Mrs Balty's Birthday Weekend
June is normally one of the busiest and the most expensive month for me. Our calendar is filled with birthdays and meetings. Literally, our friends and family compete for the weekend schedule for their parties. Not to mention the baby showers and bridal showers! It’s that crazy! However, despite having so many birthdays to celebrate during the month of June, there are 2 dates that are very important to me. It's the 23rd and the 24th. Those are my Mom’s and my wife, Mrs. Balty’s birthday. The 2 of the most important women in my life. I am gonna focus on Mrs. Balty, my beautiful wife Milkee in this entry. I am going to share with you the things that happened during her birthday weekend and some good things I have observed. Enjoy!
Friday, the 23rd
The celebration started this night. We went to New Life Church HQ to help set up for a class. She could be relaxing this time and get ready for her birthday the next day but she is in always in passionate pursuit of Jesus in her life. The students from our church family that were present sang a Happy Birthday and have her blew her cake. She also got a card with their messages to her. It was a good start for her birthday weekend celebration.
Saturday, the 24th
Mrs. Balty was out early to help set up the baby shower of Stephanie and Titan Moreno’s baby Sebastian. For the last decade, my wife had willingly helped coordinate and decorate parties for our friends. She enjoys it so much. Whether the process or the finished product, she rocks it with her all might and creative juices in her. She spends her personal money too to make sure that the designs will be beautiful to make the celebrant happy! Oh did I mention it was her actual birthday and she’s out and about first thing in the morning to help set up somebody’s party? She wouldn't want me to write about this, but I think we gotta give honor where honor is due. The couple bought her a cake though and we sang a happy birthday to her. Thanks to Titan and Steph Moreno for doing that. I was blessed to see people show their love to her as she has relentlessly done to our friends and church community.
Then it’s my turn. I secured a babysitter for both of our kids for the whole night and off we go. It’s like back in the days when we didn't think of anything but enjoying the moment and just laugh and talk about anything under the sun. We did a great job not talking about our life as pastors and church stuff. We stayed in the lanes of just me, her, and plans. We went to The Pub in Petaluma that serves an amazing Cajun Calamari! I got a burger and she got blackened salmon. Next stop is the massage place. I booked a couple’s massage to finish the night with a bang! She loves getting massages. Being a mom of 3 boys (including me) is never easy. She deserved it and I was so glad to see her relax and get pampered. I enjoyed it too and was a happy man indeed.
Sunday, the 26th
Church Day! Sunday is the busiest day of our week. As pastors, we are locked and loaded to make sure everything goes well and be able to minister to our church family. There are a lot of things that go on in a service, but we wouldn't miss the opportunity to bless and pray for our spiritual mama in the house. In the middle of the service right before our guest speaker Rachel Klinge of New Life Church Novato, we asked my wife, Mrs. Balty to come to the front of the stage so that the whole congregation can express their love and pray all together for her. This is special in many ways. We want to pray for our pastor, our mama in the house, friend to many, a servant to all. She was presented with flowers which she really loves. She doesn't like chocolate as much as she loves flowers. It was good to see that for a moment, she is the one receiving and not giving.
Afterwards, we went to lunch with our guest speaker at Sea Thai Bistro. This is one of our favorite places to go to. A combination of great food and great ambiance! Mrs. Balty got curry and I got their spicy fried rice! My golly, this place is the BOMB.com! It was such a great time to continue the celebration of her birthday and the great service we just had.
(OOTD Dress )
Then, the hard part. Sunday afternoons are always a struggle after exerting all your strength in a church service, your whole being exhausted because you want to give your best to God and the people through preaching, hosting, praying, etc. So, now the struggle is real, it’s about nap time! For some reason, our body always craves for a nap on Sunday afternoons. It is a struggle because we have meetings or parties to go to. Weekends are very hectic for our kind of life just FYI. I just remembered my wife saying, she is tired on our way home and would want to take a nap with the kids. However, right when we got home, we only had a few minutes to refresh and get ready again to go to a baby shower. My wife made sure we picked up ourselves from the couch to get ready and head out to the party because she is tasked to pray for the bride to be. It was an all-girl affair, but I had to go and drive them there and hang out with the boys so she can go and be with her girls and celebrate and more importantly pray for the bride to be.
I was tired and bored in one of the rooms as we wait for them to finish but I realized that this weekend was supposed to be my wife just celebrating her birthday as she rightfully deserves, but I saw a woman who knows her responsibilities and her commitment to the very people we are with as pastors and friends. The only gift she asked was for us to paint the dining room. It's not even for her, it’s for the people that will be enjoying that room when they are over our house. This woman is selfless. I am blessed to be with her and she has kept me grounded. It is easier to be selfless and a servant of people when you have it modeled in front of you. I have had it for the last 18 years and I am beyond blessed to have seen sacrifice and love in action, much more I am married to her. Lucky dude!
Remember, I started this whole thing by saying that June is the most expensive month for me. I am aware of that, and I normally have to be reminded by my wife to give relentlessly and cheerfully to people. She has been the most generous person I have encountered, experienced and witnessed. She embodies the heart of the Father in heaven. He gave his most beloved son for the love of all. John 3:16 says He gave his only son to us all so that we can be free from sins and its eternal consequence. I am honored to be married to a person, Mrs. Balty, who lives what she preaches and preaches what she lives. She embodies the heart of the Father in heaven. The I will give everything for the people I love. She gave money, effort, and nap time! This weekend, she showed that I am just a rookie learning from the best. Thanks, Mrs. Balty!