Patriot Day! September 11, 2001 is a date I will never forget. It\u2019s my prayer that none of us do. I\u2019m sure almost all of you have heard the question, \u201cWhere were you when\u2026?\u201c Each generation can fill in the blank to fit their lives. My mother has told me she remembers where she was when JFK was assassinated. When man first stepped on the moon. For me, there are two big ones as well. The space shuttle exploding after takeoff is the first one. I was a freshman in class watching it live. It was terrible to watch. And the second one is 9\/11. I was also in school because I was teaching at that time. The disbelief is something I will never forget. The uncertainty. The sorrow and the anger. It was bone chilling. Looking back at it, the world has changed so much since that morning. Some are good changes. Others not so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
60 Minutes on CBS featured a story on the New York Fire Department since 9\/11. I\u2019m sure you can find it online if you do a search. It will be worth your time. But, there are over 60 children of NYFD fallen firefighters from 9\/11, that now serve as firefighters in the NYFD. NYFD lost 343 that day. A number that we should all remember. I don\u2019t know the statistics, but I\u2019m guessing almost all of them lost their lives when the towers came down. Something that we all watched live on TV. One of the 60 Minutes interviews is with brothers who lost their father that day. The first tower had already fallen. Yet\u2026he and others still decided to go into the tower still standing to try to rescue all they could. Knowing very well what was probably going to happen. Isn\u2019t there some thing in the Bible talking about laying down one\u2019s life for their friends?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One thing that caught my attention during the interview was how one of the new firefighters said it was not 9\/11 that led them to follow in their father\u2019s footsteps. He said it was the days that followed. Starting with September 12. He was talking about how everyone around them stepped up to help take care of his family. His mother was now a widow raising several children. And everyone around them came in to help try to fill the hole that was left with his father\u2018s death. He is forever grateful, and wanted to pass on to others what he was given. So now he\u2019s trying to do that. Simply amazing! So today, let\u2019s be thinking about what it is that we are grateful for? And I think as we ask that question, let\u2019s look at what God\u2019s grace has done for us. Let\u2019s be grateful for that. We are undeserving of it. We don\u2019t earn it. We never can. But God\u2018s grace is still there. Not to make life easy. Not to erase our pasts. But to cover us so we can then show grace to others. Even when they don\u2019t deserve it. Let\u2019s be grateful for the sacrifice Jesus made for us. So we can have eternity with him. So today, let\u2019s remember September 11, 2001, and\u2026Let\u2019s simply be grateful!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Patriot Day! September 11, 2001 is a date I will never forget. It\u2019s my prayer that none of us do. I\u2019m sure almost all of you have heard the question, \u201cWhere were you when\u2026?\u201c Each generation can fill in the blank to fit their lives. My mother has told me she remembers where she was … <\/p>\n