I’ve been on a slight hiatus from blogging for the past week as we adjust to our new schedule which includes Travis’s school, my school, and our at-home routine which was thrown off last week when LB’s molars came in and kept him up for several nights in a row. I promise to dive back in this week, because I’ve missed being here.
In the meantime, I wanted to extend my heart out to anyone who lost a loved one in the attacks on September 11th in 2001. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years. In some ways, our world moves on, as anyone would expect it to, but in other ways it feels as raw as if it occurred yesterday. I was especially struck emotionally over the past weekend viewing all of the news footage from that horrible day over and over again. The personal stories touch my heart and break it all over again. While I didn’t know anyone personally whose life was cut short that day, I think a part of all of us aches when we remember that morning, because as Americans it wounded us all.
When something tragic happens, I remember that we aren’t Texans or New Yorkers, more specifically we’re Americans, and children of God. He loves us all the same, and I believe the Lord wept with us that day. And today he embraces us as we remember and reflect on those scars that still sting.
Our pastor this morning in church asked us to spend a moment reflecting on where we were that morning, and he reminded us that we all have a similar story from that morning. How often in our lifetime will there be a day where every American can hold a story in their heart that is somewhat similar to the story of another person on the other side of the nation on the exact same day- the exact same moment? The remarkable thing of this tragedy is our unity in it. My story, as a 15 year old high school student, may have been very similar to that of another high school sophomore thousands of miles away. Somewhere, someone who has an entirely different faith, an entirely different background, an entirely different family, holds a memory in their heart that eerily reflects my own memory from that morning. We’re all united in that way. To me, it’s a reminder that we all have the same Creator. We all cried together, and felt that painful welling of pride in our hearts as we saw the flag raised by a group of first responders at Ground Zero.
For all of our limitations and problems, I’m incredibly thankful to God for where I live. I’m thankful for the people who have worked for the past ten years to ensure our safety and preserve our freedom. I’m thankful that tragedies as horrific as the one that occurred ten years ago are rare in our nation. We are not raw or callous to acts of mass violence because we are rarely exposed to such hateful acts. I’m grateful for that.
My prayer for today is that our hearts continue to heal. That God would be near the children who lost parents, the parents who lost children, and the thousands who lost friends, neighbors, siblings, and coworkers. I pray that their lives were not lost in vain, and that we continue to honor their memory through our own lives. I pray that anyone who reads this who was personally touched by the attacks that occurred ten years ago finds peace, hope, and healing.
God bless you all. Spend time today joyfully with your family, friends, and loved ones as a way of honoring those we lost.
Kathleen
Love Makes A Family {by mommyponders} 