Father of murdered JonBenét Ramsey tells how he find grace in the midst of unspeakable tragedy

Suspects in their daughter’s murder, John and Patsy Ramsey’s names were eventually cleared, but not before enduring great suffering. Then, when Patsy died of ovarian cancer at age 49, John Ramsey had another test of his hope and faith—one of many stories he tells, with Marie Chapian, in The Other Side of Suffering: The Father of JonBenét Ramsey Tells the Story of His Journey from Grief to Grace.

A highly successful businessman, Ramsey was enjoying the fruits of his labor, while Patsy enjoyed entering JonBenét in pageants. But their idyllic life was shattered in 1996 when an intruder entered their Colorado home and brutally killed JonBenét—he discovering her body Christmas day.

As hard as that tragedy was, it wasn’t the first time the family suffered the loss of a child. Ramsey’s 22-year-old daughter died in a car accident in 1992, just four years before JonBenét’s murder. The crime remains unsolved.

“Before all this happened in my life, my faith was hardly a faith at all,” Ramsey told Christian Retailing. “I just accepted that there was a God because it was easier to do that than to be convinced there was no God. Suffering caused me to really address whether I believed in God or not. More specifically, it helped me understand who Jesus is.”

His faith has grown from the time his older daughter died. “When Beth died, my reaction in screaming ‘There is no God!’ was based on my immature faith at the time.” 

A good friend became Ramsey’s spiritual mentor. “I think God gave me the gift of faith as I progressed,” he said.

“I hope readers will be encouraged to not give up on God when difficulty strikes, as I did for a period,” he said. “Most important, I hope it will help people to trust God, understand His promises to us as His children and take comfort that He loves us and is with us always.”

To order The Other Side of Suffering, call  FaithWords at 800-759-0190.

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