September 11

I remember waking up in the morning 7 years ago, groggy and uncomfortable from a night of sleep while I was 8 months pregnant. It was Anna that we were expecting, our first, but we didn't know if the baby was a boy or a girl yet so we referred to the baby, among ourselves, as AnnaJack (we had chosen Anna for a girl name, Jack for a boy). To help wake me up a little, I reached over and turned on the radio. I remember hearing the lady on the news radio station say something like, 'There are people just jumping from the building now.' I wondered what on earth they were talking about. I spent a few more minutes listening to the coverage but still couldn't figure it out. I decided to head up to the loft and turn on the TV to see if any stations were covering whatever the news radio was talking about.

Of course, they all were. I sat watching in amazement as I put the pieces together of what they knew about what had happened so far that morning. As I sat there I could hardly believe it when I saw another plane, live on television, crash into the second tower. The news people were almost at a loss for words (amazing in itself) and I sat glued to the TV for the rest of the day, as many of us did, watching the events unfold as we learned about them.

Just over a month later, Anna was born. To her, September 11 will be just a piece of history like Vietnam is for me. For me it will be a vivid memory, like the memory my parents have of where they were when they heard Kennedy had been shot. It is comforting to know God works in history, and 'causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.' My heart aches for those children who will grow up without a mother or father, for the husbands and wives who lost spouses, for parents who lost children. I don't know how people can bear up under it without the hope of Christ.

This link is from Youtube. It is the speech that President Bush gave the night of September 11, 2001 to a shocked and grieving country set to images from that day and days following. It is not too scary for little eyes to see and as I listened to it again these last few days, it helped me realize
the tremendousness of what happened that day and what has happened since. For a president who isn't so good with public speaking, I think this one turned out pretty well! ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZV2L0EM08I