Never Forgetting 9-11-01

It is the eve of the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York. First and foremost, my prayer is for those left behind; the children, mothers and fathers, wives and husbands, sisters and brothers, best friends and co-workers. I do not have appropriate words other than to ask God to intervene in each one of their lives and reveal some good to come from that horrific day.

Second, I pray for our military and their families. They are on the front lines fighting to defend and protect us. And this is more than a physical battle for them. It is a spiritual one with evil principalities attacking the hearts of and minds of our soldiers.

Finally, I pray for this generation. Very tumultuous times are ahead for them and it is our responsibility to be watchmen, revealing the deceptions of Islam to our children.

9/11 changed so many things. Al-Qaida Islamic extremists are responsible, but I believe the leaders of our own nation must own up to some of this. Aside from their major corruption, they failed us and did not protect our borders. I do not know how this is possible, but it seems that has not changed. You would think it would be more difficult to enter our borders. We are not even under heightened security in our nation on the eve of 9-11?

News headlines are flooded with reports of a church in Florida who threatened to hold a Qur'an burning event in response to the mosque Islamists are building next to Ground Zero. They plan to worship Allah at the very spot where we were attacked in the name of their Allah. And we are allowing this?



Each year, Americans revisit where they were on this day. I was working for the State of California near the state capital on 9-11-01. Ironically, our building(s) were also labeled the twin towers, as they were two identical 23 story buildings, side by side. I heard of the attack while listening to the radio during my morning commute. I had just dropped my six year old daughter off at her grandmother's house.

The very first thought that entered my mind was to call her. When her Nana answered the phone, she told me she was also watching this on the news. I felt like I had to hurry to my baby girl, but figured I better check in at work first.

When I arrived, the state capital and surrounding buildings were starting to evacuate. We kept hearing from the governor's office that Sacramento, California would be the next likely target, yet the governor's office waited an extra half hour to evacuate our buildings. AFTER the governor and his staff were safely evacuated from the area, and AFTER we received permission, we left to go home to our families. Several state workers in my department had urgent deadlines and actually stayed to meet them! Crazy now that I think about that part of it.

We have so much to be grateful for, just knowing no matter what happens in these days, we are in God's hands.



Out of the ashes of Ground Zero came kindness, compassion and service that swept our country after the horrible events that brought the twin towers down.



We remain at war and our military continues to defend our nation and other parts of the world from the evils of Islamic terrorists. Though I sometimes grieve over the world in which my daughter was born into, my hope is that God is faithful and a God of justice. Viewing life on this earth from a heavenly perspective reminds me that God is in the business of taking evil and making some good come from it.

Amen?!