Sarah Merritt Ryan
My Soul to Keep is a deeply personal and spiritually resonant collection of sonnets that explores what it truly means to walk with God through the darkest seasons of life. Written primarily from a Christian perspective, these poems offer an intimate portrait of faith — not as a smooth and effortless journey, but as a living, breathing relationship that is tested, stretched, and ultimately strengthened through suffering.
At the heart of this collection is a profound truth: hardship does not have to destroy us. Long-suffering, when carried in faith, becomes a crucible that deepens our connection to God and shapes us into something more resilient, more compassionate, and more whole. Faith here is not static — it ebbs and flows, wavers and steadies — and that honest portrayal makes these sonnets feel achingly real.
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Many of these poems are written from a woman's perspective, and several speak with quiet courage to the wounds left by broken relationships and the pain inflicted by others. Yet even these most tender and difficult places are held within a larger story of survival and grace.
What ultimately distinguishes this collection is its vision of the final destination of enduring trial — not merely survival, but praise. To give thanks to God in the aftermath of suffering is portrayed here as both an act of healing and an act of liberation. Praise cleanses the heart of bitterness, loosens the grip of the past, and opens the soul to receive what God has always intended: wholeness, peace, and renewed purpose.
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My Soul to Keep is for anyone who has ever wrestled with God and refused to let go.
About the Author
Sarah Merritt Ryan is a North Carolina native who writes from a Christian perspective on faith and suffering, and this collection of sonnets is her first book. She is a member of the United Church of Christ. Her faith has helped her survive many trials, including her battle with schizophrenia.
Through patience, a refusal to give up, and believing there could be a bigger picture for her life, even when she could not see it, she persisted and did make a full recovery, going on to get married, become a mother, and rebuild her career. She has been symptom-free for 14 years while on medication for life, after having three psychotic breaks in two years.
Through a desire to help others have a better emotional experience than she did, she is now also a writer, speaker, and advocate for emotional recovery from psychotic disorders. Her writings on mental health include poetry, blogging, memoir, fiction, and academic publications.
She has a blog on Psychology Today called Healing Mind: My journey to cognitive and emotional recovery, which is used as training material for resident psychiatrists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) Schizophrenia Treatment and Evaluation (STEP) Program and is republished on the UNC School of Medicine website. She is a Certified Peer Support Specialist who works for the UNC Center for Community Excellence in Mental Health.
She also blogs for Nami.org and Life Effects, a blog by Teva Pharmaceuticals. She has been published twice in Writer’s Digest on topics related to mental illness. She has been published twice in the academic journal, Schizophrenia Bulletin Open. She has a full-length memoir in the works.
She is also a public speaker and NAMI volunteer who was named Hometown Hero in 2024 by the North Carolina Women’s Courage Professional Soccer Team, Lenovo, and NAMI Wake County for her mental health advocacy work in the Raleigh-Durham area. She is also the Parent Advocate for the Wake County Public School System, representing parents living with mental illness.
She has a degree in Journalism from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Master of Science degree in Communication from NCSU.
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Her website is sarahmerrittryan.com.