile at the rays of the sun.

and yet I worry that I – a trillionth of a speck

on the face of North America –

missed something that You wanted me to find,

and now it can never be recovered.

Your sovereignty, O Lord,

has taken into consideration my clumsiness…

Ever heighten my sensitivity to sin in my own life and root it out, but ever deepen my comprehension of the depth of Your grace. Don’t let Satan wield my awareness of sin (confessed and repented-of sin) to drive me deep into despair and a sense of worthlessness…show me Your glory and Your mercy!

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
titus 2:11-14

What made your October memorable?

❤ Laurel

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something through one of the links I share in this post, I receive a small commission…at no extra cost to you.:)

Book Reviews, Journaling, Personal, reading, writing updates

September memories – 2025

October 6, 2025by Laurel LuehmannLeave a Comment

Hello, friends!✨

September was a gem…

They’ll tell you that arts and humanities aren’t practical and then read poetry at funerals and weddings, cry over films and search for meaning in ancient philosophy. Surviving is one type of practicality, knowing why we bother is another.
– on the importance of the arts and humanities

Things worth remembering…

playing music with my youngest sisters
fixing a dresser drawer (#powerful)
a cute pumpkin and flower farm
enjoying chai again
catching up with an old friend
getting my braces off (!!!)
biting into an apple for the first time in YEARS
gorgeous sunrises and sunsets
chats about surrender
the gospel preached many times over at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service
the sobering reminder to not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ✨
riding with siblings in farm equipment
the Great Eggy Microwave Explosion
surviving way too many stairs
the overwhelming gentleness of God

Apart from sin, we have nothing of which to be ashamed. Only an evil desire to shine makes us want to appear other than we are.
A.W. Tozer

What I’ve been reading…

Little Men – Louisa May Alcott

The small hopes and plans and pleasures of children should be tenderly respected by grown-up people, and never rudely thwarted or ridiculed.

I finished reading this book this September…it got five stars from me.✨

Jo’s Boys – Louisa May Alcott

“You’ve put your foot in it now, old boy!…” And Dolly laughed so heartily that a spoonful of ice flew upon the head of a lady sitting below him, and got him into a scrape also.

Ahh, I’m so enjoying this one. I don’t know that I’ll like it quite as much as Little Men, but getting to see the children from that book grow up and find their way in the world has been so much fun.

Now and Not Yet – Ruth Chou Simons

It’s the boring, everyday fruitfulness that makes a life.

This book has been on my TBR ever since it came out, and I’m finally getting to it. God’s timing is impeccable…this is a very applicable (and convicting) read right now, and it will definitely make my list of favorites. I highly recommend it.

Choose prayer. Choose courage. Choose beauty. Choose adventure. Choose family. Choose a life of faith. Most importantly, choose Christ.
Erika kirk

From the journal…

Lord Jesus, You are my portion…may I ever see the richness of that!

Be most beautiful to me, Jesus.

This is enough…to be seen and chosen and cherished by the One Who handcrafted me for His glory and pleasure, for such a time as this. Help me to trust Your heart when I cannot see the significance of these days and circumstances. Keep me so very close to You. Don’t let me poke artificial fruit onto my branches, but abide, deeply delighting in You, day after day after day. Give me the discipline and desire to abide in You when the siren calls are loud. Glorify Your name in me.

Father, thank You for the gift of Your Spirit. Constant companionship, comfort, intercession when I don’t have the strength or the words…what a gift it is.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

❤ Laurel

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something through one of the links I share in this post, I receive a small commission…at no extra cost to you.:)

Book Reviews, Journaling, Personal, reading, writing updates

August memories – 2025

September 1, 2025by Laurel Luehmann2 Comments

Hello, friends!✨

Well…it’s not the first day of autumn, but now that it’s September, I’m letting myself pretend it’s autumn. It has taken discipline, but now my inner Winnie-the-Pooh is going to fully enjoy the chilly, hot chocolate-y mornings.

But August was a lovely month…

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8

Things worth remembering…

weather cool enough to open windows
FaceTiming with my brothers
overcooking a sweet potato in the microwave
playing “Blessed Be Your Name” with my little sisters
flowers and a thoughtful note on my front steps after a long week
sunrise walks
a celebratory anniversary dinner
young adult Bible studies
spending a couple of weeks with a dear friend
seeing Beauty Even Here in print for the first time
building a castle (a small one, uninhabitable) with a cousin
walking to the post office
meeting my brother’s new puppy (a.k.a. falling in love)
watching The Fellowship of the Ring for the very first time
reading more consistently
timely sermons
conversations with friends
Beauty Even Here releasing (!!!)
a pumpkin white mocha😍(I broke my “no fall things until September vow” just for release day)
driving with my grandma

We all long for Eden and are constantly glimpsing it: our whole nature is soaked with the sense of exile.
J.R.R. Tolkien

What I’ve been reading…

Little Men – Louisa May Alcott

“That’s why we made them for you,” cried Tommy, standing on his head as the most appropriate way of expressing his emotions.

I’m so glad one of my sisters recommended this book to me…it is such a joy!! Louisa May Alcott’s writing style is one of my favorites, and this is just such a jovial yet heartfelt story. It’s also really sweet to see the characters from Little Women as more mature adults. I’m savoring every minute of it.

Fantastic Mr. Fox – Roald Dahl

Well, that was an hour or so of my life that I won’t get back…

It was an amusing light read. Even if the story itself wasn’t great, Roald Dahl has such a funny way of putting things.

The Pursuit of God – A.W. Tozer

…now begins the glorious pursuit, the heart’s happy exploration of the infinite riches of the Godhead.

This is my third time through this book, and what a delight it is! I’ve written down so many quotes from it in my journal over the years.

Unblemished – Sara Ella

This entire time I’ve been closing myself off from love, but it’s been the solution all along. I’ve built walls at every turn. No more.

Oof. YA isn’t my genre, but I was fascinated by the concept of this story (a slight Beauty and the Beast retelling) and had some audiobook hours to use. I didn’t go into it knowing it was a TRILOGY, and now the epilogue might twist my arm into braving the rest of the teenage angst and listening to the rest of the audiobooks. (Love triangles exasperate me, though, so we’ll see what happens, hehe.)

A Christmas Memory – Truman Capote

The mill owner’s wife persists. “A dollar, my foot! Fifty cents. That’s my last offer. Goodness, woman, you can get another one.” In answer, my friend gently reflects: “I doubt it. There’s never two of anything.”

My grandma lent me an illustrated version of this short story, and goodness sakes…don’t read it if you don’t want an emotional ending! It’s beautiful, though…a skillfully written recollection (I realized halfway through that it’s autobiographical!) of a bittersweet childhood Christmas with all of the feels.

Don’t you know that your Father in heaven
knows just what you’re needing?
seek Him first and everything else
that you need will be given
don’t you see, He loves you much more
than the lilies and sparrows
come and rest
don’t waste a day being scared of tomorrow.
from “lilies and sparrows” by Jess Ray

From the journal…

My times are in Your hand, and it is a strong, wise, loving one. ❤

Lord, thank You that these trials do not need to define me the way Satan wants them to. He wants to use them to harden my heart, sharpen my tongue, weaken my mind and resolve. When I walk through them with You, You will use them to soften my hard edges, tune my ear to Your voice, sharpen my eye for Your heart and Your goodness. What a gift, Father…may I be faithful to steward it well.

God formed us for His pleasure, and so formed us that we, as well as He, can, in divine communion, enjoy the sweet and mysterious mingling of kindred personalities. He meant us to see Him and live with Him and draw our life from His smile.
A.W. Tozer

❤ Laurel

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Book Reviews, Journaling, Personal, reading

July memories – 2025 (and preorder announcement!!)

August 18, 2025August 16, 2025by Laurel Luehmann2 Comments

Hello, friends!✨

Man, July was a month for the books! And speaking of books…

Beauty Even Here is now available for preorder!!!

Scurry on over to Amazon if you’d like to order a copy. I am SO excited to finally share this book with you!!✨

Claim your copy here!!

Anyway. On to the regular content…

O LORD God of hosts,
Who is mighty like You, O LORD?
Your faithfulness also surrounds You.
You rule the raging of the sea;
When its waves rise, You still them.
psalm 89:8-9

Things worth remembering…

coffee and crocheting with my mom
dabbling in songwriting again
watching fireworks from my brother’s pickup
not completely missing my cousin’s bridal shower due to traffic…🫠
completing my twenty-third trip around the sun
enjoying the malt wagon and the county fair with siblings
TRAILER RACES
book club with sisters and friends
lotsss of music practice
playing country music over a football game (SO much more fun than listening to the announcer, hehe!)
my cousin’s wedding🥹🫶🏼
Getting ARCs of Beauty Even Here sent out (!!!)
riding a school bus for the very first time in my life (#homeschooled)
An Anne Wilson concert with my sister😍

Let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.
1 Peter 4:9

What I’ve been reading…

The Words We Lost – Nicole Deese

I’m not a fan of the romance genre, but I did so enjoy reading through this book with a book club!! Nicole Deese’s characters and prose were absolutely delightful…and the conversations and elephant pits that sprang up around it were certainly a highlight of the summer.

And honestly, that’s about all…there was so much life this July, I didn’t read too much. XD

Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.
Psalm 34:9-10

From the journal…

May we be utterly surrendered to You and Your leading. Let our brokenness gentle us to hear Your voice and to joyfully heed.

I know that in making a way, You must clear out a good deal of brush…make our hearts and lives surrendered to Your purpose-filled demolition so You may build beauty here.

Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom
Lead Thou me on;
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead Thou me on;
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene,
One step enough for me.
John Henry Newman

❤ Laurel

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something through one of the links I share in this post, I receive a small commission…at no extra cost to you.:)

Book Reviews, Journaling, Personal, reading

June memories – 2025

July 9, 2025by Laurel LuehmannLeave a Comment

Hello, friends!✨

As per usual with my writing this year, I’m a bit later in getting this out, but…here it is. This June was a joy to revisit.🫶🏼

Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store.
Take my self and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee,
Ever, only, all for Thee.
Frances Ridley Havergal

Things worth remembering…

the bonfire that was carried across the yard
misty mornings and open windows
the first of the white clover blossoms
kayaking
raspberry jam from the farmers’ market
the Nerf gun wars
going to a favorite overlook with the youngest sisters
this liturgy🥺🫶🏼
learning that you shouldn’t attempt egg drop soup if the broth isn’t simmering
raccoon prints on my door🤔
a movie night with my mom
Beauty Even Here’s cover reveal
leading worship with a sound system again
more bonfire shenanigans
a successful trip to the guitar shop
blackberry lemonade

My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.
Psalm 62:5

What I’ve been reading…

A New Song – Jan Karon

Back to good old Mitford! This series is a comfort read for me.

The Words We Lost – Nicole Deese

One of my dear friends started a book club, and we’re reading through this one! I’ve really been enjoying this reread…Nicole Deese has such a lovely way of wording things.

Without a Trace – Colleen Coble

I found the plot intriguing and some of the characters endearing…the writing itself not so much.

The Gray Poet – Caitlin Miller

This is a short story, and Caitlin doesn’t waste a single word. This was a beautifully written and powerful read…plus it’s free for her newsletter subscribers!

The secret of joy is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.
Elisabeth Elliot

From the journal…

I think of how I have come to recognize the voices of singers…by repeated listening. May I repeatedly listen to and choose Your song, O Lord!

Don’t let me despise the small, weighty quietness of this season.

Deepen my trust in and remembrance of Your goodness and mercy, for they do pursue me each and every day of my life. I have exchanged vows with You that extend infinitely beyond the veil of death, and have covenanted with the God-Man whose Word has never returned void.

My deepest vocation is to be a witness to the glimpses of God I have been allowed to catch.
Henri Nouwen

What made your June memorable?

❤ Laurel

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something through one of the links I share in this post, I receive a small commission…at no extra cost to you.:)

Book Reviews, Journaling, Personal, reading

May memories – 2025

June 2, 2025by Laurel LuehmannLeave a Comment

Let your care and wish be to glorify God by your life here as long as He pleases, even though it be in the midst of toil, and conflict, and suffering, and leave Him to say when “it is enough”.
charles spurgeon

Things worth remembering…

finding rue anemone in the woods
a small road trip with my mom
COUSIN TIME!!!
guacamole
blossoms on the tree in the front yard
Reading Poppleton and Alfie with the aforementioned cousin
a random child at the lake sitting down next to me while I was reading
printing off a copy of Beauty Even Here for edits (!!!)
experiencing the temporary tattoo parlor that popped up around the dining room table one night
finding a solution for my lack of bookshelves problem…three cheers for double decker coffee tables!
watching Mrs. Miniver with Grandma and finding that it’s a new favorite
noodle soup and FaceTime with a dear friend
High, Low, No Goat
the first cutting of hay this year
an Anne of Green Gables movie night with friends
RASPBERRY CORDIAL ❤
hiking and good conversation

Now through a frosted pane we trace
The outline of His perfect will,
Content to trust His love until
We know and see Him face to face.
Amy carmichael

What I’ve been reading…

If I Live – Terri Blackstock

This was the final book in the If I Run Christian mystery and suspense trilogy. I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the first two…it got into the mind of one of the villains while he was doing his bad things and that’s something I personally don’t care for. I was grateful for resolution at last, though!!😅

Disclaimer: due to thematic elements, I personally will not recommend this series to anyone younger than 18.

The Lost Rose – Victoria Lynn

I got a hundred pages in (it’s ginormous!!) and it just wasn’t clicking with me yet so I set it down. I definitely want to come back to this one of these days because I’ve enjoyed the previous two books in The Chronicles of Elira, but I guess that day is not today!

The Cost of Discipleship – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Still on my end table, hehe!

Do Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly: How Ordinary People Can Change the World – Savannah Jane McCrary

I did a book swap with Savannah, and her book has been my tractor companion recently!

you only live twice – Hosanna Emily

Still reading through this one!

Dead and Buried – Cydnie Trenholm

Ahhh!!! I’m so glad I’m finally into this book. It’s a YA thriller, and a sequel to a book I really enjoyed. The banter is so. much. fun.

The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD,
Like the rivers of water;
He turns it wherever He wishes.
Proverbs 21:1

From the journal…

My life is not my own. It rests in the hands of my omniscient, omnipotent Father, who loves me so deeply, more deeply than I can be loved by anyone else. Therefore I don’t have to wonder if there is meaning or intention in where He has me now. I don’t need to fear that I’ve somehow missed an exit or an on ramp. I am not overlooked or crowded out by other items on His to-do list.

May I pursue You as You pursue me, day after day after day, filled with Your goodness, lost in Your love.

I thank You that Your goodness and Your mercy are truly running after me every day of my life…even on the ones when I feel that I’ve botched it.

O royal Giver, blessed be Thy choice.
Amy carmichael

What made your May memorable?

❤ Laurel

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something through one of the links I share in this post, I receive a small commission…at no extra cost to you.:)

Uncategorized

December memories – 2024

January 6, 2025by Laurel Luehmann2 Comments

Goodness sakes…the last blog post of the year!

To hope is to wait with your heart intertwined, knotted up, tied to God Himself.
To be a people of hope is to let go of hoping in all the things of this world, and have all your hope, all your heart, all your aching, waiting expectations, bound to Jesus.
Ann Voskamp

Things worth remembering…

Building a book tree with a sister
Studying Malachi
Seeing Sidewalk Prophets in concert at last!!
The drive home with sad songs and 40 ounces of Nighty Night Extra
Chik-fil-a, Barnes & Noble, and the guitar shop
Christmas lights!!
Finishing my short story and getting it out to my newsletter gang
Honest, tearful conversations
My sisters’ Christmas program
Hot cocoa and gift wrapping
Savoring the white Christmas while it lasted
Singing in five-part harmony around the bonfire
Walks on soggy gravel roads when the snow melted
Jigging with the youngest sisters
A misty moisty morning
Several outrageous rounds of Who What When Where Why

That was hope. Not a violent jolt or reawakening,
But the constancy of living as though each moment was worth it,
Rising up under pain because by the power of the living God it will not end us –
It will not end us; it will not end here.
Hannah Hodgson

What I’ve been reading…

The Boys in the Boat – Daniel James Brown

It’s taking me awhile to finish this one, but it’s brilliantly written! I’m just easing into non-fiction again. XD

The Greatest Gift – Ann Voskamp

I didn’t end up reading this one all the way through like I did last year, as I was reading another Advent book (see below).

Advent: a collection – Hannah Hodgson

If only Hannah’s books were available for purchase all the time…her poetry blesses me so much and I want to share it with the world. If you want to catch a glimpse of her poetry, though, go follow her on Instagram!

A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens

Oh, goodness, this book brought me so much joy!

A Thousand Mornings – Mary Oliver

I so wish Mary Oliver had had a better grasp of theology, because if that had been the case this collection would be absolutely flawless. The beauty of her thoughts and way of expressing them is so natural. I adore her poetic style.

A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes…and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.
dietrich bonhoeffer

From the journal…

Oh, Father, help me to catch a vision for something greater than my own life story!

You’re never late, I know.

You have never skimped a single one of your children, Father, and I pray that I would know that deeply, even if Your richness and generosity meet me in this same position of life next year.

Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.
Luke 10:21

What are you tucking into your book of memories from this December?

Stay the course!

Laurel

P.S. My short story, Grace Werner’s Perfectly Imperfect Christmas, is available to you for FREE when you sign up for my weekly newsletter! You can do that here. ❤

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something through one of the links I share in this post, I receive a small commission…at no extra cost to you.:)

Flash Fiction

Eternity’s Wake – Flash Fiction

December 17, 2020by Laurel Luehmann4 Comments

After years of procrastination, he opened the door. The room would not empty itself.

His breath caught as he peered in at expressions of her wild glory. Bed unmade, the quilt carelessly crumpled. Bookshelves cluttered, their overflow strewn on the floor. Dresser drawers protruding, socks and jeans pouring out.

She had not readied the room for death.

He shut the door behind him, staring with vision already blurred. Where to start?

He stooped and began to gather the mementos of life she’d left scattered on the carpet. He turned over a chocolate wrapper and stared at the white paper lining. Her scrawl was smudged with chocolate. funny looking at times open loud very blunt

What in the world? A corner of his mouth twisted upwards, and he folded the wrapper carefully. A few pennies, note cards, and dirty socks later, the floor was clean. Clean was relative. She never vacuumed.

The corner of a notebook peeked from underneath the bed. He pawed at it and cradled it in his hands. The same handwriting that made the candy wrapper priceless labeled this cover July 24th, 2016 –

2016 – Eternity.

He flipped it open and paged through. Records of schoolwork. Stormy friendships. A recital and her first trip by plane. Some of the pages bore wrinkled bumps. Tear stains, he guessed. The brown spots had to be spilled coffee.

The last entry – written under a date that was seared into his heart – caught his eye and held it.

I’ve just got this feeling… it’s gonna be a great day.

It certainly was, he thought…

For you.

Photo by Martin Castro on Unsplash

reading, writing

The Problem with Christian Fiction

December 7, 2020by Laurel Luehmann10 Comments

Shocked you again, didn’t I?

But seriously, though… today I want to share with you about the problem I have with many works of Christian fiction.

They force a message/moral on the reader.

I don’t know how many times I’ve been turned off of a Christian fiction book because of preachiness. A stiff sermon in the form of fiction really frustrates me. If you really want to write an essay on Christianity, please just go do it. ‘Cause that’s what your exposition should be. Please don’t mask it with fiction.

I firmly believe that fiction should not be a platform for preaching. Tell your story and let it do its thing.

Disclaimer: please understand that I’m not knocking sermons or essays… I love them. I’m just saying that they have their own distinct place… they don’t need to masquerade in fictitious literature.🙂

Believe it or not, it’s possible to glorify God through fiction without preaching at your readers.

The people who influence us most are not those who buttonhole us and talk to us, but those who live their lives like the stars in heaven and the lilies in the field, perfectly simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mould [sic] us. – Oswald Chambers

I believe this applies to fiction, as well. I can’t tell you how many works of fiction have made me stop in my tracks and evaluate my relationship with God and how I live it out… without being preachy. The writer just let the story play out… and let me, the reader, learn from the natural flow of the story.

In my opinion, writing a story to teach your readers a lesson is stepping into dangerous territory.

A couple of years ago, God was teaching me something amazing. My natural reaction was to share my new-found knowledge with others. And so I thought…

Why not write my (beloved) Civil War story so the main character learns the lesson I just learned?

So I started doing it. I planned to put my main character through a series of disastrous and depressing events (which is something my writer’s heart morbidly enjoys doing), and have her come through this scarring experience with the realization that Jesus was enough for her, no matter what.

Thankfully I set that project aside for a time. When I came back to it, having learned more about the writing craft and just life in general, I realized I had messed up.

I was trying to force my story into a preconceived mold. A preachy mold.

I know people laugh when writers complain about their characters getting out of control and doing things the writer never meant for them to do… but it’s a real struggle. A well-developed character should surprise its creator and do things that it was never “supposed” to do. Annoying as this is, letting the characters live their lives authentically is one of the best things a writer can do.

Trust that your readers can learn from your characters’ experiences without preachy interference.

I’m certainly not implying that stories shouldn’t have themes and morals… they should. True stories have these! In short, I’m saying that the stories you write can (and should!) be meaningful and convicting without being awkward and preachy.

Let your story be just that – a story. Trust the incredible power of fiction… let your story play out and let your readers glean from it what they will… just like they observe real life and glean from it without exposition.

This is my opinion… what’s yours? Do you agree with me? Disagree? A little bit of both? Please share… I always love feedback and discussion.:)