Would A Mom Scare Her Kid?

One day, many years ago when I was a kid, I was walking through our house and it seemed strangely quiet. I knew my brother was not home but I did not know where the others were. It was late afternoon and I had just gotten home from school.

“Well it’s too early for dad to be home from work,” I thought. “Mom must be at the neighbor’s house. So Cheryl is probably with her.”

I walked through a short little hallway area to a door which led into our garage.

“It looks like I have the run of the house,” I chuckled to myself and pulled the door open.

Suddenly a figure jumped toward me from the shadows shouting, “Booo!!!”

I leaped in fear… surprised and startled, heart racing, skin tingling, frontal cortex on high alert.

(…Actually, I have no idea what the frontal cortex does when a person is startled but it seemed like a nice little touch, didn’t it?)

It took a second but I quickly recognized my mother’s smiling face. She laughed and said, “Gotcha!”

I regained my composure and said, “No you didn’t. I knew you were there.”

She continued to laugh, knowingly, and said, “Oh no. I got you.”

You might be thinking, “What kind of mom would do such a thing to her dear, precious, adorable, exceptionally bright son? …Or to Dan too, for that matter?”

A fantastic mom—a wonderful mom. That’s who!

I could provide all kinds of sentimental and tender-hearted reasons why I miss my mom. But she was fun, silly and playful. And that’s part of why I miss her, too.

#MothersDayWeekend

P.S. With this story from my childhood in mind, are the pieces of the puzzle falling into place? Are you beginning to see, now?

Story of A Wisconsin Farm Girl And Her Influence - Happy Mother's Day 2014

A farm girl from Wisconsin moved to Chicago and met a farm boy from Mississippi.  They fell in love, got married and had three children.  (That ended up working out pretty well for me.  And hey, most people would agree that two out of three normal kids ain’t bad.)

This girl from Wisconsin had a love and devotion to Jesus that was authentic.  And the influence of her genuine faith is one of the reasons why I’m a follower of Jesus today.

She’s gone now, but she is forever in my heart.  And, of course, Alice Marler is always on my mind on Mother’s Day.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms!

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.