Watch a sporting or news event, and from time to time, some guy will either say, or hold up a sign exclaiming, “Hi Mom”!  A son has a special heart connection with his mom that is hard to put into words.  If I had to sum it up, the love of Jesus exuded from everything my mom said and did, quite literally.

She’s been home in Heaven since 2005, and I really, REALLY, miss her sweet heart and our chats.  The sad thing is I really didn’t fully understand what I had in mom until after she was gone.  With our parents, there’s a feeling they’ll always be there, and you really don’t think about losing them until the inevitable happens.  As I look back, I, in many ways took for granted the wonderful gift God granted me in my mom.

Mom was always concerned about making others happy.  It was never about her.  I have vivid memories of her watching the faces of her loved ones opening Christmas gifts, and finding humble satisfaction in their joy.  Each gift was wrapped to perfection with mom’s special love and attention, even down to the Christmas sticker that held the tissue paper secure inside the box.

In her absence, there are countless stories of my mom that I hold close to my heart.  The greatest gift she ever gave me was her evident love for Jesus.  She and my dad raised me and my sister to love and respect all that God’s Son Jesus did for us.

Shortly after mom went home to meet her Savior, I was going through through her little bedroom desk.  Mom would do bills, write cards to friends, and had a calendar full of anniversaries, birthdays and special occasions. She was very deliberate to get cards out to friends and loved ones, and made sure they arrived in a timely fashion.  I made another discovery as I tearfully worked through my mom’s desk.  In one of the bottom drawers, she had tucked away the cards my sister and I had made for her as kids.  She’d kept them all, along with birthday cards and the like we’d given her over the years.  Her love for her family was second only to the love and relationship she had with Jesus.

Growing up in that rambler in Fridley MN, there was never a question about the security and love we had within our family.  I don’t know that I ever thanked mom for all she did.  She wouldn’t want a thank you, as she did it out of the goodness of her heart.  It’s who she was.

So on this Mother’s Day, “Hi Mom”!  I miss you desperately, and my heart longs for one of our chats.  That chat will come when I see you at home in Heaven.  I know you’re there, and I’ll be there, because you and dad introduced me to Jesus, and that lead to my salvation.

Thank you mom, for living out 1 Corinthians 13:4-7…Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily.  Love does not remember wrongs done against it.  Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth.  Love never gives up on people.  It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits.

God granted Marcella Clutter a long life, (4/15/18-12/21/05), and along with my dad, left me a legacy I will forever cherish.