Paul Stephen Mueller

"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.'" Somehow, this scripture verse seems appropriate for how Paul came to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

In a journal Paul had recorded, "While I was lost, still living and loving my sin, God mercifully provoked my heart to make a choice. I asked God, 'If you are real and really out there, I need your help.'" A week or two later, twenty-one-year-old Paul's walk with the Lord began, unknowingly, when he entered a mall bookstore to buy a Chilton's motorcycle repair manual. The woman at the counter told him, "This is a Bible bookstore, and I can help you with that if you are interested." With his brokenness and sense of lostness still fresh in his heart, he said, "Yes. As a matter of fact, I have been thinking about that." He bought a pocket Bible that cost to the penny the exact amount he had in his pocket, but he had a journey ahead of him before that Bible would speak to him.

Paul had a Jack Kerouac nature to him in his early adult life. Shortly after purchasing the bible, he made the decision to join a couple of friends in Alaska to work on the pipeline, but the journey is where that adventure ended. He hitchhiked the entire way up to Alaska, primarily by three different truck drivers, each who shared Jesus with him.

Finally reaching Alaska with only a sack of potatoes to sustain him, he hitched a ride with a group of young people who were traveling in the same direction as he; once again, they shared about God. Days after he'd been with this group, Paul had a frightening vision from God in a dream, which came to fruition the next day as the brakes on the truck they traveled in failed and caused them to roll wildly down a mountain road before they slammed into the mountainside. The impact tossed Paul and the driver to opposite sides to the cab, with their heads now at the floorboards, but neither were hurt. The pipeline work never panned out, so after working in a restaurant for a while, he got homesick and began hitchhiking his way back to Chicago.

Paul stayed briefly in an Alaskan campground where a Christian man found Paul in the public shower building sitting on the floor and crying. The man took Paul back to his RV where he and his wife took Paul in, fed him and shared Jesus with him. He finally accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. With newfound faith, he continued home to Chicago.

Shortly thereafter, Paul joined a crew on a large boat sailing down the Mississippi. They had to stop in a lock, but when a member of the crew tossed the anchor over no one realized that Paul's foot was in the chain and it dragged him overboard. Paul recalled that he had no fear, and that he felt something lift him away from the giant propeller under the boat. He surfaced three football-field's distance away, not even breathless.

Paul was no stranger when it came to experiencing miracles. Anyone who knew Paul knew that if your moral compass wasn't set on true north, he'd help you set it. He was quick to pray with you in person or on the phone, usually with tears in his eyes because he was such a softie. You could always count on a big bear hug, too.

Paul was a very talented master woodworker, building contractor, and architectural designer. He was a member of Waypoint Baptist Church, formerly Lanier Baptist Church for 25 years.

Paul is survived by his wife of twenty-eight years, Peggy, and their daughter Emily; Paul's daughters in Illinois, Kimberly and Rebecca; his sisters Carol Washburn and Linda Liegel and her husband Kevin; sister-in-law Susan Boland and her husband Tommy; sister-in-law Beth McIntosh and Joseph; Tinkerbell, their cat; nieces and nephews: Michael, Adam, Mark, Heather, Drew, Jennifer, Julia.

Funeral services will be held Sunday, September 12, at 2:00 p.m. at the Ingram Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Eric Dill officiating. Interment will follow at Sawnee View Gardens.

The family will receive friends at the funeral home Sunday the hour prior to the service.

Ingram Funeral Home & Crematory, Cumming, Georgia in charge of arrangements.