Charles and Charity Whisnant, had the joy and privilege of being in the First Baptist Church in Altoona, Kansas for 16 years. We had the joy of ministering to a great group of believers. One of those dear folks was Doris Morton, along with her husband Bernard. ( I had the service when he passed away in 1991.) Doris and Bernard always sat on the back seat of the church, to my right as I preached each week. They were always the first to arrive and the first to leave, I might add. I had to run to shake their hands if I could catch them!
Doris was one of our good and faithful friends. She was always at church and loved working in the nursery with Donna Cornwell and Michele Nunnenkamp. She was so good with the babies, and each new addition to our nursery and church family was a special gift just for Doris. My how she loved those little ones and they all seemed to love her too.
We had the joy of seeing her in May 2015 and that was good. We have a lot of memories of her and Bernard and their daughter Donna. I could tell stories for sure, but I will let Charity tell you some stories about Doris and the blessing she was to our family personally:
When our son Chad was born on July 12, 1980, we had a new baby brother for Eric and Becki and a new Tuesday addition to our family. Each Tuesday morning Doris would knock on our door and then just come on in. At first we didn't quite know each other and she really just came to hold the baby, but gradually she just started helping me do whatever I was doing (usually laundry!). As a stay at home mom, I also kept other children whose moms were working, and Tracie Edwards summed it all up: "It's Tuesday! Doris is here and we're going to have potato soup for lunch!" Doris was such a blessing to us, and never asked anything except a short nap and a break to watch Days of Our Lives! After that she would start another load of clothes or fold the ones fresh from the dryer. We baked a lot of cookies on Tuesday, too. After Kyle was born Doris had another baby to love!
One year Toni Barnhart had another great idea! We decided to do something special for each lady on her birthday....when July came around we had a birthday party on our new deck to celebrate Doris's birthday. We were all so touched when Doris thanked us and said she had never had a birthday party before.
Another special memory I have is of Doris telling me how she didn't know what to do after Bernard died. She said she cried and prayed and kept singing over and over...."My Lord knows the way through the wilderness....all I have to do is follow." How often I sing that and think of Doris when the way does not seem clear...
Many times I tell about Doris, the amazing gift from God to our family. Just last Friday I was sharing with a girl who works at the bakery the story of Doris and her dependability. Doris loved babies and loved to help their moms. She used her talents and spiritual gift of service faithfullly to honor her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you Doris for all you have taught us.
