live from new york, its saturday night.

Day 6: a picture of someone you would trade places with for a day

boomtown. duh it would be Tina Fey. I know its sounds silly and you're probably thinking that there are thousands of people who make an impact in the lives of the lost and hurting that i could want to trade places with, but the fact of the matter is that tina fey is the funniest woman in america. i love funny. funny is a big part of my life. come on, the woman is playing a typewriter for crying out loud. she's hilarious, she's a brilliant writer, she's smart, she's in one of my all time favorite movies(Baby Mama). but this does have conditions, i would want to trade places with her in the past, i would want to live her life on a saturday night when she was still a cast member on SNL. She's the best of the best and i LOVE her. tina fey, you might just be one of my heroes. thanks for making me laugh and reminding me that sometimes girls can be just as funny as boys. i appreciate your inspiration.

-abbie fey...its a sign. tina fey rhymes with abbie lay.

ninjas and Jesus

Day 5: picture of your favorite memory

so, this is a picture from my mission trip to Belize last summer. I am in love with this picture. It brings joy to my heart every time i see it because it reminds me of the love that Christ was able to share with needy children through myself and a group of 8th and 9th graders, its powerful stuff. God revealed Himself so much to me through the trip and proved Himself so faithful and my love for Him and His children deepened so so much. I miss these beautiful faces and the sweet hearts that are attached to them. my team was incredible and i loved being able to share the experience with students that i have been privileged enough to pour into for the past 4 years, God is faithful and that is why Belize is one of my favorite memories. It will always be remembered as the time that God showed up and showed off His faithfulness and grace. seriously my heart overflows with love for Him.

-Abbie

BEST NIGHT EVER.

Day Four: a picture of your favorite night

ok, so back in high school...a solid 2 years ago tiffany pennington and i were OBSESSED with the jonas brothers, namely Joe and Nick. and when i say obsessed i mean obsessed. i mean, i own all there music. i know every word to every song. i've seen every music video. i know all there info. OH and we've been to 2 concerts, one which we traveled 10 hours for....

in this picture we were waiting for the concert to start, we had already been there since like 10 o'clock that morning and by now it was roughly 2 hours before SHOW TIME. this is my favorite picture from my favorite, 2 random guys we met outside of the BOK center who looked awesome so we took a picture with them. anyway the night was awesome cause we loved the jo bros, we made some incredible memories, and it made us even closer. loved every single moment of that entire day and it continues to be one of my favorite memories from high school. sure it was silly and we spent a lot of money, but i would never trade the amazing time with one of my best friends.

-we stalked the jobros

-we got lost in down town tulsa

-we danced for hours

-we took pictures with random people and statues

-we got the attention of the jonas brothers(we made them laugh cause we were dancing crazy)

best ever.

-abbie lay.

Funke

Day 3: picture of the cast from your favorite tv show.

"Now the story of a wealthy family who lost everything and the one son who had no choice but to hold them all together."

Arrested Development. done and done. my favorite show ever.

-abbie bluth.

Justice Beaver

Day 2: a picture of someone you've been close to the longest.

alright, so this is myself and my sister stefanie. It is such a blessing to have an older and it has been absolutely amazing to see the different ways we've related and the different forms our sisterhood has taken on over the years. She's almost 9 years older than me so by the time i was old enough to play and be fun she was in high school and the picture above was taken the summer before her freshman year of college, i was only 8. So in my younger years there wasn't much of a relationship but when she left for college she left behind an incredible impact and something that I am still thankful for to this day. She made me a journal and put this very picture on it and called it "Sister Secrets" and it was to be our thing, and that meant the world to me. So much of who i am today is because of her and i don't even think she knows. It has been amazing to see what a steadfast, trusting woman of God she has been all these years, she is absolutely incredible and truly set the standard for me. i love a challenge and living up to the amazing woman she is is definitely a challenge in itself, but i have always wanted to be like her in many, many ways. She is a great sister and as we've both gotten older she is more than a sister but one of my best friends, always there for me with love and encouragement. i am thankful for her daily and can't imagine life without her. i have learned so much by just being able to observe her and the way that she lives life. She's the best.

thats all.

-Abbie

faint lights

i wanted to do a 30 photo challenge, but less people will know i do it if its done on my blog rather than facebook...haha, so this is it. lets see if i can keep a commitment. only way i'll be able to prep for marriage. hahaha. ok. done with stupid jokes.

Day 1: photo of yourself and 15 facts.

1. there are very, very few pictures out there of just myself, and all the ones that exist are somewhere along these lines...cheesin it.

2. i wish i was a hipster, but i'm not lanky enough for it.

3. i am addicted to sweet tea, for sure.

4. my heart is stuck in the midwest, i love kansas with my whole heart.

5. i think mustaches are hilarious. never get old.

6. i love journaling, its therapeutic.

7. i wish i could quit school and just do ministry all day, errr day.

8. i have my future children's names picked out. sorry i'm a freak.

9. i love glitter, just a little too much.

10. my favorite animals are dolphins: beautiful, smart, swim all day. done.

11. i LOVE toddlers and tiaras. once again, sorry i'm a freak.

12. i had a southern accent when i was 4 years old...how precious is that?

13. not to toot my own horn but my ipod is awesome.(and by ipod i mean music on my ipod.)

14. i have the cutest nephew in the the entire world, and don't try and argue, cause i'll win.

15. i love making people laugh, more than almost anything.

day onsies is donesies.

boomtown. (#16. boomtown is my favorite word)

-abb

avoidance

heres the deal, i don't like to blog without inspiration but i think this time i'm blogging in search of it, so i'm going to tell de internets a leel somting somting, that makes my heart glad...2 things...no, 3.

numero uno:

DAVE BARNES. ok ladies and gentlemen, although he is more commonly known for his booming success in the Christian music industry, i like to think of him as the funniest man in America. this is the conclusion that i came to after i viewed his "Balumtine'th Day" video. i have no words when i watch him. he makes me cry from laughing so hard. any time i'm feeling down i watch his videos. sure he has a great voice and is super musically talented and all, but lets get real, HE'S HILARIOUS. nuff said. police never die. i want to be best friends with him and make videos all day. 24/7. besties.

2. Ben Rector and Steve Moakler. what can i say? they were wonderful. 3rd time seeing Ben, 1st time seeing Steve, and so glad that i did. Ben Rector is so fun and always sings about how great the Arkansas Razorbacks are, love his songs, love his voice. Steve Moakler is amazing. fun fact, Keith Urban was the first country singer he liked, and guess who my first country love was? thats right folks, Keith Urban. Anyway both of them are great guys and super kind and love Jesus. i would say "thanks for the great show" but neither of them will ever read this, so i won't go there. it'd just be cliche.

3. Sunrises. i. love. sunrises. thats right. they are beautiful. i love that its morning, its the beginning, the start of a new day full of its opportunities, lessons, surprises, disappointments, and little happies. Its the light pushing away the dark. i think thats why its my favorite. i, ever so thankfully, get to wake up with the sun every monday, wednesday, and friday cause i have a 7:30 class, and thats when the best of the sun is coming up, when the sky behind you is dark and the sky before you is bright and orange and yellow. geez i love it so much. its fresh and dewy and just a little bit foggy. i just can't get over how much i love it. its one of the few things that i would wake up at 6 a.m. for. in an ideal world where everyone was a morning person i would get proposed to at a sunrise somewhere scenic. cause seriously, thats how i would love to remember it forever. love it. so if any eligible bachelors out there are reading this take some notes and start training your body to wake up early now, cause thats my one desire. ok. good. glad i covered all my bases.

ok, those are my 3 things that make my heart happy today.

sorry for the lack of inspiration contained in this blog. i wish it was though, wish i could have imparted some sort of wisdom or at least one good word. but alas. i have not and i'm just gonna have to be ok with that.

now, to write my lit paper. oh wait, i still don't want to...good.

good night.

-abbie lay.

also, on my January 24th post entitled "love you oh so well" i posted a lie. i told the world that i have never had a recurring dream, which completely contradicts with another post that says i have a recurring dream in which i can breath underwater. so i apologize for lying. the internet is supposed to be based on complete trust and honesty, and i completely broke that trust by saying what i said. i formally retract my before stated remark and ask that my readers forgive me and go on reading my blog as if it never happened. lets take this seriously. its a big deal....

Thankfulness

Contentment is a tricky, tricky thing. Just when I think that I'm doing well and have exactly what i need satan throws a curveball at me and i foolishly let it get the best of me. Then i spend days and sometimes weeks trying and trying to get back to that place of contentment, only to be thrown off course again. Honestly it drives me absolutely crazy. If only i knew how to completely rid myself of worldly desires and be singleminded in my desire for Christ.

So whats got me discontent right now? well, i'm bout to drop an honesty bomb on y'all and get vulnerable. I sometimes feel like its silly to be vulnerable on the internet, but i figure i would tell the few people who read this about it anyway, so i might as well go there and save myself some time.

here we go:

i am lonely.

yes. thats right. i am lonely.

not in the sense of not having friends, because i do, but in the sense of feeling the desire for significance and importance to a group of people. this is not at all written to make anyone feel sorry for because i think its dangerous to be some ones primary, i'm just stating the fact that i'm not some ones primary and although its a blessing it is still difficult and lonely. I have been down every avenue in my life. i've been the "popular" kid, or at least semi popular, i've been the outcast, i've been the cool kid, i've been the awkward kid, i've been the kid who spends every weekend with their parents , and i've been the kid who's so busy with friends they're never home, but what i've found is that my favorite person to be is the one who spends time with The Lord.

I remember once about a year ago i was praying and i told God that if He needed me to be lonely i would take it with a grateful and loving heart, but that i really, really didn't want to be lonely. well, i see now that my view of loneliness was completely skewed at that point. Loneliness isn't a punishment from God, to be honest it is a blessing. Now i may be throwing you off with this, but stick with me. I truly believe that loneliness from peers is a sign of closeness to God. When you are steadfastly following the Lord less and less people are going to understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. My loneliness is a direct result of my relationship with God, so heres the crazy part, I think i should DELIGHT in my loneliness. weird i know. i semi can't even handle that thought, but seriously isn't my loneliness kind of a gift? i don't know. but i think that when lonely times come we need to be thankful and embrace them rather then immediately go running towards the nearest group of people.

So what if i am never a single persons primary? i have a primary, His name is Jesus Christ, a friend closer than a brother, my Saviour, the Bridegroom, the Son of God. wowzer. i love Jesus.

i don't even know what i'm talking about anymore. sometimes i just get lost in my love for Him and all i wanna do is keep writing and writing and writing about how wonderful He is and how He saved me.

thats all i got right now.

praise Jesus.

"we're resting in the shadow of the cross."

-Abbie

Jesus Movement

i have tested 3 different openers to this blog entry and all of them were annoying and made me feel like i thought i was worth reading. With that said i'm just gonna jump right into it.

So the first day of classes of 2011 was january 18, since then we've had 4 going on 5 snow days...pretty good right? i'd say so.

Heres the question that's burning on my mind for the past few weeks, do you ever miss Jesus?

now allow me to clarify, i don't mean in the sense of feeling far from Christ. I don't mean that feeling of missing Christ from your life when you know that you're living a life apart from Christ. I mean in the sense of longing for Christ. Lately I have felt this longing for Heaven, longing to just be able to be in the presence of Jesus and be in awe of the Saviour that died, the Saviour that sacrificed his comfort and desires to take on the full wrath of the Father. I want so, so badly to be with Him. And don't even get me started on how much i long for The Father, oh my goodness. I think that God the Father is the worlds greatest mystery, He's His own best kept secret. I love that simultaneously He can give us such beautiful glimpses of His greatness and love, yet keep Himself a mystery and keep all of us guessing. ay caramba. I am just so in awe of God, the maker of the universe. He who was not created, but creates all life. I just want to sit in His presence, filled with wonder. I can't even begin to imagine what eternity will be like, but the idea and anticipation make me want to laugh and cry and sing and hug everyone in sight.

Now, the facts are these. (1) I am only promised today. (2) I don't know when i will finally get to join the body of saints in Heaven, praising our Father FOREVER. (3) I need to live for the future in the present.

With that said i can reach only one verdict. I need to live every single second of every single day for Jesus, for His name and for His renown. hecks to the yea. I think Oswald Chambers but it incredibly well when he said "we are not called to be holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the Gospel of God."(my utmost for His highest). I need to carry the name of Christ, Louie Giglio talks about how as actives members of society we carry names, no one who is now famous would be famous if it was not for us. we carry names all the time, we hear a good song, see a good movie, go to a cool store, watch a funny show, see an extraordinary athlete, and whats the first thing we do? we tell everyone we know about it. we tweet it, facebook it, text it, whatever you want. you know what i'm saying. we are experts at carrying names, so why are we not experts at carrying the name of Christ? we carry the name of that which is most important to us. honestly the thought of this makes me sick, but also changes my life. the idea of carrying Christs name makes me miss Him less. it makes my time on this Earth so much more meaningful, so much more important, so much more urgent.

I have been given the greatest gift EVER. Being a follower of Christ literally rocks my world every single day...without fail. lets get real y'all. whats holding us back from changing the world? God has no respect for age. He doesn't give a rip how old you are. So lets do it. right now. lets change. lets grow. lets shape. lets restructure whats important. lets. glorify, sanctify, and make disciples. lets start a movement. a Jesus movement.

boomtown.

Jesus, let your presence drown out our desire for things that don't matter in the end.

-abbie.

(i have no idea what just happened. is this real life? i don't have any idea what i just wrote. thats the way it should be)