Glenda -a tribute

When Glenda was born by C-section in December of 1957, the doctors took one look at her, and knew she would not survive. When her parents were both able to meet with them, they said, "Your child has spina bifida. She has water on the brain, or hydrocephalus. Her head is growing at a phenomenal rate. If it doesn't stop growing, she will die. And if it does stop, she won't live more than a few days. Don't pick out a name. Pick out a casket."

Undaunted, they went to their church family and asked for prayer. The baby's head stopped growing within 24 hours. She did not die. She lived.

She astounded doctors for over 41 years before a rampant bladder infection shut down her kidneys and she died in July of 1999.

Our Angel Unawares.

She accepted Jesus Christ into her heart at a very young age. Her love for Him was evident in her quick smile, her indomitable spirit, and her many acts of kindness to those "less fortunate" than herself.

She was a loyal friend, and a great ally. In her lifetime, she accomplished more for the Kingdom of heaven than many hope to accomplish. She read to shut-ins, sang in church services, talked to people about Jesus, and started a Bible Study in the special care unit of a local sanitarium, to where she moved when she was 18.

Until that time she lived with her parents.

You see her in the photo (upper left) leaning on the left arm of her chair, as if not quite able to hold herself upright. Glenda endured several surgeries in her lifetime. One of the surgeries was to enable her to sit up. The "bifida" in her back was above the waist, so she was not able to sit until she was in her early teens. The surgeons inserted steel rods into her back. One of the rods broke after the surgery (puncturing a lung), and the other one bent. They replaced the broken one with a stronger alloy in a second surgery, but left the bent one as it was. This is why she seemed 'lopsided'.

Whenever I felt depressed, I phoned or visited Glenda. She had the uncanny knack of making people feel good about themselves. She had the gift (so rare) of never taking anything for granted, of living in gratitude.

And when she occasionally got depressed herself, all she had to do was remember the slogan we worked on together: T-O-P. Trust, Obey, Praise. It always worked.

When her time was short, the hospital called. With her family all around her, and her heart rate decreasing by the minute, one of the siblings said, "Let's sing." They sang her into the presence of Jesus, and the moment she arrived, they were singing, "Goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me, and in God's house forevermore my dwelling place shall be."

Her favorite hymn was "Lead Me to Calvary." It epitomized her "first love".

King of my life, I crown Thee now;
Thine shall the glory be.
Lest I forget Thy thorn-crowned brow,
lead me to Calvary.
Lest I forget Gethsemane,
lest I forget Thine agony,
Lest I forget Thy love for me,
lead me to Calvary.

A close friend of the family sang it for us at her funeral.

She wore white to meet her Bridegroom.