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Abbie Lay

@abbielay

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my friends call me gail

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Summer’s End by @abbielay

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13 days ago

The end of this summer marks the end of 10 FULL YEARS IN FSM.
So I’m obviously feeling sentimental.
24 year old me would never have thought I would do this for 10+ years, but wow am I grateful that she wasn’t the one authoring the story.
I could write a million words about the last 10 years, but the truth is they can be summarized in just a few - “yet not I but through Christ in me”.
I am a kinder, gentler, braver, humbler, wiser, more loving, more gracious, more courageous, more empathetic person and it has only been because of the patience and grace of God. His kindness to let me fail, and strive, and grasp for control — only to constantly remind me that I’m just a drop in the ocean of his plan. I can hardly contain it all.
I often can feel like I don’t have much to show for my life, but if this is what I have to show it is so much more than enough.
What a gift to find out over and over again that at the end of myself, he is there with abundantly more.

Thanks for the last 10 years, FSM, you’re probably never getting rid of me.
Not pictured: the 100s of students and leaders and families that have set up home in my heart. taken in FSM Rogers by @abbielay

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2 months ago

rt if this makes you teary eyed by @abbielay

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3 months ago

high time to bring back #lovesummerhateeverythingelse by @abbielay

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4 months ago

How lucky am I?! taken in Estes Park, Colorado by @abbielay

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4 months ago

took a walk at work☀️🫐🥹 taken in Fellowship Rogers by @abbielay

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4 months ago

cup beyond half full taken in Rogers, Arkansas by @abbielay

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5 months ago

signs of summer by @abbielay

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6 months ago

“The Lord bless you and keep; The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26

I want so many things for the people I love, so many good things; I am always filled with hope and expectancy and tend to dream and plan and try to write my people’s stories for them. But the longer I do all of this, the longer I love people and live life with them, the more I realize that really the best hope I can have is that they be blessed and kept. That they feel the warmth of the presence of the Holy and that they stand in the light of grace. And that in a world of chaos their souls dwell at peace. The rest of the story will write itself.
Grateful for another week with so many of the people I love. taken in Memphis, Tennessee by @abbielay

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7 months ago

I used to really love this Fitzgerald quote in The Last Tycoon that said, “I wear my heart where God put it - on the inside” — but anymore, I’m trying to let my heart out to breathe, to get a little sun — these are the little moments that put my heart right on my sleeve by @abbielay

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7 months ago

If this is all I’ll ever have — it will have been more than enough taken in Bentonville, Arkansas by @abbielay

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9 months ago

my word for 2025 was steady.
my life has been a testament of the Lord’s steadiness, and I wanted to grow in my steadiness in return. To not be so moved by or dependent on circumstance or situation — to be more faithful, more peaceful, more free.
I’ve just spent so many years of life thinking that I will change and grow if my circumstances change, and that did nothing but keep me stuck and striving. How much more beautiful to live in a life where I trust that everything is just as it should be, that I am just as I should be, that there is peace and joy and hope and beauty and growth and goodness that transcends all, and I get to live in it deeply if I continue to trust and abide and release the illusion of control.
Life is a delight and a gift and everyday is so, so precious and what an infinitely blessed truth to walk in. Sometimes nothing in your life changes, except for you and maybe that’s the whole point. Grateful to be a deeper, kinder, steadier version of myself than I was 365 days ago. I can’t wait to see who I am next year! taken in Bentonville, Arkansas by @abbielay

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9 months ago