A DAY TO REMEMBER AND PRAY

A TIME TO REMEMBER AND PRAY- A 9/11 Tribute

Today is the 15th anniversary of the terror attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the downing of Flight 93 in a field in rural Pa. It was a day our nation was under attack. September 11, 2001 is a day that will live in infamy! Thousands of souls were lost to this earth and thousands and thousands and millions more lives were touched! It is a day of remembering!

Today is not a day for politics or blaming or posturing. It is a day of national mourning and remembering. Winston Churchill said, ” Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. Today is a day to remember and learn from our past. 

 Every 9/11 makes me weep and remember and pray.  It was such a beautiful clear fall day. I was sitting in a Bible Study learning from the Book of Daniel (quite ironic when I look back) and the church secretary came in and gave us the news that one of the World Trade Center towers had been hit by a plane. Over fifty women immediately went into prayer. We prayed for a good 30 minutes and I left Bible Study to get home before my children beat me there as they were let out of school because of the tragedy. 

Like all Americans and much of the world, I watched my tv in disbelief and held my young children tight! In the days and weeks and months following the 9/11 attack life on the “outside” got back to some semblance of normal. Life has a way of doing that. But the events of 9/11 has left holes and cracks, and burns and scars… deep and painful! 

 Our collective conscience… those beliefs, morals, and ideas that work to unify and galvanize our nation was working overtime. We were unified to help each other heal and cope. 

But here’s another thing about us. We tend to forget! Again, it is a way for us to move on. A way not to get “stuck” in the mire of unspeakable tragedy. 

I shared above a brief overview of my day on September 11, 2001. I don’t know what I wore that day, or ate for breakfast or much else about that day. I can’t remember what our family did that day except that we were glued to the tv and I cried and prayed a lot! And we sat as a family with arms around each other not wanting to let go!

I think Winston Churchill was right. Those who fail to remember history are doomed to repeat it! Please God let us remember our history and never forget!

This week’s memorization verse:

IF MY PEOPLE WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES AND PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, THEN I WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN AND FORGIVE THEIR SINS AND WILL HEAL THEIR LAND. 2 Chronicles 7:14

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48 Comments

  1. Teresa Alexander says:

    thank you so much for your thoughts! Yes, it is so very important to remember our history. All throughout the Bible God tell us to remember!

    1. And the bible is ripe with examples of what happens when people forget!

  2. May we never forget the importance of praying for our land and it’s people.

  3. Oh how we all turned to God that day.How quickly we forget. When America blesses God, God blesses America.

    1. I remember our church opened it’s doors for prayer every day that week and it was filled! Yes, we do forget!

  4. God Bless America. Please. We need to pray fervently for our country.

  5. Portia Read says:

    Thank you Yvonne! We must remember those sad dark days and continue to pray for our country especially now. We must have hope that the Lord our God will lead us where He wants us to be.
    Our parish is gathering today at our courthouse and each Monday morning until the election to pray the Patriotic Rosary for our country.

  6. Thank you, Yvonne. We must always remember and we must always be good stewards. God Bless America!

  7. It was one of the worse days in history, your post is perfect, in every respect…
    As an English woman and I can promise you we were all devasted by what happened…America was not alone for a moment, although I am sure it must have felt that way for a while…anyone who has had a terror attack on there own soil can understand how you felt…The point is, you picked yourselves up again, and walked through that awful storm, for some, memories are all that are left, but feel proud, for America and the rest of the western world stand together…God Bless you all..xx

    1. Janette, thank you for your love for us! I lived in Scottland and England as a child as I truly consider it my second home!

  8. I haven’t been to my blog in months but today I had to write. When I checked in you were at the top of my reading list. I’m glad I came to read. Thank you for your words. I will never forget because it is my birthday but I grieve that there is nothing more I can do than write my feelings in my blog. I am glad at least one other person is trying.

    1. Happy Birthday Sami! I hope you have a fabulous day! Life does go on!

  9. Yes, remember, mourn, and pray. Everyone remembers where they were on this day and it can never be forgotten. Thank you for your words today.

  10. Thank you for the awesome post, we must never forget that day, but we must move on,. I know like you I remember that morning also, I was getting ready for work and son who was about 5 was watching tv while waiting for me and I heard a bounch of noise and thought he was watching something he not suppose be ,so I went in to check it and then we saw the second twin tower get hit. I will never forget that image. I did a lot of praying and at church we had special prayer nights .Happy Birthday Sami!! Have an awesome day .
    Be Blessed
    Hugs

  11. Your Scripture 2 Chronicles 7:14 is perfect for us in USA. God blesses America, but how do we bless Him. Fifteen years ago, and we can cling to His promise that He loves us always. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Romans 8:38-39

  12. If I remember correctly, members of Congress gathered to sing a song asking God to bless America. My prayer is that each member of Congress would continue to seek God”s will for our nation and pray that God bless and protect our country.

  13. Yvonne, thank you for your prayers and remembering. I too remember exactly where I was that morning. At the age of 40, I changed careers. I was a new AA Flight Attendant. I had just graduated from the AA Flight Academy September 7 and after four move days, was due to fly my first flight on payroll September 12. I was waiting for my classmate at her new apartment where many pilots and flight attendants live when I got a call to get to a TV. We ran down to the common area to join other residents, pilots and flight attendants to watch it all live. My (now) husband is a Captain with AA. He was based in Washington DC then and had just flown Flight 77 back and forth from DC to LAX the month of August. The First Officer on that flight was his friend. His neighbors, a wonderful retired pilot and his wife were also on that flight. We all have our personal stories, but more importantly, we as a nation shared our grief, mourning and prayers and were forever changed. This spring we visited the beautiful memorial of Flight 93. I encourage everyone who can, to go visit. It is at once haunting, respectful and one of the most spiritual places on God’s green earth. Somehow, it brings us back together to what is most important. Thank you for honoring this day in a most love-inspired post Yvonne.

  14. So beautiful. So true that we should never forget, but move forward to better things in obedience to God.

  15. Thank you, Yvonne, for your perspective. Continue to pray that God heals those broken hearts, as well as our land.

  16. There are a few different images that come to my mind when I think of 9/11. They are images of nightmares…I will never forget. I do find comfort remembering the beams from one of the towers which formed a cross.

  17. Genevieve Burns says:

    Well said Yvonne! Thank God for 11Chronicles 7:14

  18. Now of us will ever forget where we were when we heard the news of the first tower, then when the
    second plane hit, it all started to b very clear what was happening to our country,as the moments went on so did the terror and the disbelief of what was going on.
    We have all lost loved ones, friends, relatives and have such deep compassion for all the first responders that
    only thought of others and not themselves when this tragedy occurred…
    May God be with those that lost that dark day, may we work and pray for better days for this beautiful country!!

  19. I TRUELY know what it’s like to lose a loved one and my heart went out to the ones who lost loved ones that day . And thought of them today also. So wonderful to know we will all see our loved ones and I think it will be very soon now that our Lord is coming back to take His bride home . What a day to look forward to !

  20. Today I was driving home from visiting two daughters. One had done a marathon run this morning, only to find out the friend she went with lost an aunt in the second tower. We were saddened and prayerful. I was nearly half way home, when on an off ramp of the highway, I saw that the ramps on both sides were lined with flags. I saw a huge flag flying, and as I got closer, I wondered what I was seeing, and it was all red, white and blue across the bridge of that off ramp. It was every first responder vehicle, all of them with flags flying and people gathering. What a special community this must be. As I went under the bridge, I peeked up and waved, my very small way of saying thanks. We are great people, we need to show it daily. May God bless whoever reads this.

  21. Avis Cooper says:

    Your Scripture verse is one we should all memorize and keep in mind when we pray for our own country and for others around us. I’m a Canadian and often wonder what our Fathers of Confederation would think if they saw Canada as it is today! Although we have much to be thankful for we have lost much and ONLY God can do the repairs that are needed. Another quote by someone is, “What we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history.” So sad. May the reminder of 9/11 drive us to our knees before Almighty God.

  22. Our nation needs to return to God and ask Him to heal it. We have left Him out of everything we can. We need to remember HE created all of us in love and that he wants to love and prosper us all. My prayers are that He is put back as the head of our homes, schools, and government. We will not succeed unless we honor Him as the one true God.

  23. That day had a profound impact on me. I shall never forget.

  24. A very touching post. I read all the comments and the one that stuck out most in my mind was Tina. She hit the nail on the head! I am truly concerned about our sweet America. We as a nation have turned our backs on him…we don’t want him in our schools, our sporting events, or our government. Yet he always continues to love us…and so much wants to be a part of our lives. My sincere prayer is we as a nation will not forget that we truly need him . God bless us all

  25. What a great story Cris, thanks for sharing. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

  26. Thank you for remembering these brave Americans. God Bless America !

  27. Dorinda Selke says:

    I know that I shall never ever forget. I was working in a hospital in the Cardiology Department about an hour and a half away from NYC. As soon as the second plane hit and we knew it was terrorism, we went into a modified disaster plan. The plan was for the hospitals closer to NYC to move their less-compromised patients to us, and then in turn, the NYC hospitals would move their patients that were able to be moved to those hospitals so that the NYC hospitals would be as empty as possible to handle as many patients as possible. Of course, we envisioned hundreds and hundreds of injured people coming out or being rescued. Not too long after the first tower fell, we realized that this may not be the case, and, after all our hard work opening and cleaning closed rooms, etc. not one patient came. I don’t think that there was one dry eye anywhere. An awful lot of prayer that day and the coming days, and for me, the victims, their families and the brave first responders are always in my prayers, lest we ever forget. God bless them and God bless America. Hugs Dorinda

  28. bobbi duncan says:

    It is sad when violence and deception become so commonplace that people push it aside and forget. My dear friend lost his fiancée that day, another friend worked to clean up the 9/11 site and saw the horrors first hand, and my family went up to help comfort and do anything we could. More than ever, GOD needs to be our guide in all things. I so agree with Tina’s statement! My son and family live in OK. We all need to take a look at the way that state is refusing to take God out of the schools, among many other things. They are fighting the government. If we all ban together, rather than sit back and be made to believe that one man can not change things, we will surely suffer for it. Pray, but also do your part by writing your politicians, get involved with campaigns that are making changes for the good of all, such as banning GMOs. Do something, anything. We can’t complain if we sit by and do nothing.

  29. Diane Kander says:

    I remember that say well and always will. I remember exactly what I was doing when I heard about the first tower as well as the rest of the day and evening. I think it is very important that each year we observe and remember. I have a niece that was a year old and and nephew that was only a few months old. If we don’t talk about it, no one that age and young is going to know what happened and why it is so important to our history. I tear up every time I think about it. GOD Bless America!!

  30. Thank you for saying we need to remember. It is said that this will be the first year the events of 9/11 will be taught to students in school as a history lesson as most are too young to remember. It’s almost like it was my generation’s version of Pearl Harbor in the sense that every single person will remember exactly where they were and what they were doing on that fateful day. I am saddened to say that as I was flipping channels yesterday to listen to the bells tolling, the moments of silence and the names called in remembrance (as I do on every anniversary) no station was broadcasting it that I could find. This angered me. We were all touched in some way that day, so yes, it is very important to remember and acknowledge the lives lost.

  31. Thank you for this, 9/11 is a day many Americans will never forget. This summer I had the honor to visit the 9/11Memorial in New York City. It was so touching. Even, though all the displays and videos take you back to that moment in time, you couldn’t help but leave there proud to be an American. Proud of our Country and tge way all Americans came together for each other.

    He I pray we can all come together again.

  32. Like you Yvonne, September 11th is a day that my family and I pray and remember those lost in the horrific events. Unlike you, I remember with the utmost clarity what I was doing & thinking on that September morning. My oldest child was just 11 days old. I watched in horror as the 2nd plane hit the Tower. I had just turned the TV on, seconds before the first plane hit. I remember running for the phone to call my brother, my sister, and several friends to alert them of the disaster and tell them to get on the train & get out of the city. I called my sister, whose husband was a NYC Firefighter, to “calmly” inquire if he was working. I remember yelling to my husband that the Firefighters would be gearing up and ascending into the inferno. You see, I worked for Cantor Fitzgerald in One World Trade Center on February 26, 1993. On that day, as thousands and thousands of workers made their way to the smoke filled staircases in complete darkness, waiting patiently for their chance to walk down one or two steps and then wait again – firefighters eventually made it to the 78th floor staircase where I waited for hours to descend. I’ll never forget the sight of them; dressed from head to toe and carrying all their equipment on their backs, slowly ascending the stairs looking for “pop up” fires and offering encouragement and assistance to all those in the stairwells. That cold and snowy February day is when I fully realized just what firefighters do everyday. These incredible men and women enter the building that ordinary citizens are so desperately trying to exit. Firefighters do this every day, every night. And that beautiful September morning, I knew unequivocally, that NYC Firefighters would be climbing those endless stairs in the hopes of saving others.
    Thank you for your beautiful blog post in remembrance of all those affected in DC, PA and NYC. God Bless.

  33. You’re right ; yesterday was a day to remember. I remember what I was doing 15 years ago yesterday and like you, I wanted to hurry home and be with my children. We also were glued to the TV. I will never forget the words of President George W. Bush. He came across as our country’s strong commander-in-chief and also quoted scripture. What a comfort it was to listen to him. Prior to 9/11, I was reading stories of families who lost a loved one and had tears running down my cheeks. The pain that the families experienced then and still experience is hard to comprehend. I’m so thankful that God is our refuge and comfort. Yesterday, the church service focused on 9/11 and it was a wonderful reminder that our country needs to turn back to God. Thanks so much for sharing this post.

  34. I grieved deeply and still grieve over the lives and sense of safety lost that day. I went to the store to buy a flag to fly the day after and was moved to tears to see all the others who were also there doing the same. He isn’t given the respect and honor due to him, but to this day I’m thankful for President George W. Bush being our leader at that time. He did a wonderful job.

  35. Thank you, very well said.

  36. GwenCondit says:

    Yes, I too remember. A recent single Mom with two girls. Little furniture. No TV. My youngest had her radio on as we all readied for school. Mom!! She was afraid. You have to listen!! Something bad has happened!!! So we huddled around a plugged in radio. And listened. I dropped them off at school and all day the teacher’s lounge played the TV set repeatedly replaying the awful footage. I later found out my cousin’s cousin on her Mom’s side had died that day–5 mos pregnant. Her husband also worked in the other tower and they talked as they were both heading down but then she stopped answering. She was never found.
    It haunts me, that day. My little first graders did not understand but they knew…the world was not right. I held them will a bit closer. Didn’t want them out of my sight. Today, I’ve not forgotten but I think I’m more desensitized to the hot tots going on to the world. O yes your verse is perfect.
    A Casting Crowns song goes through my head now, about how far America has gone from God–Lord We Need You Know

  37. LuAnn Meyer says:

    Thank you, as always, for sharing memories and your experiences associated with this tragedy.

  38. A frantic day for us as our son had been playing in a golf tournament on the East Coast and flying United Airlines. Being young and single, he was prone to decide to stay a day or two longer sometimes. He immediately called when he heard the news to tell us he had flown back to Colorado the night before 9/11 as planned—had gotten in so late that he didn’t call. Our emotions ran the gamut in a short period of time that morning.
    I sincerely pray that our nation never forgets.