9/11 Eighteen Years

Eighteen years ago terror struck us at the heart of our country. The images are burned into our hearts and minds. The planes full of terrified passengers, the towers that once stood so tall and proud burning as people threw themselves out windows before the flames could reach them. Those proud towers toppling to the ground. The brave first responders who sacrificed their lives so others could live. The flight that went down in the Pennsylvania field so that another building and those in it wouldn't be sacrificed. 

Eighteen years ago we swore we would never forget. Each of us can remember where we were that day. Where we were when we heard the news, who we were with, what we were doing. We remember seeing the news footage being played over and over again. I was only ten years old and I still remember it like it were yesterday.

There's another part to all this though. A part that we don't often think about. We all know where we were when we first heard the news that our country had been attacked. But do you remember where you were when you first realized that the world didn't stop turning that day even though it felt like it had?

I don't remember the exact moment that life started to return to normal for me. What I do remember is picking up a birth announcement. The date was 9/17/2001 and the name was that of my youngest cousin. I suddenly realized this was the first person that I knew or would know who was born after that fateful day that our world changed. He was born just six days after that horrible day. The firefighters and others were still sorting through the rubble, the news footage was still on our T.V.'s, people were still afraid to be in tall buildings or anywhere that would draw too much of a crowd. And yet in the midst of all that death and destruction there was something good happening in my world. A child. A baby boy. My youngest cousin. A ray of hope in the darkness.

Now, eighteen years later, Lucas has just started his senior year of high school. He's no longer just a name on a birth announcement to me. He's someone I love and someone that I have loved watching grow up. He'll always have a special place in my heart because he was the tool that God used to show me a ray of light during one of our country's darkest periods.

So may we never forget the victims, the heroes, and the families of both. But may we also remember that even in our darkest days God is still in control and He will show us His light. May we always remember what that ray of light was after 9/11 and may we continue to look for it in every situation.