I was still lying in bed with my infant daughter. Watching her beautiful face as she cooed. The house still and quiet. My older two children were with my mom having a Nana night. My husband was at trade school. Suddenly the phone rang, my husband. He urgently said, "Turn on the tv now!" I couldn't believe my eyes. Was it real? It couldn't possibly be. It was.
That night our church kids had a skating party scheduled. I battled with canceling or not. We decided it was best to keep the outing. Our group the only ones at the rink. No one skated. We simply watched the tv screens, shocked.
Do you remember where you were? How could you forget? It felt like our whole world tilted.
On this 18th anniversary {can we really call it that?} of a horrid day in American history, we remember. We remember the moments our lives changed. The moments mothers lost sons, wives lost husbands, kids lost parents, we remember. We remember our first responders who diligently worked to save, only to have so many of them lose their own lives. We remember heroes who tried to stop the attack, knowing it would end their own life to save others. We remember service men and women who stepped in to fight for our freedoms. We remember.
We remember the days following when race didn't matter, politics didn't matter, differences didn't matter. We all loved each other. We all held each other. We all were kind. We lended a hand. We gave blood. We prayed. We cared. We were Americans. We were united as one.
What can we do to honor the lives lost on this day?
We can lend a hand to someone.
We can offer a smile to everyone.
We can forgive those who have hurt or wronged us.
We can apologize to those we have hurt or wronged.
We can love.
We can thank our first responders and respect them.
We can thank our service men and women and respect them.
We can put differences aside.
We can accept people.
We can pray.
Let's honor those lives lost today.
If you were personally affected on this day, please comment so that I can pray for you by name.
It's time for Share A Link Wednesday! Each Wednesday we invite you to leave a link to your latest blog post in the comments. We still desire to connect women of God with one another and encourage each other in Christ. So grab a cup of coffee or glass of sweet tea, sit back and visit a few blogs. Be encouraged and share your own stories.
Who can forget that terrible day. Thanks for your post.
ReplyDeletehere's mine for this week. http://www.switchbacks.org/2019/09/11/sticky-situation/
That day I had headed to my kids' school as I did every Tuesday to volunteer, turned on the car radio, and got the awful news about the first tower. I entered the school office to see if they had heard, and they had set up a TV to watch the live coverage. Such a mixture of surrealism, sadness, and horror. I do miss the days right after when we were more united as a nation, more humble, more aware of our need of God. I'll never forget the representatives singing "God Bless America" on the capitol steps. Would that they still did.
ReplyDeleteI wrote about the fact that we'll never "measure up" to others in some aspects, but God has made each of us uniquely for His purposes: https://barbarah.wordpress.com/2019/09/09/what-if-we-really-dont-measure-up/
I remember the day very well. I left the house of a dear friend whom we met together every week to pray. Entering my house, my dad was sitting glued to the TV with tears streaming. We both sat much of the rest of the day, stunned. May we keep this world ever in our prayers.
ReplyDeleteMy post today: http://www.joanneviola.com/2019/09/the-heart-that-heals/