On September 11, 2001 I watched with the rest of the world, broken hearted, as the Twin Towers fell, a plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field, and the Pentagon was attacked. It felt like time was going to be forever frozen in that moment. The days and weeks after the attacks felt so surreal.
Of course, time did go on. I could never have known then, that I'd be taking the picture below just 6 short years later:
Recently, a friend at our church spoke about how you live your life. In his talk, he used a clip from the end of the movie Saving Private Ryan - the one where Tom Hank's character tells Matt Damon's character to 'Earn this.' after Hank's character gives his life to save Damon's character. Of course, my friend who spoke was using the movie clip to point to how do we live our lives for Jesus, (NOT that we can EVER earn grace or NEED to earn grace! - that wasn't his point :-) but I also think about it today, when I think of all those people who perished on September 11, just going about their normal lives. Oprah (yes, I used to watch Oprah - I was *that* stay at home mom! :-) once had a 9/11 special where she talked about how she thought about the 9/11 victims every day - how they got up and went about their normal routines - getting dressed, drinking coffee - having no idea what the day would bring.
Am I 'earning this?' Am I showing respect for the freedoms I have been blessed with as a citizen of this country? I love because I was first loved - because when I think of the love that Christ has shown to me, I can't help but love others because my heart just overflows with love. I hope that in a similar way, I am respectful of my freedoms (and the freedoms of others) that so many have given their lives for - whether through service in the military or just through being attacked for being an American, as so many were on 9/11.
Thankful. I am thankful for my country. And I will never forget.
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