Abigail Loryman: How Grief and Surrender Shaped Her Christian Faith and Identity in God
Abigail Loryman’s story starts with faith, but not in a way that felt fully her own at first. She was raised in an environment where faith was present, practiced, and modeled. Church, Scripture, and worship were all familiar to her from a young age, shaped in part by her aunt, who later adopted her and served as a pastor.
From the outside, everything looked solid, but internally, she could sense the difference between what she had been taught and what she personally knew. “It was real, but it wasn’t fully mine yet,” she shared.
Alongside that foundation, her early years were marked by loss. She lost her mother at five and her father at eleven, experiencing grief at an age where it’s hard to fully process it. That grief didn’t disappear. It stayed with her, quietly shaping how she moved through life. “It’s a grief that doesn’t always have words. It lives quietly in the background, not always visible, but deeply real,” she reflected.
In the years that followed, her life shifted again. After her father’s passing, she was adopted by her aunt and uncle and moved from Zambia to the United Kingdom. It was more than just a move. It meant adjusting to a new culture, a new environment, and a new sense of home, all while still carrying loss. But even in the middle of that, there was something steady she couldn’t ignore. “Even though everything around me had changed, there was still this unexplainable sense that I was not alone,” she said.
With time, she began to recognize that those early experiences were not without purpose. Beneath the surface, God was forming endurance, stability, and trust that would carry her into future seasons. “He was teaching me how to endure change, how to remain anchored when everything shifts, and how to trust Him in the unknown,” she explained.
Today, Abigail works as a Change Management Consultant, guiding organizations and individuals through transition with clarity and intention. Her academic background in English Literature and a Master’s degree in Forensic Linguistics and Translation reflects her interest in how language shapes identity and meaning. Fluent in English, Bemba, and Nyanja, she brings both intellectual depth and lived experience to her work. Yet she is clear that her greatest formation did not come through education alone, but through the process of spiritual refinement.
After university, she reached a turning point. What had once been inherited faith was no longer enough to sustain her. She felt a growing desire to move beyond familiarity into relationship. “I wanted to know Him for myself. Not just know about Him, but know Him personally, intimately, relationally, and authentically,” she said.
That pursuit deepened in 2020 during lockdown, when she began writing what would later become Uninterrupted Faith. What started as a creative project became a defining spiritual moment, stripping away routine and exposing what she truly believed. “It wasn’t just a creative process, it was a spiritual one. It stripped away routine and familiarity and brought me face to face with what I truly believed,” she shared.
During that time, Scripture took on new meaning. The story of the woman with the issue of blood became particularly significant, not just as a passage, but as a personal revelation. “What moved me most was that her faith alone caused Jesus to stop. And when He spoke to her, He didn’t address her as a stranger, He called her ‘daughter,’” she said. That moment reshaped her understanding of faith. “It showed me that faith isn’t distant or transactional, it’s deeply personal,” she explained. “That was when my faith became truly real to me, when I stopped standing on inherited faith and started building my own relationship with God,” she said.
As her faith became personal, it also required greater surrender. Stepping into leadership through Konnect3 brought new challenges, including moments of self-doubt and questioning her readiness. “From the very beginning, I wrestled with a profound sense of inadequacy,” she admitted. In that tension, she began to understand trust in a deeper way. “Trust isn’t the absence of fear, it’s choosing to move forward despite it,” she said.
Obedience became a daily posture rather than a single decision. “Obedience has required radical surrender, surrender of control, surrender of timing, and surrender of my own expectations,” she explained. Through each step, God was not only expanding her capacity, but strengthening her dependence on Him.
This past year has held significant milestones alongside that growth. She launched Konnect3, released Grace Whispers: The Bible Story in Poetry, and prepared for marriage, all while navigating the responsibilities of daily life. At times, the weight of it all felt overwhelming. “There have been nights I’ve lain awake wondering how I could possibly hold all of this together,” she shared. Yet even in those moments, her understanding of strength was being reshaped. “My weaknesses are the canvas for His power,” she said.
What she is experiencing now reaches beyond growth into something deeper. “What God is doing in me right now feels deeper than simple character development, it feels like identity reconstruction,” she explained. She is learning that identity is not self-created, but formed through surrender. “I am learning that my identity is not something I manufacture, it is something He forms,” she said.
That process has brought clarity, not ease. “Surrender has not made life easier. It has made me more aware. More honest. More dependent,” she reflected. Through every transition, God has remained consistent.
Her work continues to reflect that journey. Grace Whispers: The Bible Story in Poetry invites readers to encounter Scripture through the lens of grace, pointing back to Christ. For Abigail, the focus has never been visibility, but faithfulness. “God’s work through me is less about platform and more about presence,” she said.
Her life is not defined by arrival, but by formation. It is a reflection of how God shapes, sustains, and remains present through every season. He does not waste pain, overlook hidden seasons, or abandon His daughters in grief. He forms, He carries, and He remains faithful.
This story appears in the Spring 2026 issue of TODAY’S PURPOSE WOMAN.
