Ryder Jennings Barnes

In Loving Memory of Ryder Jennings Barnes June 23, 2020 – March 20, 2025

With heavy hearts, we share the passing of our beloved Ryder Jennings Barnes. On the morning of Thursday, March 20, 2025, Ryder peacefully left this world in his sleep and entered the arms of Jesus. Though his time on this earth was brief, his legacy of love, grit, and joy will live on in the hearts of all who knew him and are lovesick without him.

Born June 23, 2020, to Alycia and Colten Barnes of Pryor, Oklahoma, Ryder was a gift, a light, and a teacher of life’s deepest truths. Always at his side were his beautiful twin sister, River Rose Barnes, and his loving older brother, Brooks Alexander Barnes, who faithfully cherished him each in their own way.

If you listed all of Ryder’s earthly challenges, they would number too many to see beyond. Once you met Ryder, that list would vanish as he filled the room with his relentless resilience, determination, and fight. His journey mirrored that of our own faith: face life with the courage of a lion and the soul of a saint. He demonstrated that obstacles are not always as they first appear.

If you’re reading this, you are one of the thousands of lives Ryder touched and wove into the fabric he unknowingly constructed. What a blessed group we are to be on the receiving end of the many gifts God endowed him—and Ryder shared without restraint. God gave him laughter so he could infuse pure joy into anyone. He gave him the ability to walk so he could spread light wherever he roamed. He gave him strength so he could wrap us up in love without holding back.

The miracle we long prayed for—to see Ryder physically healed—came to us in an unexpected form. Miracles are not always realized with a physical healing. Ryder’s ultimate healing was not the product of our prayers to see his health fully restored; it was the product of God’s work fully realized and finished in his life. Ryder’s miracle came as he was made perfect, whole, and free in the presence of Jesus. His journey was his miracle. A powerful testament to God’s love, grace, and purpose.

Ryder exemplified God’s sovereignty to give and take away. When Ryder lost his perfect sight, he gained perfect perspective. His beautiful eyes were no longer meant for him to see but for others to see the light he carried within him. When Ryder lost his words, he gained his message. He broadcasted his love with his smile, a beam that bore deep in your soul. His joy so pure, his presence a gift, and his love unmistakable. God’s ways are higher than our ways, and Ryder illuminated that truth in each of us.

Jim Carrey once said, “Grief is not just an emotion--it’s an unraveling, a space where something once lived but is now gone. It carves through you, leaving a hollow ache where love once resided. In the beginning, it feels unbearable, like a wound that will never close. But over time, the raw edges begin to mend. The pain softens, but the imprint remains--a quiet reminder of what once was. We never truly ‘move on’; we move with it. The love we had does not disappear; it transforms. It lingers in the echoes of laughter, in the warmth of memories, in the silent moments where we still reach for what is no longer there. And that’s okay.”

When Ryder entered his heavenly home, his true rest began. And now our work begins. As we gather to celebrate Ryder’s life, let us commit to live with the imprint he left on us. We have permission to ‘move with’ our grief because although we’re enduring the earthly definition of a tragedy, we’re standing in God’s sacrificial definition of love. His love for Ryder and each of us compels us to move forward with his love and joy present in each of us. Ryder’s life may have been short, but his impact is immeasurable. Ryder finished his earthly mission, leaving our hearts forever changed by his extraordinary life. As he runs with wholehearted abandon, may we walk with peace and purpose until our own work is complete.

Ryder Jennings Barnes, our sweet boy, our miracle:

Your journey on this earth may be complete, but your legacy will be honored forever. Though we wish we could hold you in our arms, we find some peace knowing you are healed, whole, and in the loving presence of God. Until we meet again, rest joyfully, our sweet Bubba, our most perfect angel.