“I had my eyes on the heights… fighter jets, NASA, space. But God had something even better in mind.”
From the time he was a boy, Ryan was drawn to the skies. Raised by a father who took him to the airport just to watch planes take off, he dreamed not only of flying—but of flying fast and far. “It always amazed me,” he said. “These gigantic airplanes lifting off the ground—it lit a fire in me.”
That fire led him to pursue aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan. And along the way, a conversation with astronaut Jack Lousma ignited a new goal: space. Lousma’s advice? Join the military and fly fighter jets. So Ryan did exactly that. He trained for two summers with the U.S. Marine Corps and was just one week away from commissioning as a Second Lieutenant and flying F-18s.
“This was my dream. This was the plan. But inside, something felt off.”
A Dangerous Prayer
As Ryan approached his commissioning, he began to sense a disconnect between his plan and God’s will. So he did something bold.
“I prayed, ‘Lord, if you have to do something to me physically to get my attention—do it. I want your will more than mine.’”
The very next day, he noticed something strange. He couldn’t read the road signs ahead. His vision had suddenly gone blurry.
“I looked at my fiancée and said, ‘Can you read those?’ She could. I couldn’t. And I immediately remembered the prayer I had just prayed.”
It wasn’t permanent blindness. But it was enough. The clarity Ryan needed didn’t come from perfect eyesight—it came from divine interruption.
“God didn’t make me go blind like Paul. But He did redirect my path. He was saying, ‘I’ve got something else for you.’”
A New Mission Field
Ryan took a job in Cincinnati at GE Aviation, helping design jet engines. “If I can’t fly them,” he said, “I’ll design them.” But that restlessness never fully went away—until another shift occurred.
“I remember waiting for a new mentee at work, feeling guilty. A lot of my college friends had gone into full-time ministry. I thought I’d missed my chance.”
Then the Holy Spirit spoke to his heart: “Ryan, you’re already in your mission field.”
That realization changed everything.
“Here I am surrounded by people who live and breathe science. People who are skeptical, even hostile to faith. And God was saying: ‘This is exactly where I want you.’”
It reminded him that Jesus spent most of His time in the marketplace, not in temples. In fact, 45 of Jesus’ 52 parables are about work, business, or daily life.
“That was enough for me. I realized I’d been placed here for a reason—to live out my faith in the middle of corporate culture.”
Leaning In
Ryan’s story is one of ambition surrendered and purpose rediscovered. Every turning point came when he stopped pushing his own agenda and started asking God for direction.
“Some of the most impactful moments of my life have come when I’ve actually leaned into God—for calling, for purpose, for clarity. And I’ve never been let down.”
Scripture Reflections
- “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
—Proverbs 16:9 - “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”
—James 4:8a - “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
—Proverbs 19:21
