Happy Birthday!

Glenda with 2 of her 3 siblings taken at the Balty's 50th wedding Anniversary celebration in April 2007

The second daughter of a Kansas farming family, Glenda was born on November 30, 1933. Her mother was concerned that Glenda would be born before her daddy would get home from hunting. Glenda Rae Garton arrived safely and had her first bath (as did all her siblings) on the table at which I school my boys each day. Grandma Garton used to say that if that table could talk, it would say, “waah, waah, waah!”

I thoroughly enjoyed perusing through her childhood pictures while I was in Illinois this summer. She had fair skin and big, blue eyes and a smile framed by dimples. She appeared to be always smiling in the pictures, seemingly unaware of how poor her family was. A wonderful tribute to her parents, I think, and maybe in part because living on a farm provided an ample supply of healthy foods.

I watched her come alive with excitement and exuberantly tell about her school days at Miltonvale, KS, where she went to high school. “I thought homework was meant to be ignored,” she said, as she went on to tell how she climbed from a second story dorm, after dark, to walk “downtown” with her friends. “Oh, I must have embarrassed Bev (Glenda’s sister) so much. She was such a good student.” But the light shining in her eyes told the truth…she didn’t regret it…I could tell.

The Gartons had known Raymond and Amie Balty, who pastored locally, for a long time, and by the time Balty's only son, Donald, was nineteen, he had been smitten by the fair maiden and married her just shy of his twentieth birthday—although Glenda was three years his senior.

Glenda has remarked to me many times that she always loved children, so no doubt she was excited when their oldest son, Tim, was born in November, 1959. Tim was quiet, and I imagine they lived a simple, peaceful life for seven years until David followed his sister, Lisa, into the world after a short 16 months. David recalls fondly that some of his earliest memories of his mom were of her praying. Perhaps some of her praying was “Oh Lord, help!” Or as David says, “Why me, Lord?”

In reality, we know that her consistent prayers certainly made an impact on her family and the lives of her children and grandchildren today.

With a servant’s heart and peaceful nature, she opened her home with generous hospitality to many families over the years. But more importantly to me, she has loved and accepted me—as a daughter. And today I wish her a very happy birthday!