LATE 20-YEAR-OLD PROLIFIC AUTHOR AND MUSICIAN
Stephanie Renee Bell Books and Music
''If I had one wish for my creative passions, if someone were to say that they could grant me one dream come true regarding them, my answer would be to make them public.
I call myself “NiteLyte,” because as a believer in Christ, I shine a light in a dark world. I base this nickname on
Matthew 5:16:
“In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” ''
-Stephanie Renée Bell (1989-Eternity)
ABOUT STEPHANIE
“It’s all about Jesus.”-Stephanie Renée Bell (1989-Eternity)
In November of 2009, during one of many hospitalizations, Stephanie Renée Bell was urgently writing on her blanket with her right index finger. When we gave her a pen and paper to decipher what she was writing, she repeatedly scrawled that sentence, superimposing it on one spot on the paper. That was one of the final sentences of her prolific writing career . . .
“Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.” John 11:25-26 (NIV)
Stephanie was on the earth for approximately 654,969,000 seconds, i.e. 20 years, 280 days and 16 hours. She went to heaven March 25, 2010 due to a malignant brain tumor. Her books were published posthumously.
A multi-gifted, prolific novelist, poet, essayist, author of several installments of fan fiction, this accomplished musician, dancer and artist penned 4 novels plus her autobiography. An accomplished classically-trained pianist, she also was a guitarist, music composer (copyrighted instrumentals and lyrics, including Christian rap deliberately written in the vernacular of youth, particularly urban youth, for whom she felt a particular burden), artist and dancer. Some of her music included her pseudonyms “NiteLyte” and “AjiaJade.”
She maintained an “A” average in her college coursework and attended classes even when MRIs started to show recurrent tumor and her left arm began to just hang at her side and flail around. She insistently continued to attend until she began to literally stumble and fall, then becoming bedridden.
Stephanie touched the lives of many people, including her family, through her ministry of dance, as a camper and camp counselor, and in many other ways. Her faith sustained her, supplying strength and courage through a ravaging illness. She walked well in her purpose, which was to glorify God, always acknowledging that her gifts came from Him. She is now perpetually worshipping the Lord, dancing at the foot of the throne of Jesus without limitations. Like the numerous unfinished stories that she wrote, the story of her eternal life will never end.
We more than miss her but we grieve with hope, knowing that we will see her again when we, too, get to Heaven.