By: Pastor Lars Janssen
I have a grandmother I never met. She died seven years before I was born and 28 years before I would marry her granddaughter. And yet, this grandmother has left a mark on my life. Her name is Mildred Nicholson, mother of Paul Nicholson and grandmother of my wife, Sarah (and Brenda Kerr too). She died of cancer in 1978 but left the kind of heritage spoken of in Psalm 145:4, “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.”
I remember a day when I was sitting on a park bench with my father-in-law, Paul, watching my kids play. We were talking about God’s faithfulness during hard times when Dad shared a way he meditates on scripture. He tries to think of different Bible verses that begin with each consecutive letter of the alphabet. At the time, I remember him saying that he was stuck on a certain letter—I don’t remember which letter—but he was confident he’d find a verse for that letter soon. I am still encouraged as I reflect on this and, as I look back, I see that Dad was commending God’s works to me (Psalm 145:4).
Some time later I shared Paul’s method of meditation with Brenda Kerr, my friend and cousin by both marriage and Thanksgiving (the cousin-by-Thanksgiving part is a story for another time). Brenda gave me a knowing smile and told me about her grandma’s “ABC” Bible verses—Brenda’s grandma, you’ll remember, is Paul’s mom. She said that Grandma Mildred often quoted these verses:
A: “As for God, his way is perfect.” (Psalm 18:30)
B: “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
C: “Christ is all, and in all.” (Colossians 3:11)
As Brenda told me about this, I recalled that Dad had been pretty quick with the verses he quoted for the letters A, B, and C in his alphabetical Bible meditation. I mentioned this to Brenda, who chuckled and said that it was probably because they were his mom’s verses. I asked Mom and Dad about this later and they both agreed that those verses were passed on in this way from grandma.
So Grandma Mildred commended God’s works through these verses from her generation to both Paul and Brenda. And now their generation was using these ABCs to commend God’s works to me. Being the impertinent son-in-law that I am, I dropped a not-so-subtle hint to Mom that a cross stitch of these verses would be a much-appreciated present someday. She got the hint and a cross stitch of these three verses is sitting on my desk now, where I read them often (see accompanying photo, thanks to Barb Rogelstad for taking it).
I look back with my imagination and consider how Grandma Mildred endured her encounter with terminal cancer. Even in suffering, she knew, “As for God, his way is perfect” (Psalm 18:30). As she became unable to speak—unable to sing—she knew that she could “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). And I’m told that in her final hours, God did give her one last song to sing before she joined the heavenly choir. She sang a verse of her favourite song, My Jesus, I Love Thee, by William R. Featherston. She sang that “Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11).
Recently, when I was asking Dad’s blessing to write this story, he shared the verse he had thought of for the letter W: “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2
Chronicles 20:12). This was a prayer made when all seemed lost; when it seemed like death would be the final word. But it wasn’t then—and it isn’t now. All is not lost.
I never knew Grandma Mildred, but she encourages me to know what she knew then and what she is experiencing with perfect clarity now. I never met her, but she taught me my ABCs for life.
Let’s be a generation that commends God’s works to another generation (Psalm 145:4).
