As this day drew near, I was faced with questions from my girls that I have never had to face. You see, they were 2 and 3 on that beautiful September Tuesday when the Towers fell. Although there was no regular programming on t.v. for a week or more following the attacks, and although my husband..their father...didn't return to work in Mid-Town Atlanta until the city was deemed secure several days later, they don't remember that day at all. They don't remember not being able to go to story time at the library. They don't remember me calling my brother and sister inlaw, both in the Army, frantically trying to figure out what was happening. They don't remember their father....the "rock" of our little family....telling his employees to go home but not by MARTA and coming home literally shaking. They don't remember their Grandfathers calling us in tears to be sure that we were okay. The only thing Libba knew as she sat down to interview me for a class project was that 10 years later, our nation is still The UNITED States of AMERICA. Ten years later, as we memorialize the lives lost on the day, we celebrate knowing that we overcame one of the main organizers of the plot against us. Ten years later, even as our economy has slumped and jobs have been lost, we stand united under GOD. Libba asked me how I heard about the first crashed, and I told her that I saw Katie reporting on The Today Show. She asked me how I found out about the second crash, and I told her that I watched it happen...while feeding her breakfast. She asked me how I felt when I heard that the SEALS had captured and taken the life of Bin Laden, and I told her that I was overcome with pride and joy. However, I was not shocked.
We've heard many stories about that day and the time immediately following, but three stood out to me the most.
~September 11, 2011~ George W Bush was reading to a class of Elementary Schoolers in Sarasota, Florida when he was told via a whisper in his ear. Many, including myself, would have jumped up and stormed out of the room in a panic. I probably would have locked down the school in fear. W didn't. He sat, expressionless, as he mentally processed the information and the school's teacher was speaking. He didn't want to upset the children. He wasn't thinking of himself. He wasn't thinking of his family or career. He was thinking of the children. Right then and there, W became a hero of 9/11.
~~September 11, 2011~~One of the first NYPD Chaplains to arrive on the scene ran into the building that others were sprinting from and some were crawling from. We ran in so that he could help. Maybe he planned to physically rescue people. Maybe he planned to sit with people who were on their way to heaven. It's completely unclear. We do know that as The Mayor left him earlier that morning, he promised to pray for the Mayor, the city, and the nation. We know that as he entered that building, he was not only praying, but he was acting. When his body was found, the men carried him out, down to the church, up the aisle to the alter, and laid his body there at the foot of the cross. The great news was that his soul had already made it to the foot of the cross in Heaven. At the moment that he entered the Tower, the NYPD Chaplain became a hero of 9/11.
~~~September 13, 2011~~A group of firefighters/first responders made their way into the core of one of the fallen towers. There was bent steel and rubble everywhere. I am sure they also saw many gruesome things, as by then it was a recovery mission. One man made his way into a cavern that was created by the explosion and collapse of the buildings, near where the US Customs offices once were. It was twilight, and what was left of the day made it's way through the rubble and the carnage, and shone on none other but a CROSS. It was a cross of steel. It had a piece of metal draped over one of it's arms, "Like the drape we use at Easter", according to the man who found it. He brought others to see it. They were convicted to preserve it, and it now stands at Ground Zero as a permanent fixture. The placement of that cross among all the horror was not a coincidence. That cross was GOD's message to us that no matter what we experience in our life, HE is bigger. No matter what, if we wish to be healed, HE can heal us. At each moment the planes hit the buildings and at the moment that Todd Beamer declared, "Let's Roll", God became a hero of 9/11.
Of course, there are countless other heroes of that day. Each person who lost his or her life that day or in days since as a result of the attacks is a hero. Each spouse, parent, and child who lost a loved one is a hero. My daughter didn't ask me about the heroes, but if she had, I would have said that the "little ones" of 9/11, those who lost parents as well as all of the others in America, are heroes. They are heroes because they give us something to keep fighting for! They give us the faith to fall down at the cross and give it all to God. They give the SEALS and the other men and women of our Armed Forces the courage to risk their lives so that the US can remain the most powerful and secure country in the world. The difference between terrorists and American Soldiers is courage.
Osama got SOME of Us....We Got ALL of HIM!
God's Got ALL of US....We've Got ALL of HIM!!!
September 11, 2011
God Bless America!!!
We've heard many stories about that day and the time immediately following, but three stood out to me the most.
~September 11, 2011~ George W Bush was reading to a class of Elementary Schoolers in Sarasota, Florida when he was told via a whisper in his ear. Many, including myself, would have jumped up and stormed out of the room in a panic. I probably would have locked down the school in fear. W didn't. He sat, expressionless, as he mentally processed the information and the school's teacher was speaking. He didn't want to upset the children. He wasn't thinking of himself. He wasn't thinking of his family or career. He was thinking of the children. Right then and there, W became a hero of 9/11.
~~September 11, 2011~~One of the first NYPD Chaplains to arrive on the scene ran into the building that others were sprinting from and some were crawling from. We ran in so that he could help. Maybe he planned to physically rescue people. Maybe he planned to sit with people who were on their way to heaven. It's completely unclear. We do know that as The Mayor left him earlier that morning, he promised to pray for the Mayor, the city, and the nation. We know that as he entered that building, he was not only praying, but he was acting. When his body was found, the men carried him out, down to the church, up the aisle to the alter, and laid his body there at the foot of the cross. The great news was that his soul had already made it to the foot of the cross in Heaven. At the moment that he entered the Tower, the NYPD Chaplain became a hero of 9/11.
~~~September 13, 2011~~A group of firefighters/first responders made their way into the core of one of the fallen towers. There was bent steel and rubble everywhere. I am sure they also saw many gruesome things, as by then it was a recovery mission. One man made his way into a cavern that was created by the explosion and collapse of the buildings, near where the US Customs offices once were. It was twilight, and what was left of the day made it's way through the rubble and the carnage, and shone on none other but a CROSS. It was a cross of steel. It had a piece of metal draped over one of it's arms, "Like the drape we use at Easter", according to the man who found it. He brought others to see it. They were convicted to preserve it, and it now stands at Ground Zero as a permanent fixture. The placement of that cross among all the horror was not a coincidence. That cross was GOD's message to us that no matter what we experience in our life, HE is bigger. No matter what, if we wish to be healed, HE can heal us. At each moment the planes hit the buildings and at the moment that Todd Beamer declared, "Let's Roll", God became a hero of 9/11.
Of course, there are countless other heroes of that day. Each person who lost his or her life that day or in days since as a result of the attacks is a hero. Each spouse, parent, and child who lost a loved one is a hero. My daughter didn't ask me about the heroes, but if she had, I would have said that the "little ones" of 9/11, those who lost parents as well as all of the others in America, are heroes. They are heroes because they give us something to keep fighting for! They give us the faith to fall down at the cross and give it all to God. They give the SEALS and the other men and women of our Armed Forces the courage to risk their lives so that the US can remain the most powerful and secure country in the world. The difference between terrorists and American Soldiers is courage.
Osama got SOME of Us....We Got ALL of HIM!
God's Got ALL of US....We've Got ALL of HIM!!!
September 11, 2011
God Bless America!!!
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