Stephanie Matthews

Current job title: Community partnership coordinator for Christian Family Radio media ministry.

Hometown: Shelby, N.C.

Family: Husband, Randy, daughter Maggie, son No. 1 Wesley, son No. 2 Robert, George and Patches (the shih tzus) and Celeby (the cat).

The one thing no one knows about me is … I’ve lived at 26 different addresses over five states, but I’m not a military kid. I was in my early 20s before I lived in one town more than nine months at a time.

My dream job is … flight attendant – the perfect mix of travel and hospitality with no cooking required!

My first job was … receptionist for a community college that met after hours at my high school. My strangest job was cooking fat back in a simulated pigpen over a hot cauldron of oil and passing out pork rind samples at Opryland. My coolest job was being a boat dock attendant one college summer in Hot Springs, Ark.

The best advice I ever got was … “You are responsible for your own happiness.” Thanks, mother! It’s true. Happiness is much more likely when one chooses joy and a positive perspective. Pain is inevitable and joy is available – that’s a truth straight out of the Bible. It took a while, but once I developed the habit of choosing joy, it got easier and easier to do. This was powerful advice because I’ve battled depression most of my life.

It’s great to be on the winning side of that now. Scripture has been my greatest weapon for freedom.

My hero (and why) is … Thelma McNew. Thelma was a strong-willed church mother and elder whom I had the privilege of knowing during my early married years. Thelma became a widow too soon, had a wayward son with an unstable and greedy wife, and battled a vicious cancer for 10 long years. Her bold leadership, unwavering faith in Jesus despite her hardships, her audacity (She died July 4 and left most of her estate to her church as a final lesson to her family), coupled with a true servant’s heart make her one of my most admired people. I have many heroes for many reasons, but Thelma was a hero, mentor and a friend.

If I could do it all over again, I … would still choose my husband, have our kids, but I would have moved us to Bowling Green sooner! I’ve lived here longer than anywhere in my life and I have a love for our town that still surprises me. We are all tremendously blessed to live in this region.

The part of my job I could do without is … nothing. I’m in this amazing season where there is not one thing I would change about working in ministry. It is like all of the pieces of my background and experiences now have a place of use and I get to do all of the things I’ve loved about my previous jobs in my current role at CFR.

The one thing I always carry with me is … the Holy Spirit and lip color. Folks need His presence and I’m too smiley for pale lips! There are strict instructions to my family that if I kick the bucket, there’d better be lip liner and gloss in the casket and I better be embalmed with a smile.

Best meal I ever had … hasn’t happened yet but would include Ms. Mary’s homemade bread, Mam Maw Peeler’s vegetable soup, Grammy’s brown rice with mushrooms, Granny’s broccoli salad, Bobo’s tequila pork tenderloin, Nana’s fried apples, Maw Maw Hodge’s chocolate pound cake, Milo’s sweet tea with lemon and elastic waistband pants! Notice that I am not involved in the cooking – now that’s a good meal!

At the top of my bucket list is … a heap of travel with my favorite companion, my husband. Alaskan cruise, Montana to visit family, Provincial France road trip, Brazilian jungle tour by bush plane, Japan, India. Now that I think of it, my passport needs renewing.