Passing the Torch

Remembering

Shelva Jean Davis Hitchcock.

James 1:12 (KJV)

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.

God granted me a special gift during the winter season of my mother’s life.  In awe, I witnessed His Word come alive and I will never be the same.

Although mom never acknowledged it, her life was filled with pain, and much to my amazement those last days were no different, yet I feel honored to have witnessed them.  I beheld paper transformed into a living, breathing story, all wrapped up in a fragile and delicate gray haired woman, older than her years.

Known for her anointing as a Bible teacher, mom poured herself into influencing the lives of others through the lessons she taught.  Those last months of her life she taught her final lessons to the students who knew her best, her family.

A favorite story of mine has always been the story of Job, and it only gained in popularity during those final days.  Her struggle with multiple terminal illnesses never dimmed her faith that God had the power to heal.  Heaven’s silence would shake, but never deter her.  The machine that sustained her breathing echoed words spoken years before: 

Job 13:15a (NASV)

“Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.”

I caught a glimpse of Peter during those days, walking across a raging sea, frightened yet trusting.  I saw him the day mom braced for a life of independence from her husband of fifty years, and with his leaving, the betrayal of many of her extended family. 

I was touched by the selfless compassion of Steven, as I listened to her pray for the healing of a man she hardly knew while quietly accepting her own unanswered prayer. 

There was a theme to moms’ lessons, and when I am quiet, I can hear her whisper from her new home.  ”It’s worth it all.”

At mom’s passing the words from Paul to Timothy sealed her life’s work, escorting her out of her winter season, into eternity.

II Timothy 4:6-8a (KJV)

“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.  I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.”

There were so many Bible stories that became real to me in this final season, no longer words spoken in a classroom or written in a book, but exemplified in the life of the one I knew so well.  Those closing lessons were gifts to me.  Now, the torch has passed, the season has changed, and I will never be the same. 

There was one last lesson mom taught on what we loving refer to as her “moving day” and this final lesson will carry me home.

1 Corinthians 15:55 (KJV)

“O death, where is thy sting; O grave, where is thy victory”

Romans 8:38-39 (KJV)

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creation, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.