9/11

I will never forget where I was 8 years ago today. I was sitting at work, pregnant with Ashlyn, when I got an email from my sister Jill saying a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center. I went online looking for more information and then the guys that I worked with came pouring out of their offices and turned on the TV in the conference room. We all sat in stunned silence and watched the news coverage for the rest of the day.

The first thing I remember thinking was, "What are we doing bringing a child into the middle of WWIII?!"

Over the past year, Britney and I have watched several movies about that horrible day. And this summer, I finally read Lisa Beamer's book - Let's Roll - about her husband Todd's role in that day. Going through all of the emotions and thoughts of that day all over again gave me a renewed sense of gratitude for our military men and women who are still fighting for our freedom. And also how God protected some, but chose to use some so that His glory would be seen even on that dreadful day.

All of the events of the last few weeks - thinking of Sept. 11 and our "enemies", adopting a soldier to send care packages to, reading through the Psalms and remembering how David was surrounded by his enemies and crying out to the Lord to save him - got me thinking about how my life is different today than it was 8 years ago.

I now have two children to raise in a fallen world. I have friends with problems so great I don't even know how to begin to help them. I live in a podunk little town that would probably be one of the last places on earth to be bombed by a terrorist. I can let my kids walk down the block with no real worry that they will be taken by the child molester in the white van.

But the true enemy is still around us every day. All of those things COULD still happen here. I'm not naive enough to think that they couldn't.

But the Lord pressed upon me something very clearly this morning on my walk. As Christians, the battle has already been fought and won. No matter what earthly enemy we're fighting - it's done. We win.

So, as we remember this day, let's mourn those who lost their lives, pray for those who are still fighting for our freedom, but most importantly, let's go out and fight for the ones who don't have HOPE - who don't know Jesus.