On A Tuesday Much Like Today, 11 Years Ago...

 The world as we knew it changed forever.
This morning as I was driving to Grandma's, I was marveling at the beauty of the day. It was sunny, cool but with a delicious warmth to the sunshine, all in all promising to be a gorgeous day. I snapped a couple pictures as I drove. One going over the railroad track...

 One was of a field of golden rod and scrubby bushes. And then as I got into town I saw the sign. "We must never forget 9-11" That is all it said, but it was enough. With a jolt it all came rushing back, all the memories, all the terror, all of it. For those of us who were old enough to remember that day, we will never forget. The events of September 11 and the days following are seared in our memories.

 What were you doing/ Where were you when you heard? I was at my piano lesson. We were just going in, and friends of ours were coming out. World Trade Center? What was that? At the time I had no idea, but was soon to find out, never to forget. In my mind's eye I was picturing something small, a few stories. In piano, a glimpse of the news on the telly, then home. I remember standing on the porch, as we told Mother the horrible news. Even then I still had not grasped the full impact of what had happened. We did not own a television, but Dad  rented one and we stayed riveted to it, all that day and into the next.

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 At first the coverage was completely live and uncensored, but after awhile they stopped showing the coverage of people jumping from the towers in sheer desperation. 
Paper. Dust. Tears. Panic. The feeling of helplessness. Stories of heroism. 

After the towers fell and the dust settled, a country reeling from shock gathered themselves together and began the recovery efforts.

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 Not only was the World Trade Center attacked, but the Pentagon was attacked as well. And in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania another airliner, Flight 93, crashed into the ground. Thanks to the brave efforts of the passengers on board, they had averted even more horrors, at the heroic cost of their own lives. 

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 I remember the ambulances lined up, waiting to take victims to the hospital. Hospitals preparing for a flow of people rescued out of the rubble. People everywhere across the nation were lining up to donate blood.
And we waited breathlessly. 
But as time passed, it became painfully clear that very few would emerge from the ashes. In total, out of the World Trade Center towers, (not counting those who escaped before they collapsed) only 5 survivors were dug out of the rubble.

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In the days that followed Americans pulled together and displayed the spirit that made America great. We were all Americans, regardless of political views. People everywhere were friendly, everyone was draped in red, white, and blue. Flags sold out as fast as they were on the shelves.
And everywhere brave men and women worked, sacrificed, suffered, and prayed.

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Though it did not have the ending we hoped and prayed for, Americans came away from that day stronger and, for the time, more united. We prayed openly and together. We were One Nation, Under God.

It seems hard to believe that it has been so long. I praise the Lord for the mercy He showed to us and our nation amidst the horrors of that day. Let us pray that we will always continue to fight for the ideals & values that made America great. 

In the words of Abraham Lincoln "...That we here highly resolve that these dead have not died in vain: that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth."~ The Gettysburg Address

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD: and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance." Psalm 33;12

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves. and pray, and see my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

~II Chronicles 7:14

Happy Independence Day!!!!!

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"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD: and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance." Psalm 33;12

photo courtesy of Pinterest

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thru the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof thru the night that our flag was still there. O say, does that star-spangled banner  yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?


O thus be it ever, when free men shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation! Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just; And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!" And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!


~Francis Scott Key 1779-1843

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"Sir, my greatest concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right." ~Abraham Lincoln

"America The Beautiful"

"O beautiful for patriot dream That sees, beyond the years, Thine alabaster cities gleam - Undimmed by human tears! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea."
~Katharine Lee Bates, 1859-1929

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"We Weep For You, America"

We weep for you, America,

We weep for you, our land,

We weep for you, America,

You were once strong in God's

almighty hand.

You left the God of our 

fathers,

You've turned from the Word of

the Lord,

We weep for you, America,

For the Truth  that you have

scorned.

"We Pray For You, America'

We pray for you, America,

We pray for you, our land,

We pray for you, America, 

That you stay under God's 

almighty hand.

We pray for a moving revival,

To draw us to God from our sin,

We pray for you, America,

For a change that's from within.

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"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves. and pray, and see my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

~II Chronicles 7:14

Glimpses Of Summer

Cooling hot toes in the pool.

Robin's nest in the apple tree.

3 eggs in same nest.

Grapes just coming on the vine.

Sadie, longing to go outside.

Blackberry blossoms.

Sunset over the field.

Mmmm, the smell of summer is in the air and it is wonderful! Hot weather has rolled in all across the US of A and it feels as if summer has finally arrived to stay.

Thank you Lord for the sunshine and warm weather!

Independence Day 2010

Oh! Thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand, between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: "In God is our trust." And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

~The Star-Spangled Banner

Give me Liberty, or Give me Death!

~ Patrick Henry March 23,1775

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.

~Psalm 33:12

It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not by religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

~Patrick Henry

From every mountain side,

let Freedom ring!

~Samuel F. Smith

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, UNDER GOD, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for ALL.

~United States of America's Pledge Of Allegiance