My name is Ryan Stein. I’m a husband, father, grandfather, retired Navy veteran, and a grateful believer in Jesus Christ.
I grew up in Florida and now call North Carolina home. I spent 21 years on active duty in the United States Navy, and today I work with Habitat for Humanity in Johnston County. Service has been a significant part of my life, and God continues to teach me what it means to serve with humility, patience, and a willingness to care for the person in front of me.
My wife, Amy, is my closest confidant. She knows me beyond anything I could write on this page, and she helps keep me rooted. I am deeply grateful for her love, her honesty, and the life we share. Our blended family—our children and grandchildren—is a daily reminder that faith has to reach beyond what I say. It has to shape how I love, listen, respond, and take responsibility.
I am a grateful believer because I know my need for a Savior.
Alcoholism and sexual addiction are part of my story. I name them because hiding behind vague language would leave out something important about the grace God has shown me. I am grateful for the freedom He has brought into my life, and for the fellowship of believers who have helped me walk in that freedom.
I still need His grace every day.
I struggle with self-confidence. I am still learning how to forgive and how to accept forgiveness. There are things in my heart that need to be surrendered, attitudes that need to be confronted, and choices for which I have to take responsibility. Sometimes I know the right thing to do and still struggle to do it. That is one reason Scripture speaks so deeply to me: it brings me face to face with both my sin and the God who calls me to come to Him.
My prayer is the one David prayed: “Create in me a pure heart.” I need God to work in places I cannot fix through determination alone. I need Him to search me, correct me, renew me, and teach me how to walk with Him.
Answering God’s Call is where I share that ongoing journey. I write about Scripture, conviction, surrender, forgiveness, and the everyday decisions that reveal whom we are choosing to serve. What I share here applies to me, too. When I write about obedience, humility, or trusting God, I am examining my own life alongside those words.
I want to be faithful to Christ in the life He has given me. I want to love Amy well, be present for our family, serve others with compassion, and remain willing to change when God brings something into the light.
I cannot rewrite the beginning of my story. I can bring today before God and choose how I will respond to Him.
By His grace, I want to finish well.
My Call to Ministry
I believe God is calling me to speak honestly about what He has done in my life, share the truth of His Word, and encourage others to respond to Jesus Christ.
That calling requires honesty about my own need for Him. I know what it means to struggle with sin. I know the importance of forgiveness, fellowship, and the daily choice to surrender. Those experiences give me a reason to speak—and a responsibility to do so with humility.
I want this ministry to be a place where difficult things can be named: addiction, shame, pride, fear, sexual sin, and the struggle to obey when our desires pull us in another direction. These are matters that need truth, compassion, and a willingness to bring them before God.
There is hope in Christ. There is forgiveness for sin. There is help for the person willing to bring a struggle into the light. There is a next faithful step, even when taking it means admitting something painful or asking someone to walk alongside you.
My desire is to encourage that response.
I want to share Scripture faithfully and let it examine my life as deeply as it examines anyone else’s. I want to speak with conviction while remembering how much mercy I have received. I want to encourage repentance in a way that helps people come honestly before God and take responsibility for what needs to change.
This calling begins at home. Amy and our family experience the way I live far more closely than a reader ever will. My words carry a responsibility to love well, listen carefully, ask for forgiveness, and keep growing in the relationships God has entrusted to me.
It also reaches into my work with Habitat, my friendships, and the ordinary encounters where someone needs patience, encouragement, or practical help. I want to remain attentive to those opportunities to serve.
Through this blog, I offer my testimony and the things God is teaching me. I pray He will use them to encourage someone who is struggling, challenge someone who has become complacent, or help someone take a step toward a closer relationship with Jesus.
I am still learning to answer His call myself. My responsibility is to remain teachable, speak truthfully, and follow through on what He asks of me.
Called by God. Changed by grace. Learning to follow.
