In August of 1989, a blue Chrysler Reliant K car drove into Manor apartment’s parking lot and out popped a brunette beauty that I’d fall head-over-heels in love with. Her name was Brenda Johnson and she was from Iola, Kansas.
But her story, of course, began long before that.
Her mother and father, Beverly and Bob Johnson, raised her in church and taught her that living for Jesus is more important than anything.
“your sincere faith which … lived in … your mother …” - Paul, speaking of Timothy.
There were other religious study or preacher boys that should have caught her eye: young men of better stock, better intelligence, better skills, better heart, better prospects … but she picked me. Looking back, had I known the kind of treasure I really had, I would have been willing to lie, cheat, and steal in order to be with her. But I didn’t need to. Why? Because she had a sincere faith which first lived in her mother and she claimed it for her own and for some reason picked me to surrender her heart to. I think that it’s been a mutual advantage after almost 35 years. We’re not the same kids we were in our early 20’s, but one thing is for sure, her mother’s steadfast devotion to Christ only grew stronger and more sacrificial as we aged.
I didn’t really notice her aging until about a decade ago. The common aches and pains which accompany the variations of old age. Who would have thought that lurking in the shadows was a common foe to me: cancer.
This past Thursday night, April 2, 2026, my mother-in-love, Beverly, eased out of the orbit of this earth to unite where she belonged by promise and oath from her Heavenly Father. Cancer may have been the culprit that destroyed her body – but the joke’s on it! She made the disease her way to receive a Kingdom that can never perish, spoil, corrupt, or fade! Momentary pain translating into an eternal glory!
This year I will miss Easter with my “Easter People” at Grace Community Church in order to gather with the family who share one incalculably powerful influence: Beverly Johnson. Some may see a plain, rather simple, woman who much preferred the variances and consequences of living a life in rural Kansas to anything else on earth. They might think: how quaint, how plain, how unremarkable. How utterly base and mistaken they would be! She chose to be highly influential with a few, and strategically influential with some. The result? We don’t know yet … but one day we will. I can only speak from my point of view.
Reflecting on and declaring her honor is worth missing one of the most important days at Grace.
First, without her influence, I would not be at Grace. It was Brenda that actually found Grace (“Hey, there’s this church in New Mexico …”). Thus, it was her faith, which first lived in her mother, that motivated me to seek Grace … and thus, this blog which you now read. In fact, the past 24 years I’ve had at Grace would not exist. I don’t know what that means, but I imagine the truth is somewhere between negligible and profound. Second, Beverly’s influence has been a catalyst that – through Brenda – has not only formed me, but consequently, been able to influential with others. Maybe even you.
When I became a part of the Beverly Johnson orbit, what I didn’t realize was how much I needed the energy and stability that she gave in regard to sense of family. She prized and celebrated family events and traditions, and through her daughter, I was blessed with a exponentially greater value of a home base and secure relationships.
A renewed or corrective sense of life with a connection to family. Isn’t that how the grace of God works? The Bible tells us that “everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for it is light that makes everything visible.” (Ephesians 5:13)
It is especially valuable that on this Easter Day, what is said in v. 14 has even more significance:
This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Amen and amen, Beverly Mintz Johnson.
Let us hear The Master’s call together.
Yes, Easter for me is usually "work".
But this year it’s about rest, reflection, and honor. Perhaps it's supposed to be that way.
One more lesson.
Thanks, mom. I love you. I'll see you soon.