September 11–Twenty Years Later. I remember where I was. I had just walked into my church for a Bible study and stopped by the office. The youth leader wore a stunned look on his face, and when I asked what was wrong, he looked at me. “You haven’t heard?”
I shook my head. I’d been busy that morning and hadn’t turned on the news. Over for the next few days, months, years, commentators repeated his next words: “Two planes crashed into the World Trade Center buildings.”
Our world changed forever that day. American had been attacked. Over the next few weeks, I passed by my church with cars parked outside the building. Sunday, the pews were overflowing. Prayers went up for the families of those who were killed in the attack.
Our country came together.
I wish I could say that the revival continued, but within a month, attendance fell off, and life in my small town returned to normal, albeit a new normal. I hate that phrase. New normal. Within a few months, it was politics as usual in Washington DC.
And here we are twenty years later. Please join with me today in praying for our country and the families of those who died on September 11, 2001.
September 11–Twenty Years Later first appeared on ptbradley.com/blog
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Comments 23
Yes, our country needs prayer.
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Absolutely, Priscilla!
Yes, I will never forget this, not only because of the immense tragedy, but also because it had such a huge personal impact on our family. Our son, a member of the NJ National Guard, volunteered immediately to go to Ground Zero and was involved in rescue efforts, which eventually became body recovery efforts. His unit also ended up doing 2 tours in Iraq in the following years. He has suffered from severe PTSD from these experiences, and even though he made a full-time career in the military, in recent years he ended up having to do a year and a half of inpatient treatment for his PTSD and related issues and being honorably discharged because of it. He is doing better now and has learned from treatment coping strategies for dealing with his trauma, but some days are still a struggle. The anniversary of 9/11 is always a difficult day for him and for our family.
Linda, I’m so thankful for your son’s service, yet sad that it came at such a high price for him, you and your family. May God bless and keep him strong, along with you and your family.
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First of thank your son for me for his service. It takes a special person to serve as he did. Praying he will recover fully!
Praying for your son to have complete healing. Thank him for his service.
That verse from Lamentations says it so well. I was driving to work that morning. When I heard about the first plane, I didn’t have much information, and thought it was probably a small, single engine plane that had accidentally hit one of the towers. Then they announced a second plane had hit. I pulled over to call my wife. I told her to turn on the news, something terrible was happening.
Yes, for awhile the country came together in prayer and determination. But, all to quickly we went back to business much as usual. We need to connect to God in prayer more today then ever.
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Amen, Tim! I don’t know what it will take to bring us back to God…but I hope we do.
I was at work as an adm. asst. in a large Minneapolis hospital and had stepped into the employee elevator in the basement where they were talking about a plane striking the first building. I went to my boss’s Chris. office to tell him and he had his radio on where we heard of the second strike. History changing. Our nation’s thoughts did turn to the Lord then. In mercy may that happen again now without such dire disaster.
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Amen, Delores!
Our country does need prayers. We fear for our children and grandchildren what the world will be like for them.
Prayers for your son and family, Linda. Thank you for his service and his/your family’s as well. I was at the elementary school where our kids attended working on gift wrap sales in the cafeteria when the news on the TV showed the first plane hitting the Twin Tower. Days of grief and disbelief followed.
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Well said, Gloria!
Praying for our country to turn back to God before it is too late.
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Yes, Shelia!
Lord hear our prayers.
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Amen and Amen, Alicia!
That is such a poignant picture with appropriate Scripture.
I suspect that a huge majority of American adults who were alive on 9/11 can say: “I remember where I was.” Those life-shattering moments seem to stay with us for a lifetime. I remember the day quite well. At the time, I was working in Richmond, VA. In cleaning out another facility owned by the bank I worked for at the time, a TV had ended up in my office, simply because there was enough room for it. From the moment someone first heard a plane had hit the World Trade Center, someone turned on the TV and employees came and went all day long to catch up on what was happening. By that evening, my brain was on overload and I made a point to leave the TV off at my apartment. Of course, it was impossible to go anywhere else that had a TV and not be inundated with more about the horrible events that had taken place that day.
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Edward, thank you for your post. September 11, 2001 is one of those days like Pearl Harbor, and JFK and MLK’s assassinations that you will always remember where you were and what you were doing.
Yes, it is a time to remember and pray for our country.
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Absolutely, Sally Jo.
My sister and I were discussing how full the churches were after 9/11 and how different it looks today. I lived in WI at the time and was in WV visiting and helping my parents. I was fixing my hair to fly back to WI when my daddy started screaming for us to come. It was 2 weeks before I could get a flight and I didn’t want to get on it. May we never forget. Praying
Thank you for sharing Patricia. It is one of those days that we remember where we were during this tragic moment.
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Absolutely, Diane. I can’t believe it’s been 20 years!