September 11, 2001

Where were you on the morning of September 11, 2001?  I am sure most people can remember exactly where they were that day and exactly what they were doing when they heard the news about the terrorist attacks.  I think that one day my boys will ask me about that horrible morning in the same way I asked my mom about where she was when President Kennedy was assassinated.

I was a junior in college.  Every morning before classes, my roommates and I would watch Good Morning America while we were getting ready.  We were watching as the news reports started to come in.  I remember watching the reports as I walked out the door to head to class knowing that it was serious but not realizing just how serious it was. When I walked into the classroom and sat in my seat, I knew that this was a day that would change the way we lived our lives.  My professor, who was known for never canceling class, came in and with tears in his eyes, told us to go back home and to watch the television coverage and to pray for our nation.  I walked out of the building and was overcome with the feeling that I needed to know exactly where my family was.  I pulled out my cell phone and couldn’t get my parents but I do remember talking to my grandma.  I remember her crying on the phone.  It was the first and the only time I have seen her emotional and not in control.  I remember feeling so uncertain and so scared.  The days after 9/11 were filled with much of the same and it seemed that everything was so different.  A friend was in Afghanistan serving before we could go home for Christmas break and there were yellow ribbons tied on the railings of our on-campus apartment.  

I don’t think I really realized how much that day changed me personally until lately.  After college, I met and married Hal.  The job he had after we married required him to travel and quite a lot of it was international travel.  The fear and anxiety attacks I battled over his airline travel was unlike anything I have ever faced in my life.  And each year when the anniversary of 9/11 rolls around and it seems like every program on TV focuses on analyzing the attacks, I feel that same fear and uncertainty rise up in me.  It is a feeling of panic that if it is left unchecked can take over in an instant.  In those moments, I have learned to battle those feelings a couple of different ways.  I use the sword of the Spirit and repeat scripture to myself.  I also will call out and list the names of God or the attributes of His character.  One of the scriptures I use the most is 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.  

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

I often see verse 5 quoted or used when battling anxiety and fear, but verses 3 and 4 are usually left out.  To me personally those verses have had such an impact.  As believers in Jesus Christ, we do not fight the way the world does.  We fight with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  The truth that is the Word of God is what we as believers use to battle these fears and anxiety and take captive our thoughts and make them obedient to Christ.  

What are your memories of September 11, 2001?  What has God taught you as a result of the events of that day?