A Tribute to My Mom... What She Was to Me

By David E. Allen

I say, “What she was to me,” because if you ask my brothers and sister the same question you will undoubtedly get a different answer. Sure, you’ll hear some of the same attributes like kind, loving, caring, and attentive to our needs, but we each will have a different version to tell.

I chose the attribute of a woman full of faith, because that’s what Mom was to me. The scripture in 2 Timothy 2:5, where the Apostle Paul is admonishing Timothy, comes to my mind. Paul writes, “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”

From an early age, I remember Mom having us pray, and talk to Jesus whenever we had a need. She always spoke of Jesus to us. She wanted us to know this Son of God. I do not remember exact words, just often references to Him. She believed so strongly in Jesus, that at Christmas we sang Happy Birthday in front of the manger before we opened gifts.

Mom loved the Lord! She was also a very controversial person in the church in which I grew up, because she would get together with other ladies from the church to discuss scriptures. I say controversial, because back in the 50's, the church did not allow this. I remember Mom saying things like, “Why can’t I discuss these things, if God wrote them down then He must want us to understand them.” I was very young then, but I did see something there in her about taking a stand for God.

One time, Mom had quit smoking for over a month. I was living at home at the time, shortly after I got saved, and I questioned her about it. Newborn boldness I guess. She said she would quit smoking if God would heal her nervousness. I told her that if she quit first, then I believed God would heal her. You know what? She did quit, and God did take away that nervousness! She rejoiced over that for many years with me.

The last couple of years, Mom always found comfort and great joy if I would pray with her, and for her, before I left from our visits. She would be praising God right along with me, and thanking Him for listening. Imagine that! A woman who spent more than half of her life in pain, and she would still praise God for listening, believing that He had heard our prayer! That’s what I mean when I say she was a woman who was full of faith.

I love you Mom! I’ll miss her deeply, but I have comfort in the fact that she has earned a place in the Kingdom of God!

(Helen Irene Allen 1925-2003)