9/11 Day of Remembrance

Daily Gratitude Year 7-Day 254: Today, I am grateful for days of remembrance.Today is Patriot Day. 

As my grandparents remembered the attack on Pearl Harbor... we will remember 9/11. 18 years ago, our world stood still.

I was standing in clinic surrounded by families battling childhood cancer and my work family who fought the battle with them. We worked daily in a place that respected, valued and fought for life without concern for race, religion or creed.

Like the rest of the world, we had several televisions monitoring what would eventually be declared an act of terror after the second plane hit. Such a tragic loss of mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, grandparents, aunts and uncles rocked the nation.

It seemed that the world stopped spinning and paused.

We can't forget the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. We had a brief glimpse from inside that plane from a phone call. Regular guys with extraordinary courage. The Pentagon attack has it's own stories that had been told and retold.

Yes, everything seemed to be suspended in time as we waited to see if we could breathe again.

The days of searching for survivors and the stories of those who were late to work that day missing the attack. Heroes, miracles and tragedy are woven into what is now history. Our firefighters, police and military sacrificed their time, their health and some of them... gave their lives to rescue those trapped.

How is it that in the worst of times, the best that is in us is revealed?

For a season, we were a nation that prayed together.

Today... the newborn babies who lost parents on 9/11 are now eighteen years old. They are old enough to drive. Old enough to be volunteer firefighters and auxiliary police. They have are seniors in high school or college freshmen. There are sons following in their father's and mother's footsteps in public service.

It is a good day to pray for the hearts that still long for the loved ones lost that day. Let us give thanks for their courage and sacrifice, remembering some still feel the loss.

It is a good day to remember what it was like to be a nation joining hands in love, service and prayer.So much of the time we... as humans and a nation... want to write our own rules and define justice by what we believe if fair and right. We often reject God's ways... until we need him. 

There are so many stories of God interventions that kept people out of buildings and off planes that day. Lives were lost because of hate and evil, but there are countless stories of lives spared because a train was missed, a child started preschool or doctor's appointments made many month in advance.

"Hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people." -Amos 5:15

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." -Psalm 121:1-2

Have we returned to Him? 

"I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart."-Jeremiah 24:7

"I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”-Isaiah 44:22

Our firefighters and police don't determine if someone is worthy of rescue... they do their jobs. Intentionally or unintentionally... they reflect Christ's love. They are ready to lay down their lives for another. It humbles me to my core. Today, we remember their sacrifices on 9/11 and every other day. 

Today, I am grateful for days of remembrance.I am grateful for Patriot Day.