Once a Gift, Now a Treasure

Evelyn Husband remembers Feb. 1, 2003, as if it were yesterday. Standing at Kennedy Space Center with her family, they awaited the return to earth of her husband, shuttle Columbia commander Rick Husband. Evelyn could have never imagined that at that moment, Rick was home with God. The shuttle had entered the earth's atmosphere moments before — and had begun its fatal meltdown.

Weeks before the mission, Rick videotaped 17 personal devotions for his children, Laura, 13, and Matthew, 8 — one for each day he was to be away. Because of the shuttle tragedy, that video is now a treasure.

Rick publicly proclaimed his faith in the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and he was passionate about sharing his faith with his children. However, the schedule of training and quarantine faced by astronauts before a mission left little time for personal endeavors. Rick used every free moment to create the devotions for his children.

A lesson for others

In 2002, my mom nurtured my faith in a similar way. Five years after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, she died at age 70. Having been a woman of prayer, she was troubled by her inability to stay focused as she prayed for her family and friends. To overcome this challenge, she wrote her prayers in a notebook. I thought little of it until I rediscovered the notebook after she died. As I scanned the pages, my mom came alive to me as I heard her voice in the prayers I was reading.

Whether it's a videotape or a notebook, there is power in items that cause us to remember what God has done. More than once, God commanded the children of Israel to set up a stone altar as a testimony. He knew that future generations would pass by those altars and ask, "What do these stones mean?" (Joshua 4:1-7). The story of God's provision would then pass down from parents to children.

We all desire to give our children treasures of the heart. One of the simplest ways is to tell the stories of how God works in our own lives. My husband, Tim, and I began telling our stories at dinnertime. "Have I ever told you about the time that God . . . ?" or "Have I told you about what God is doing with . . . ?" By this we can leave stories of faith as treasures for tomorrow.

When Rick Husband addressed the press last year before takeoff, he said, "I think it's going to be a very rewarding flight." Painfully, yet heroically, it was. Despite the intense heartache of Evelyn, Laura and Matthew, this family now spreads the legacy of a father's commitment to sharing his faith with his children. The eternal rewards are more than Rick could ever have imagined.