Joy Ryan

Joy Ryan, based out of Vernonia, Oregon, grew up in a conservative Christian household with family members that were in the ministry. She spent many years in the church, growing up with her mother, who was a pastor for a very small country church. She obtained her finance degree and embarked upon a finance career.

She endured the loss of her first spouse in her early 20s and then remarried. That marriage sadly ended in divorce sometime later. During her years in the dating world, she discovered a lot of similarities among the families of different religions she encountered and among the men she was dating.

A common thread she found was that each religion wanted to be the only religion and always seemed to be at odds with, and in rebuke of, the others. Most seemed deeply rooted in manmade tradition vs. a personal relationship with our Creator. Realizing that there is a true voice of God that one must find and follow gave her a lot of relief amid all the confusion.

Here she shares narratives from her own life that verify the Almighty exists and works in our lives in wondrous ways, even if we have been unaware. After recounting random stories to friends and hearing their reactions, she realized the blessing and understood that these accounts needed to be shared on a more public platform. She knew this would help others tune in and have a personal relationship with God, despite the chatter and confusion of competing religious labels. Most religious folks, she found, reported that they went to church regularly; however, they were largely unaffected and had no real experiences of wonder. Unreligious folks were completely turned off by “the Church” due to all the hypocrisy, ambivalence, and downright cruelty to others.

She challenges you to look at your own life and find where the Lord has appeared…no matter what faith (or lack of faith) you claim. She helps you shine a flashlight down the history of your life and see that the Lord has been there, is available, and has even come in to save the day without you even realizing it.