Remembering My Mother This Mother’s Day

My godly mother, Norma (1928–2019)

1. Don’t underestimate the power of your example. My mum taught me, “It’s only what is done for Jesus that lasts.” But she didn’t just say that—she lived it out. Watching her walk that out day by day had a tremendous impact on me. Walk faithfully with the Lord and don’t underestimate the power that example has on your children.
2. Don’t underestimate the power of prayer. My mum prayed for each of her children, her twenty grandchildren, and forty-eight great-grandchildren by name every day. That meant so much to each of us and we know God answered her faithful prayers.
3. Don’t underestimate the power of standing on God’s Word, against compromise. I can truly say that the ministry of AiG, the Creation Museum, and the Ark Encounter, which each year impact tens of millions of people around the world, are a legacy of my mum and dad. They taught their children to stand boldly and unashamedly on the Word of God. They would never knowingly compromise God’s Word—they hated such compromise and boldly and passionately shared the gospel and biblical truth with others. That example had a profound impact on me and my siblings, driving us to search God’s Word to see if the things we heard were true.

Although my mother has left this earth and is now with our Savior, her legacy and impact lives on in her family and through the ministries of Answers in Genesis, the Creation Museum, and the Ark Encounter.

But there’s another mother I wanted to honor today as well—my godly wife, Mally. We have five children (two boys, three girls), so I asked our three daughters if they would write something about their mum (mom) for Mother’s Day. Here is what they wrote:

When you look at our family, what jumps out to you? The fact that our dad is the founder and CEO of Answers in Genesis, the Creation Museum, and the Ark Encounter would generally be the first thing people say. It’s amazing to look back at our lives and see the journey to where we are today, and it’s such a blessing to see the major impact our dad has had. The Lord has certainly used him in a mighty way. But what a lot of people may not always see is the pillar of strength the has supported him and helped him for 47 years. Yes, we are talking about our mum.

First Corinthians 13:4–7 says, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

When we think of our mum, these verses not only come to mind, but completely and accurately describe her. Our childhood was very unique in multiple ways . . . 

• We grew up without any extended family around us.
• We grew up with a dad who was gone from home for extended lengths at a time as he travelled around the world to preach biblical truths.
• We grew up with a popular dad who became the face of AiG, Creation Museum, and the Ark Encounter.

Even though this was very unique to most families, it seemed normal to us because that’s all we ever knew! We look back now and wonder how we survived through many difficult times. But not only survive, but us girls and our brothers are strong Christians with a passion for biblical authority just like some parents we know. 😉 Now most people would probably attribute this to our dad, and of course he had a huge part, but it’s our mum who was the glue for our family.

It takes a very special person to uplift their whole family from one country to another and live in a foreign land with no extra support and a husband who is gone on ministry a lot of the time. But did our mum complain? Did she grow bitter? Did she put her needs before what the Lord called them to do? No, our mum’s response to doing this was that of Ruth:“For where you go, I will go” (Ruth 1:16), because she knew the Lord had called them to this special ministry.

It’s rare to find such a woman that truly puts her needs aside as she serves God first and others second. She not only talks the talk, but she lives it in her words and actions. When our dad was gone on many of his trips, she would say that he is out telling lots of people about Jesus and she never complained that he was not there to help her. Because of her example, she instilled in us a passion for the importance of what dad was doing. She supported her husband a million percent! We saw many times where she encouraged him to take that step of faith knowing that God would see them through even if it meant more hardship for them. It is because of her faith and support that the ministry of Answers in Genesis is even here today.

When we think of words to describe our mum, these are at the top of the list: godly, points us back to God’s Word, giver, servant’s heart, peacemaker, humble, strength, counselor, love, best friend, encourager, steadfast, and faithful.

As her grown-up daughters, we now have a special mother/daughter relationship that we have become her best friends. We are so thankful for the special lady that she is and her heartfelt desire to serve our Lord and Savior. We thank the Lord every day for the wonderful woman he gave to us as our mother.

And our two brothers? They agree one hundred percent with what we’ve written.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mum (Mom)!

Renee Hodge, Danielle Johnson, and Kristel Ham

Here are two photos—one of our mum and one with mum and dad and their five children:

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken