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Jackson educator called to active duty
Donald is a member of the United States Army Reserve and has been activated, receiving orders to report to Camp Shelby, Miss. March 2. As a reservist, he is a quartermaster officer who handles supplies for the military. "I'm not sure that's what I'll be doing for the Army," he said, Monday. "Camp Shelby is a training base, so I may be trained to handle something else they want me to do." Donald said he is not privy to what the Army has in store for him and even if he was he would not be allowed to say so. "I'll do whatever my commander or his superiors plan for me, which is usually what the circumstances dictate," he said. As a young man just out of high school, Donald served three years of active duty in the U.S. Army. Following his service, he joined the National Guard and served for 20 years. At the age of 49, Donald has been in education for 26 years. He began his career at Joe M. Gillmore Elementary School as a fourth grade teacher. After approximately four years as an elementary school teacher, he transferred to Jackson Middle school where he taught special education classes for grades 5-8 and coached basketball from 1987 to 2003. In 2003, Donald took on the dual jobs of serving as assistant principal for both Gillmore Elementary and Jackson Intermediate schools. Then in 2006, he became the assistant principal just for JIS. For the past few years he has also served as the Jackson High School tennis coach, as well as attended her Bridge club's Christmas party and still attends First Baptist Church in Jackson where she and Billy are members. The church installed a ramp at the front entrance to accommodate her wheelchair. So many of her friends and family come often to see her and Billy, hoping to be an encouragement, but always come away encouraged and inspired by her glowing smile, joyful attitude and calm acceptance of what she is going through. One of Mollye's many talents is writing poetry. Lorri Kendrick recently printed a booklet of her poems and other writings. On the cover is a picture of Mollye made in Denver, Colo. throwing a snowball. Mollye's comment: "The real significance of this picture is that the day before, neurologists in Denver confirmed that I did indeed have ALS. When Christians pray and get 'good' news, they thank God, praise Him and go forth rejoicing, enjoying His blessings and the beauties of His creation. When Christians receive 'bad' news, they do the same - to God be the glory." Mollye taught Sunday school for many years. Her ladies class was very close-knit and called themselves the "More Than Conquerors" class. This is taken from the Bible, Romans chapter 8, verse 37, which says, "But in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Diane Jones, recalling those years in Mollye's class says, "Her teaching went straight to my heart, and I could feel the Holy Spirit's presence as she taught; it just ministered to me. Mollye is a leader with a lot of wisdom." Mollye and Billy will celebrate their 48th wedding anniversary on April 3. They have three children: David Alexander, the oldest, who died in a tragic auto accident at the age of 19; Mark, who has two children; Cole, a student at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Rachael, who is a senior at Jackson Academy; their daughter Carol is married to Doug Beverly and lives in Huntsville with their two daughters, Erin and Kelly. Erin and Rachael both are blessed to have red curly hair like their "Me-me", the endearing term they call their grandmother, while Kelly shows an early gift for writing also inherited from her. Molle taught math, English and Spanish at Jackson Academy for many years and also taught many homeschoolers and tutored. Mollye and I have gone on several summer mission trips to Nicaragua with the Baptist Medical Dental Mission International. She assisted with translating and worked in the pharmacy area. There always seemed to be a young college student, a Nicaraguan working by her side, who would need the wisdom of a "mother" figure, and some good counsel and encouragement. Mollye was right there to do just that. Many times she would become aware of a need for them to attend seminary or college, and would provide scholarship money. Billy tells me that she still gets letters and phone calls from most of them. I want to tell you a touching story of a young man from Venezuela named Juan Carlos who became a friend of Mollye's when his special need was made known to her. Juan was born with a severe birth defect, which caused him to be unable to walk upright, and had been bent over all of his life. His mother abandoned him at birth. Juan had been an orphan living on the streets of Caracas. When Mollye heard of this, she wrote to tell him she would be praying for him. Before long, Bob, a mutual friend who works in Venezuela, contacted some doctors there who were able to do surgery on Juan. So now, Juan is well and stands upright for the first time in his life. Mollye sent him presents last year; a red shirt and cap which had "Alabama" written on them. These were the first presents Juan had ever had in his entire life. He began to call her "Momma". At Christmas and other times the Callahans continue to send him gifts. Even in the midst of this terrible trauma that Mollye and Billy are going through, they still reach out and minister to others. This is just one of many stories. In Jackson there have been many who have lost a child to accidents. More often than not, Mollye would be there to reach out to them, pray with them and comfort them. She practices the verse in the Bible which says that we are to comfort others with the comfort which we ourselves have been comforted. In times of illness and infirmity, we especially need our friends. There is a group, of which I am proud to be a part, which regularly takes Mollye for trips to shop in Thomasville, eat out, celebrate a birthday or just be together. Our circle of friends always huddles up in a group and has prayer together at these times. Mollye has dubbed us her "Band of Angels". We set out to be a blessing and to be available for her when she needs anything, a meal or an errand run. As it turns out, she has blessed us over and over with her sweet attitude and prayers for us. You cannot out-give a generous person like Mollye Callahan. Frances Little expresses her feelings about Mollye by saying, "When I have a particular prayer need, I know I can share it with Mollye and she will lift it up to the Lord. She is one of those rare people with a strong prayer life. Of my many special times with Mollye, I cherish those trips we made with other friends to ladies' retreats. These were always a time of fun, fellowship and spiritual challenge. We could always look to Mollye to give nuggets of wisdom to complement what the conference leader had spoken about." Rosemary Colvin says of Mollye, "She has been one of the most impactful friends, teachers and mentors in my life. She taught me the value of choosing not to be offended even when hurt deeply. The perseverance, courage and strength that she and her family have modeled encourage me greatly." Another friend, Myra DeWitt says, "Mollye is a person who has never found it difficult to communicate God's love. She speaks freely of her beliefs. She also has a great sense of humor, even now. One day a friend was visiting her and they had been praying when a piece of white fluff came floating by. Noticing her friend's questioning look, Mollye said, "It's a piece of Angel." Her friend wasn't sure what she meant until later when Mollye introduced her to Angel, her white parakeet. They both had a good laugh over that. I count it a privilege to have her as my friend." Billy is a forester, and manages land for the White Smith Land Company. His devotion and love for his wife has been so evident. He will spare no expense or effort to make her comfortable. Melanie Lammons comes daily to assist her and to be there with her while Billy is at work. The Callahans say that Melanie is like an angel, and they could not make it without her excellent help. Melanie tells me that Mollye is a real inspiration to her, and that her attitude is remarkable. A truer friend and helper would be very hard to find. Now that she is unable to speak, and writing has become more difficult for her, she has asked that I read the Bible to her. Her hands are so weak that she can no longer hold it. She asked me to read from 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, verse 8 which says in part, "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed...we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day." We all know Mollye to be a strongly independent person, who we have leaned on in the past. So now our part is to let her lean on us. It is our privilege to do so.
Our prayer for Mollye is that the Lord will grant her strength, courage and healing. She comments that she is really blessed to have friends like us. I tell her that the Bible says, "Cast your bread upon the waters and it will come back to you after many days." By that I mean that the love she is now receiving is simply all her loving deeds coming back to her
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