Praying

When we lived in Christiansburg, we attended church with the Ryans-

Mom- Gwynne was often in the kitchen and stopped by the nursery when I was holed up in there, sometimes sharing nursery duty with me. Dad- Steve played a mean bass guitar with the worship band.

Their 2 kids were Hailey- a pre teen girl active in the youth program and navigating puberty.

And Kelly- a young boy who was an active boy scout with dad who was often see wearing his scout leader uniform on stage during worship.

For reasons I don't understand, Kelly became very sick- it was thought to be strep throat, then mono, then hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. I didn't know what it was either- I had to google it.

People have been praying for his healing and for the Ryans since the beginning. Yet for reasons I don't understand, in a few short weeks Kelly lost the fight this weekend.

His father wrote the following which has reduced me to tears

Sunday, May 31, 2009

This is probably the most difficult thing that I have ever sat down to write. This morning, at about 3:10 Kelly Ryan lost his battle with the HLH disease. He fought it hard, as best his body would allow, right up until the end.

God allowed us 10 wonderful years with Kelly in our lives and then called him home. I don’t know why, but God’s plan is perfect and His ways are not our ways.

Our pastor summed it up nicely, I think. God did, in fact, heal Kelly. Just not the way we hoped He would. He is resting in God’s arms now…disease and pain free. It’s my strongly held belief that I will, someday, get to hold him tightly in a big ol’ hug again.

I’d like to encourage each one of you…if you have a little one in your life, go love on them like never before. We are not promised even our next breath so make each and every second with them count. Don’t take even the smallest of moments for granted. And if you don’t know the peace of our Lord and Savior, please, please, please take this time to examine your life and give control of it to Him. With salvation there are no goodbyes and, even though our hearts break with the burden of losing Kelly, we are assured an eternity together in the glory of our Father, who is above all things is worthy to be praised.

Thank you…each of you…for your kind thoughts and prayers. They have sustained us in this most difficult time of our lives. And even though we will likely never know one another personally, please know that I’m personally grateful for each and every one of you.

In Christ,
Stephen Ryan


If you have a minute, please lift them up in prayer.