Closed Doors, Open Windows

Welcome to my "Open Window"...a place of hope, encouragement, and adventure as we journey down the road from "Closed Doors" to the new opportunities God places in our pathway. I hope you will take the time to go back and follow the trail of mixed blessings and fears, failures and triumphs from the past and side-trips in the present. Perhaps it will conjure up some of your own special memories, and be an invitation for you to share with others. I look forward to spending this time with you!

Showing posts with label 9/11; 2 Chronicles 20. Show all posts

Saturday, September 11, 2021

I Didn't Want to Remember Today - Originally Written 9/11/2011 and Updated each year

UPDATE: September 11, 2021...20 years ago today... The "war in Afghanistan" that began 20 years ago as a result of the attack on 9-11 is supposedly over...at least that is what the government would like us to think. We've pulled out our troops and brought them home, but we've left the country in a terrible, terrible mess, perhaps worse than it was 20 years ago. The enemy is in charge there...the terrorists that were behind the plot to destroy our country on 9-11, 2001, are now the ones in "leadership" in Afghanistan, and not only have we left the country, but we left all of our weapons and military bases there for them to use against us in the future. We've left many innocent people behind as well, who now must cower in fear under the tyranny of this evil government. It is not a good thing. Our own nation is severely divided about this and many other things. The current leaders in our government are sadly incompetent and even dangerous to the well being of this nation. If ever our nation needed prayer, it is now. When I first began this post on September 11, 2011, I ended it with this 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 will forgive their sin and heal their land."

2 Chronicles 7:14

We need to pray for our nation, our government, our world even more than ever. We need to examine our own hearts, and see if there is any wicked way in us, and repent and pray for forgiveness, before God can heal our land. Healing begins with each one of us, when we truly seek God's face and turn away from the sins that so easily beset us.

Dear friends, let us pray!

The Lord's Prayer

"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever." Amen.

(Matthew 6:9-13)

Read on for what was written originally and in each subsequent year on this date:

September 11, 2020...19 years ago...and today more than ever we need to remember what happens when terror is allowed to attack our nation, our spirit and our personal lives. We've been living in a different kind of terror this year, an "invisible enemy" known as Covid 19, which many believe was in reality a terrorist attack on our country and around the world. Our people have suffered, many have died, our economy has taken a direct hit, and it may take years for people's lives to get back to some kind of normal, if ever. The attack on 9-11 in 2001 was sinister and evil, and it destroyed our sense of security and innocence forever. The attack of Covid 19 is also sinister and evil, and our lives will never be the same. But we are resilient people. We will not allow the enemies of our great nation continue to destroy us from without or within. The home-grown terrorists who continue to riot and pillage our great cities, destroying people's livelihoods and making people afraid to come out of their homes while they burn and bully and tear down businesses and statues and try to remove our history must be stopped, and they will be. We The People must not give up hope. We must stand up and fight against tyranny in all forms. And we must remember what happened on 9-11, 2001, and realize once again that we are "One nation, under God, indivisible, the liberty and justice for all."

September 11, 2018...17 years later and we will remember this day forever in our hearts. Our world was sadly changed that day...and it has affected every American in one way or another. I love this quote by our then President George W. Bush...it speaks to the heart of every American: "We will not tire, We will not falter, We will not fail. United We Stand". I pray that every American reading this today will realize that we must stand united if we are going to be able to fend off the enemies of our nation, who are still out there, chipping away at our freedoms, our way of life, and our resolve to stand strong together. I implore you today, remember 9-11, and let us stand strong and united once again.

September 11, 2016, The Fifteen Year Anniversary of 9-11. I just saw this scroll by on our TV:

This is the name of my husband's 1st cousin, who was killed in the twin towers on 9/11/2001. There is more information further down in my previous post about this. Seeing his name scrolling across our television causes us to pause and pray again for his family and the families of all those affected by this horrible tragedy. Let us never forget.

September 11, 2014

I guess I'll just keep re-sending this each year...still can't believe this ever happened. Please continue to pray for our nation, and the families that are still today hurting because of the great loss they suffered on this day. Praying for peace...and wisdom for our leaders. Things appear to be getting worse in the world...not better. Looking upward and waiting for the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ...very soon.

Update again 9/11/2013: 9-11 Timeline from "The Morning Cruise" of the JoyFm on 9/11/2013 (click on link to listen)

I listened to the above "9-11 Timeline" on my way to work this morning on my favorite radio station, the JoyFm, and I was not prepared for the flood of emotions that overwhelmed my soul as I listened. You would think after 12 years that it would not have that kind of effect on me, but it did. I guess it always will. And maybe that's a good thing. We need to never forget what happened to our nation on that fateful day. We need to remember those who died that day, and continue our fight against tyranny and terrorism in our nation and our world...but also be prepared to meet our God and Savior at any moment...in a twinkling of an eye...at the last trumpet (I Corinthians 15:50-58)...and also as foretold in I Thessalonians 4:16-18 ~

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them

in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Therefore comfort one another with these words."

"I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin

9/11/2012--- I wrote this post last year to commemorate 9/11/2001 on it's 10th Anniversary.

I still feel the same way today...I still don't want to think about this day, but at our

office Staff Meeting this morning our Pastor asked us each to share where we were on that morning 11 years ago today. I was at work at my job at a technical college. When the news came to us via phone calls and radio broadcast after the first crash (we didn't have a TV in our office), I knew something very bad was happening and started to pray. Then a few minutes later when we heard the 2nd crash, my co-workers and I gathered together in a circle (in a public school!) and joined hands and prayed. No one stopped us. No one told us that we weren't supposed to be praying in a public school. As a matter of fact, people kept praying all day long. I believe that was the closest to God our country had been in many years, and we probably haven't been that close since. But every year on this anniversary, we tend to get very patriotic and in our own way, draw very close to God.

I pray for our country today. I pray for our leaders, both current and those to come.

I pray that we will turn our eyes back to Jesus and refocus our hearts and lives on Him.

I pray that we will never forget that we are

"One Nation, Under God, Indivisible,

with Liberty and Justice for All."

Amen!

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." Matthew 5:14

I did not want to remember 9-11 today, 9/11/11, the 10th anniversary of the horrific tragedy that struck our nation and has forever changed the way we live in America. You may ask why I didn't want to remember...
Well, I just couldn't deal with the emotional toll of reliving all the pain, terror, sadness, anger, fear, and agony as it was shown over and over again throughout this past week. No matter where you turned, it was there. People talking about where they were when the World Trade Centers were hit by terrorists. How they felt when the reality hit that this was indeed an act of war and aggression against our nation, and that so many innocent lives were taken, leaving a gaping wound not only in the skyline of our great city, but in the hearts of all the American people.

A Cross in the rubble at Ground Zero
made from the steel beams...a poignant reminder
that God was there in the midst.

Even though I was hundreds of miles away, safe in my own little world when this took place, somehow I felt violated, raped of my innocence and feelings of protection from the horror of these things that only happened in other parts of the world. I mean, look at our history...not since the Civil War had our land been literally and physically injured in a great war. Yes, I know our grandfathers and fathers and even perhaps our brothers and close friends had fought and died in war zones throughout history (and still going on today). But those battles were fought on other soil...we didn't have to see the battlefields and hear the bombs going off and see the destruction all around us. This was America the Beautiful!!! We were isolated and protected from those acts of aggression. Those things just aren't supposed to happen here.

Like the proverbial ostrich I wanted to put my head in the sand and pretend all was well in our world. I wanted to go back to life as usual...where the birdies sing and the butterflies flutter about from flower to flower drinking in the sweet nectar of life. I wanted to forget 9-11 and the war on terrorism and get back to "normal" living again.

But 9-11 has forever changed that...especially in the lives of thousands of families across our land who lost loved ones so tragically that day. Even our own family was not untouched by this grief as my husband's first cousin was killed in the World Trade Center. (Click on this for a blog written in memory of William R. Steiner) Although our families were not real close and my husband had not seen this cousin since their childhood, it still struck home. It hurt deeply. This man left behind a wife and children and his parents. His father literally died of a broken heart not too long after. The sorrow was just too much for him to bear.

So this morning my first thought was I really didn't want to watch any more programs on TV about this, and I didn't even want to go to church because I thought it would be too emotionally draining. But then I had a change of heart. I thought that instead of being so self-centered I needed to stand united with my country and my church and show my support. As we sang patriotic hymns and the Star Spangled Banner, pledged our Allegiance to the Flag and bowed our heads in prayer for our country my spirits were lifted. I was proud of our nation and its strength of character in the aftermath of this tragedy. I was thankful to be a part of this great nation.

But with these good feelings is also the sober warning...our country is living on borrowed time. It is only a matter of time before some other evil force will take vengeance on our land and try again to strike us down. We need to remember that there is a much bigger battle going on here...a fight between the forces of good and evil...God and Satan. I don't care what church you may attend or what religion you may adhere to. I really don't care what political party you belong to or who you voted for. The war that is going on here is much larger and in a different plane than we can see with our human eyes. The real battle that matters here is the battle for our own hearts and souls. When that issue is settled, the world conflagrations will still rage on, but we will have peace within.

I'd like to close this with an old hymn that comes to mind that asks the question :

"Is Thy Heart Right with God?"

"Have thine affections been nailed to the cross?