Recently I was sorting through some things in a chest searching for something. In my process, I came across an
amazing dress that our late dear Michal Ann had made for GraceAnn when she was
a little girl. The detailed work, the hours of labor, it is a work of art – all
done with love. I remember when she made the flower by hand that was sewed on
the front of GraceAnn’s beautiful childhood dress. Indeed, the work of the
hands of a great mother.
Ann was the youngest of four
children, with fun loving older brothers John, David and Paul, all looking
after their only little sister. Their mother, Dorris Grace, was a diligent
schoolteacher and their father, Davis Hamilton, a hard working farmer and a
county road maintainer. They grew up attending a very small rural Methodist
Church with exceptionally close family ties to aunts, uncles and first cousins.
Oh the value of a strong family!
So I blow some kisses heavenward today. I am so grateful
for eternity – for heaven – and God’s great plan of salvation through work of
the cross of Christ Jesus.
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Our Dear Annie!
Ann was the youngest of four
children, with fun loving older brothers John, David and Paul, all looking
after their only little sister. Their mother, Dorris Grace, was a diligent
schoolteacher and their father, Davis Hamilton, a hard working farmer and a
county road maintainer. They grew up attending a very small rural Methodist
Church with exceptionally close family ties to aunts, uncles and first cousins.
Oh the value of a strong family!
Michal Ann’s goal was not be a
great worldwide minister. Her goal was to love the Lord Jesus with all her
heart, be a devoted wife and a loving mom. She did well. She departed from this
life way too soon – on the infamous day of September 15th, 2008. But
she surely succeeded in her life goals and always kept her priorities right!
Yes, even in the midst of being married to a globetrotting husband, eventually
launching her own global ministry, Compassion Acts, writing books and ministering at various events. She was my angel.
Our four children, Justin,
GraceAnn, Tyler and Rachel, her three brothers and I, her husband, all rise up
and call her BLESSED on this Mother’s
Day in 2012.
My Mom - Amanda Elizabeth Burns Goll
Amanda Elizabeth Burns was born on April 17, 1924 in
rural Missouri to William and Hattie E. Burns. She was the youngest of four
children – preceded in birth by her only brother Arnold, and sisters Grace Mae
and Maude. She loved Jesus from an early age and was a dedicated church member
and community worker all her life. She primarily was a praying wife and mom!
She was known countywide for her many quilts and hundreds
of quarts of corn, green beans, and every other fruit and vegetable. I think
her full time job was being a prayer gardener. Mom or MeMe, as the grandkids so
fondly called her, graduated into her heavenly abode on Sunday, August 3, 2003
at her home in Cowgill, Missouri.
She imprinted my life with the spirit of prayer and
dedicated my life to Jesus before I was ever born. Her prayers guide me to this
day to be all that I can be in Lord Jesus Christ.
The Endearing Dorris Grace
Michal Ann’s mother – Dorris Grace McCoy Willard was an
amazing wife, mother of four, a great schoolteacher, and lived a life dedicated
to God and her family. Coming from an artistic and musical God fearing family,
the McCoy and Willard gatherings were always full of life and fun! Especially
the annual October Hayride and Christmas jamborees!
Dorris was a bird watcher who could identify any bird by
it’s call or shadow, let lone it’s colors and flight patterns. She kept yearly
and a lifetime list of every bird she every identified. She too departed way
too soon, at the age of 62, and did not get to meet any of our four kids. But
she will one day though as Jesus was first place in everything she did.
Mother’s – What An Amazing Creation!
Mother’s – what an amazing creation! What amazing plan! I
miss them all today – on Mother’s Day 2012…. And my sweet grandmother’s as
well!
So I blow some kisses heavenward today. I am so grateful
for eternity – for heaven – and God’s great plan of salvation through work of
the cross of Christ Jesus.
We are only separated for a short while! But till then,
Jesus, if it is okay – tell Amanda Elizabeth, Dorris Grace and my darling
Michal Ann – we still miss them and thank them for lives well lived.
With
Thankfulness!
James
Wayne Goll and Family
OK, this just really got to me--it was so precious. Thank you for sharing your family with all of us, and for honoring not just the women closest to you, but the rest of us women as well. So nice to have a big brother on your side. :)
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