Paula Stephens

Hello, I'm Wanda Baker and I've been privileged to know Paula as my sister in law and sister in Christ for almost 34 years now. Not long after we first met, and Paula was dating Joe, and I was dating his brother Dennis, we were talking at her apt in Franklin. Dennis and I were about to head back to Murfreesboro and Paula mentioned she was planning on going camping. She said she was thinking about heading out later that evening and pitching a tent with her young son Jason out in the wilderness. I said, You're going tonight? It was already after 8 or 9 and I thought that was a pretty late start to head out camping all alone in the pitch black of the forest. I asked her was she not scared to be heading out that late and on her own? Well, for those of you who know Paula well, and at that time I didn't, "scared" was not a word in her vocabulary. She, as I would later come to know, was fearless! And what fears she may have had only rarely came to light. She would take on anything she had a mind to, and as best I know, she always succeeded. Paula loved building things: storage barns, porches, fencing, and remodeling . If she could find something to build or remodel, she did it, and loved every minute. She even poured the slab and helped Joe with building the shaft for the elevator in their home, and with remodeling all the homes she and Joe shared throughout their years together. In our years as sisters in law, we spent nearly every Christmas, and most Thanksgivings, together. One Thanksgiving, I asked what she had done that morning and answering as if this was a daily task for her, she stated she had poured the foundation for their storage building. I've never known anyone in my lifetime before or since who had mixed and poured their own concrete for anything, especially not on Thanksgiving morning. But that was Paula! I don't remember asking, but she probably baked a pie or 2 that morning also. Her physical strength, fearlessness, & strength of character never ceased to amaze me. For all the things she's built in her lifetime, the most important thing was what she was building for eternity. By pouring a foundation of faith in Christ, and building on The Rock, she leaves behind a legacy of love, friendship, fellowship, family, and faith, that not only endures here, but where she is right now, in heaven with her Saviour and Lord. She stored up for herself treasures there, where rust and moth won't destroy, and where thieves can't steal as referenced in Matthew 6:19-21. When she first shared with me her ALS diagnosis, we cried together, but her concern wasn't for herself, but for those she was leaving behind. She allowed herself to be clay in the Potter's hands as she struggled and suffered in her earthly body with ALS, but she knew that her suffering was only for a brief time when compared with all of eternity. She would not have chosen to suffer this way, and once told me and her sister Carol, that cancer would have been preferable to ALS. Unfortunately, a few years later, Paula would also have to endure the toll that breast cancer would take on her body. Emerging from a successful surgery to remove her cancer, Paula had to return to surgery only a few hours afterward to deal with a hematoma that had developed as a result of the first surgery. Throughout horrendous pain and testing of her faith, Paula faced her trials with otherworldly strength, grace and with gratitude. In a recent text to me, she thanked God. She felt blessed for the 57 years of health God had given her prior to her ALS diagnosis. She longed for the peace she would receive for her weary body and soul once she stepped over that heavenly threshold. Because Paula placed her trust in Jesus, she now dwells healthy and whole, and completely healed in a place of eternal hellos and no goodbyes. She is home, and very likely helping Jesus build more mansions for those who are yet to arrive. Paula, I'm missing you, as are all who loved you. Knowing you has enriched my life, and I'm grateful God allowed you to be my sister in law for nearly 34 years. As my sister in Christ, I know I will see you again in that place where there are no goodbyes, and I'm looking forward to seeing all the new things you are building there now, with Jesus. I love you. Wanda