Remembering 9/11

I don't guess I will ever make it through a September 11th without tears. Today is no exception. The memories started coming back last evening. And again this morning in conversations with Bob and the kids.

Fourteen years ago, we were in Texas. Bob was a youth pastor a local church. I was a housewife with two young children. Emma had just started her kindergarten year at the elementary school which was two minutes from our house. Since everyone else was at work and school, Austin, who was 17 months old, and I were getting settled into our morning at home. I was planning to let him watch a children's show, Barney to be exact, while I cleaned up the kitchen and tidied the house. I sat him down in front of the television and turned it on. It was on one of the major networks, ABC, if I'm remembering correctly. The first tower had just been struck. I could not discern what I was seeing and was taken aback by the sense of fear and confusion emanating from the broadcasters. Many things flashed through my mind at once. Was this a movie scene they were showing? No, it doesn't appear to be. Wait. This is real? This is live? How in the world did that plane just crash into one of the towers of the World Trade Center? What is going on here? I stayed glued to the television, while turning Austin's attention to some of his toys. Shortly after, the second tower was hit, and by then we all knew, this was a very dark day in our country. 

We were under attack.

I called up to Bob's office to see if they were aware of what was happening. It took everything in me not to run up to the school and snatch Emma out of her classroom to be home with me. Bob ended up coming home, and like most of the rest of our fellow Americans, we watched the day's events unfold. Stunned. Shocked. Shaking our heads in unbelief. 

This morning I was telling one of my younger children a few more of the details of that day. She wanted to know how many people died that day. Bob and I both answered at the same time. Three thousand, we said. And I explained to her that it wasn't just the attacks in New York. The Pentagon was attacked. And a fourth plane was diverted by some heroic passengers and crashed in Pennsylvania. Her eyes were wide with the reality of this knowledge. She knows the Pentagon is not that far from where we live. Pennsylvania, too, for that matter. The extent of the attacks became more clear to her this year. 

I will share these photos with her a bit later, as I think she is ready to see what happened that day. 

My prayer and hope is that our country will be protected from any more heinous acts of terrorism in the future. We know the threats are real and imminent. 

But God. 

I also pray that even though we as a country had the chance to experience awakening and revival fourteen years ago and did not, there is still time. God is not finished with us. There is still an undercurrent of His people who are crying out to Him for the United States of America. That is why our family is here, brought back from Canada, to see His will done on earth as it is in heaven, to see revival come. 

Even in the midst of our remembering and tears, may we look to Him today. He is for us and His heart is to draw people to Himself. He does not want anyone to perish without salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ. He wants our country to know Him, to experience His unfailing love for us, and to carry out His will for our lives and our nation. Let us call on Him today in hope and expectation.

 Blessings and love. xo

Guest Post - Young Patriot

I am honoured to have my very own 16 year old contributing her writing for today's post. Enjoy...


I had the great honor of being a patriotic citizen on Wednesday. I, along with my dear friends, Katelynn and Campbell, assisted an organization called Generation Joshua (GenJ). GenJ is a youth organization that is a division of HSLDA, and helps the youth of America become educated and involved in politics, government, history and civics. The girls and I were calling members of GenJ and asking them if they were interested in becoming involved with Student Action Teams. Student Action Teams are groups of youth ages 11-19 that volunteer to go to specific cities and support pro-life and pro-family candidates with making signs, making phone calls, and door to door surveying. It was very stretching for me, as I used to have a phobia of making phone calls. Thankfully now, I believe that fear is over. It was very cool. I got to call all over Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Michigan. If you would like more info about GenJ, then please visit their website: Generation Joshua

My mum and I also had heard that Mr. Mitt Romney was going to be in town Wednesday evening, speaking at a park about thirty minutes from us. On a spur of the moment impulse, Campbell, Katelynn, and their sister McKenzie and I decided we must go! After obtaining permission from both sets of parental units, we set off on an unexpected adventure. It was absolutely crazy and fun...I used my iPhone to secure tickets for the 4 of us on the drive over. 

When we arrived at the park, I was blown away by how many people had actually come (we  found out later that there were 6000 people there). We stood in line for about 20 minutes to get to the gate and had to pass through metal detectors. There were Secret Service agents walking around and most of them were in plain clothes (I could tell who they were by the imposing posture, large sunglasses and subtle earpieces). 

It was all a bit overwhelming for me, to be so close to the nation's capital, with thousands of Americans around me and being able to hear our presidential candidate.  Several people, whom unfortunately I can't remember all the names of, spoke before Mr. Romney came to the podium.

We said the Pledge of Allegiance (which I memorized in kindergarten) and sang our national anthem. That's when I began to cry. I felt an enormous wave of pride as the song swelled into the "And the rocket's red glare / the bombs bursting in air". I could have exploded with happiness. When Mr. Romney finally stepped up to the podium, the screams and cheers were those of no less enthusiasm than a rock concert. 

He spoke about the way that he is going to improve our country and how he is going to lead us triumphantly out of this economic crisis. He also spoke of the qualities that gave our country her strong foundation. He talked of liberty, independence, honor, bravery, qualities that nowadays are often regarded as "old-fashioned".

There's a quote in the mega-hit movie, the Avengers, that goes along well with this thought:

Agent Phil Coulson: We've made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input.
Steve Rogers/Captain America: The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little...old fashioned?
Agent Phil Coulson: Everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned.

After the rally, the girls and I ventured to Chick-Fil-A and had a lovely time with more friends. There we were, sitting in a distinctly American restaurant, after having attended a Republican presidential rally. It was an absolutely wonderful, wonderful time.