Life & Worship
 

 

9/11 – Like It Was Yesterday

Thursday, 10th September 2009
Misc.

firefighters1024_768I was asked tonight by a great new pal of mine that I met on Twitter (@beaconhillnw) to share with him where I was on 9/11… so I thought I would drop the story on my own blog as well.

The memories are as vivid as they were the day it happened, and I will never forget the morning of 9/11/2001. Kristen and I were working at a Great Harvest bread store in Twin Falls, Idaho, and had only been married for exactly one month. I was a baker and was always up at 3:30am and off to work and then she would come join me and work the front counter at about 6:30am. It was a typical morning for us just working hard and fast at getting some quality breads out of the oven when all of a sudden a lady rushed in and wondered if we had heard what was going on in NY? We had no TV so we turned on the radio in the store and listened in amazement to what was happening on the other side of the country. To be honest, the reality of it all didn’t set in until I got home from work that day (which was typically around 1:30pm) and I turned on the TV. To watch those replay’s over and over again of the planes crashing in to the buildings was just heart wrenching, and I was so glad that my brother was a firefighter on the west coast and not in NYC. It saddens me that so many lives were ended the way that they were that day, but in my heart I still trust that God is sovereign, I don’t understand, but I TRUST HIM!

Where were you?

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17 Comments

tam

Friday, 11th September 2009 at 4:56 am
 

it still blows my mind. i just cant fathom what it must have been like for those in the building, on the ground….in the planes! oh…my heart aches.

Jim

Friday, 11th September 2009 at 4:58 am
 

i can still feel the eerie stillness …yikes…thx for posting

dennarr

Friday, 11th September 2009 at 5:07 am
 

Karen and I were both getting ready for work. We normally didn't have the TV on, but that morning we did for some reason. When the first plane hit, Karen called me and I said Hmmm. When the second one hit, I knew it was terrorism.

It was a long day for both of us at work. It got longer as we watched the terror and sorrow on TV that evening and over the next few days. The loss was so sad – even from across the country.

Brian Doerksen wrote "Hope of the Nations" during this time in response. He writes:

"You are the hope living in us, You are the rock in whom we trust, You are the light, Shining for all the world to see, You rose from the dead conquering fear, Our Prince of Peace drawing us near, Jesus our hope living for all who will receive, Lord we believe"

During the first days of September 2001, I got a strong impression that I was to write a song of hope that the Church could sing. Actually I had been trying to write a song of hope since '99, when many people were overcome by the fear of Y2K, but none of my writing attempts led anywhere. I could sense this time was different as I began with "Jesus, hope of the nations . . ."

The writer of the gospel of Matthew quotes the prophet Isaiah who says "In his name, the nations will put their hope" Matthew 12:21. I wanted to communicate that hope was not a feeling, but sourced in the person of Jesus. I finished the verse and the pre-chorus, but couldn't seem to get the 'right' chorus. Then September 11th happened and I realized even more clearly why we needed songs of hope to sing!! In the days following, when I was grounded due to the planes not flying, I wrote the chorus, and within a few weeks, the first version of the song was recorded in Colorado Springs."

How true – God is faithful, our hope, and as you wrote – sovereign.

buchanan23

Friday, 11th September 2009 at 5:16 am
 

me too! I have sometimes pictured myself in that building wondering if I would have been able to get out, or if I would have done more to help others to get out? Weird thoughts…

buchanan23

Friday, 11th September 2009 at 5:18 am
 

Thanks for sharing Dennis. Did you ever finish writing that tune?

dennarr

Friday, 11th September 2009 at 5:25 am
 

Sorry – too many quote marks…the three large paragraphs are from Doerksen. I'm not a songwriter (OK, I just haven't tried). Maybe someday! PEACE!

buchanan23

Friday, 11th September 2009 at 5:52 am
 

Haha! Leave it to me to get all confused! Writing may or may not come.. But you should try sometime :)

Sent from my iPhone

Brad

Friday, 11th September 2009 at 6:51 am
 

What was even harder to take were the close up photos that were released days afterward that show people jumping out of the windows of the building…very hard to take.

It was definitely something I will never forget…

Tattood1

Friday, 11th September 2009 at 1:58 pm
 

9/11 was a crazy week for me! I remember it like it was yesterday too.

tam

Friday, 11th September 2009 at 4:04 pm
 

just thru our little downtown here (you know that road where the little sushi joint is?) and the whole street is lined with flags. its a slightly breezy day so they were waving so delicately and beautifully. i drove, weeping, and thought of the way we had once united as a country. then…in no time at all – just like when warm fuzzies wear off after bible camp – this unity wore off too. it made me wanta stop my car and go hug a stranger.

yet. i didnt.

so much to learn…

buchanan23

Friday, 11th September 2009 at 4:11 pm
 

You totally should have stopped.. :) So true though how quickly we became united after 9/11 and then how quickly we became undivided again. Too many selfish people in this world (including me at times) and I also have so much to learn….

on a lighter note….
mmmm. sushi. Now I really want to come and visit!

tam

Friday, 11th September 2009 at 4:18 pm
 

its because we are a conditioned people. we do everything upon condition. its sad. we are so full of flesh.

maybe we'll get sushi this weekend in your honor ;)

buchanan23

Friday, 11th September 2009 at 4:25 pm
 

Maybe you should stop rubbing it in. :)

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