BIO:

Everyone has a story to tell. For Susan, the story revolves around how God has taught her to believe that the joy of the Lord is her strength. While she has struggled with chronic depression as well as other family illnesses for a number of years, Susan desires to use the story of her struggle to point people toward the Source of hope. She longs for people to embrace the God who dances over them wildly with joy (Zephaniah 3:17).

People have described her as genuine, friendly, practical, dynamic, and vibrant. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Susan M. Ward, Ph.D., has lived on the east coast for a decade. Susan began her speaking career early in life as a high school and collegiate debater. A Christian Leaders, Authors, and Speakers Seminar (CLASS) graduate, she speaks in a variety of different venues including churches, women’s groups, and business organizations. Susan has a doctorate in communication and is a college professor. She enjoys studying how our communication influences the behavior of other people. More specifically, as a child of a parent with a disability, Susan is intrigued by how such children communicate given the influence of disability in their families. Though her friends tease her about it, she absolutely loves reading the Quarterly Journal of Speech. Personally, Susan is most at home when sharing a cup of coffee with a friend and talking about the stuff of life. She is fascinated with the red holiday cups at Starbucks, thrives on making new friends, can be wooed into singing any line from the Sound of Music, and is an avid collector of Jetsons’ memorabilia. Thanks to her sixth-grade Latin America history teacher, Susan learned early where the Galapagos Islands are and plans to visit someday in order to pet a Galapagos tortoise.

For more information visit: www.defiantjoyministries.com