Turning 40 10/40

Today is my 40th birthday. And it belongs to my mom. One of my life’s greatest influences and my consistent presence of wisdom.

For Jenny Allis, perfection is not her game, but authenticity, persistence, and Jesus sure are!

I hope you are appreciating the hot mess that was my childhood. From Sally Jesse Raphael glasses to dance team outfits to Victoria Secret poses at home school field trips- these are legit, and only scratching the surface of my childhood on film.

But here’s the awesome thing. I didn’t know I was a hot mess!!!! I thought I was so awesome! Because my mother always told me of my value, that God had an incredible plan for me, she affirmed my focus on matters of the heart (although at the cost of matters of fashion), never backed down on my beauty being inside AND out, and never ever put any shame on me about my interests, awkwardness, or my body.

Now, this could be a notable manifestation of denial on her part, but living on the other side of my decade of puberty (I mean, it was at least 10 years)- I’m positioning her words as vision casting. 🙂

She spoke life over me. She didn’t use soft words and trite cliches. She used eternal truth. When I was sad over not having a best friend- she told me to pray for one and God, who gives good gifts, will provide for me. It took longer than I wanted but I am rich in best friends now. So rich. She taught integrity by telling me God cares about our hearts and truth should come out of it, not to present a false image to please others. She was living You Do You before it was even a thing. When I would lament about my body being undesirable, she would respond that God was saving me for something better instead of wasting my time with silly high school boys. A few years ago she commented on how things have changed and said I was ‘a luscious peach’ in the hands of my husband. Uhm, that felt a little too much like literary porn for a mother to offer her kid, but….authenticity. There was also that coaching conversation about foreplay she offered Darrin before our wedding……she errs on the side of too much when it comes to boundaries. Her support for her kids to experience THE BEST can sometimes take weird turns. I’m kinda into it.

So many of my quirks and greatest assets are direct inheritance from this woman. Still now, she speaks goodness and blessing over me. My children too. She just gets better with time, as does my appreciation for our relationship.