Remebering My Mom

My mom was a wonderful person, gracious, loving, kind, without exaggeration—in my opinion, at least—one of the nicest people you would ever want to meet.  (I know, I sound like a totally biased little boy talking about his mommy.  And I am biased, of course, but other people have said that about my mom, as well.  So, there!  By the way, my dad can beat up your dad…but that’s a topic for another day.)  I wish you all could have really known her, because she would have made you feel loved.  She impacted my life for Christ in a multitude of ways that I could never put into words. 

But part of the reason that her spiritual influence on my life was so profound is that it was, without question, GENUINE.  When you grow up with a person and you watch the person’s life carefully and learn from the person’s life—the way we do with a parent—you can tell if their faith is something real to them.  You can tell if their faith is something that they honestly hold to be TRUTH in the living of life, or if their faith is just idle words.  I know from countless first-hand experiences that my mom’s faith was authentic.  Her love of Christ Jesus and her trust in Him, was a conviction held at the very core of who she is as a person.

I suppose it would have been possible to grow up in my family’s home and reject Christianity, but it would not have been possible to grow up in my family’s home and say, “This Christian thing is all just an act, my mom doesn’t really believe it.”  She believed it and she lived it.

I’m not saying she was a perfect Christian—I heard her come close to swearing, once—but I am saying that she was an absolutely authentic Christian.

She passed away last year on this date and I share this post to remember her.  She really was a great person. The truth of Jesus Christ is real and alive in the lives of my family and my brother and sister and their families, in part, because of her.  All three of my mom’s children and all 9 of her grandchildren are followers of Christ.  This is, of course, due to the love and goodness and graciousness of God…all the glory goes to God.  But He unquestionably influenced all of us profoundly through the life of Alice Marler.

I love her and I miss her, but I rejoice that she is actually still alive.  And I rejoice that I WILL SEE HER AGAIN.

Praise God.

Some of you who read this blog gave tremendous comfort and love and friendship to my family and I, last year, in our grief.  Just want to say, once again, thank you.  Your love was and is very meaningful and deeply appreciated.