Remembering 9/11/2001
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 This verse rings as true today as it did 15 years ago when so many people gave the ultimate sacrifice to help one another. And through those horrific hours, we saw Christ exemplified. Glory in chaos. A true witness of Christ’s love. To all those who gave their lives that day, we remember.
We have compiled a few stories of where people were that day when they first heard the news. We wanted to share those with you. Every life was impacted that day. Where were you?
“I was in a hotel lobby with a group of other controllers. One of my co-workers came over to me and asked if I’d heard about the airplane flying into one of the twin towers. I asked him if the weather was bad? No, perfectly clear! Was it a small plane? No, it was a B-767!
Nothing made sense. We walked over to the TV and started watching the live feed. Just then the second plane flew into the second tower. I turned to Bill and said, “We’re at war!” ~ Carl Kerby
“I was in Spicer, MN at a bank location where I had a financial planning office. We were scheduled to have regulators from FINRA (government agency) to do their yearly audit. We just started our meetings in the morning when the FINRA representative received a phone call. I will never forget the look on his face; he became white as a ghost. He looked at me and said “this audit is over, I need to go.” ~ Wade Wacker
“On 9-11, I was teaching a workshop at a local university. A colleague came to the conference room and said, “a plane just flew into one of the World Trade Center towers. I immediately thought it was a terrible accident and we quickly turned on the television and saw another plane fly into the second tower. It was such a shocking site and one I will never forget!” ~ Meloday Rawlings
“It was a beautiful sunny September day. We decided to walk over to our elderly neighbor to see how he was. Mr. Ray was out tending his garden, which was his pride and joy. He spotted us coming as we approached the edge of his yard, and started gingerly making his way down a row of tomatoes that he was tending. “Have you heard?” His voice cracked with age, “We’re under attack!” We looked at each other in confusion. What did he just say? Mr. Ray continued to recount the events that had taken place… jets hijacked, Pentagon hit, the Twin Towers are burning. His voice trailed off in the background as I looked to the sky and felt the eery silence I had recognized earlier. The sky was empty. There were no planes, no con trails, non of the tell-tale signs of air traffic that we were so accustomed to. And in an instant, I knew lives had been forever changed.” ~ Brad & Suzanna Holland
“I was preparing to publish my first book, but was struggling with topping it off. Had a working title, but felt it might be too pushy, perhaps even too edgy. Took my family to Corpus Christi to vacate and pray and seek the Lord’s direction. My subject was the imminence of the Rapture.
Had a wonderful time. My youngest, Sam, was four. We headed for the beach after settling in and I pointed to the Gulf waves crashing the shore and said, “Sam, a beautiful day, the beach, and the ocean. Whaddaya think?” Sam was duly impressed.
At the end of our stay I headed for the lobby to check us out while Karen and the boys finished packing. As I entered the lobby I noticed people gathered around the TV screens around the room. It looked like a good movie, we might have to check it out later. Approaching the desk I waited for the clerk to turn around, who was also caught up with the same film on his screen behind him. It looked like the movie had been put on at different times, because the same shots were playing but out of sequence.
Finally I broke the silence, “Must be a good movie.” Without turning around the clerk shook his head ‘no’ and continued with his eyes glued to the screen. “No,” he said quietly, “It’s a news report.”
Seeing he was a young man, I figured he was confused. I’d lived in New York, and in this film, the Trade Towers were smoking. On another screen a plane was crashing into one of them. Trying to help the young guy, I interrupted with, “No, that’s a movie.”
Shaking his head again, he emphasized without turning, “No, a news report.”
Seeking help from someone I turned in time to see one of the Towers collapsing to the ground. “Hey,” I exclaimed, now confused myself, “That tower just crashed?” Then turning to another screen in the lobby I saw the second collapsing. “Hey,” I blurted, “The other one is going down!”
Finally turning to me, the young man nodded, “Yea. This is a news report. It’s live. It happened this morning in New York, a little while ago.” It was Tuesday, 09-11-2001. I immediately remembered my book. The title no longer seemed pushy or edgy. It was going to stay, “When Now Becomes Too Late.” ~Terrance Farley
Life can change in an instant. Would you have been ready? Prayers going up for everyone.
We have compiled a few stories of where people were that day when they first heard the news. We wanted to share those with you. Every life was impacted that day. Where were you?
“I was in a hotel lobby with a group of other controllers. One of my co-workers came over to me and asked if I’d heard about the airplane flying into one of the twin towers. I asked him if the weather was bad? No, perfectly clear! Was it a small plane? No, it was a B-767!
Nothing made sense. We walked over to the TV and started watching the live feed. Just then the second plane flew into the second tower. I turned to Bill and said, “We’re at war!” ~ Carl Kerby
“I was in Spicer, MN at a bank location where I had a financial planning office. We were scheduled to have regulators from FINRA (government agency) to do their yearly audit. We just started our meetings in the morning when the FINRA representative received a phone call. I will never forget the look on his face; he became white as a ghost. He looked at me and said “this audit is over, I need to go.” ~ Wade Wacker
“On 9-11, I was teaching a workshop at a local university. A colleague came to the conference room and said, “a plane just flew into one of the World Trade Center towers. I immediately thought it was a terrible accident and we quickly turned on the television and saw another plane fly into the second tower. It was such a shocking site and one I will never forget!” ~ Meloday Rawlings
“It was a beautiful sunny September day. We decided to walk over to our elderly neighbor to see how he was. Mr. Ray was out tending his garden, which was his pride and joy. He spotted us coming as we approached the edge of his yard, and started gingerly making his way down a row of tomatoes that he was tending. “Have you heard?” His voice cracked with age, “We’re under attack!” We looked at each other in confusion. What did he just say? Mr. Ray continued to recount the events that had taken place… jets hijacked, Pentagon hit, the Twin Towers are burning. His voice trailed off in the background as I looked to the sky and felt the eery silence I had recognized earlier. The sky was empty. There were no planes, no con trails, non of the tell-tale signs of air traffic that we were so accustomed to. And in an instant, I knew lives had been forever changed.” ~ Brad & Suzanna Holland
“I was preparing to publish my first book, but was struggling with topping it off. Had a working title, but felt it might be too pushy, perhaps even too edgy. Took my family to Corpus Christi to vacate and pray and seek the Lord’s direction. My subject was the imminence of the Rapture.
Had a wonderful time. My youngest, Sam, was four. We headed for the beach after settling in and I pointed to the Gulf waves crashing the shore and said, “Sam, a beautiful day, the beach, and the ocean. Whaddaya think?” Sam was duly impressed.
At the end of our stay I headed for the lobby to check us out while Karen and the boys finished packing. As I entered the lobby I noticed people gathered around the TV screens around the room. It looked like a good movie, we might have to check it out later. Approaching the desk I waited for the clerk to turn around, who was also caught up with the same film on his screen behind him. It looked like the movie had been put on at different times, because the same shots were playing but out of sequence.
Finally I broke the silence, “Must be a good movie.” Without turning around the clerk shook his head ‘no’ and continued with his eyes glued to the screen. “No,” he said quietly, “It’s a news report.”
Seeing he was a young man, I figured he was confused. I’d lived in New York, and in this film, the Trade Towers were smoking. On another screen a plane was crashing into one of them. Trying to help the young guy, I interrupted with, “No, that’s a movie.”
Shaking his head again, he emphasized without turning, “No, a news report.”
Seeking help from someone I turned in time to see one of the Towers collapsing to the ground. “Hey,” I exclaimed, now confused myself, “That tower just crashed?” Then turning to another screen in the lobby I saw the second collapsing. “Hey,” I blurted, “The other one is going down!”
Finally turning to me, the young man nodded, “Yea. This is a news report. It’s live. It happened this morning in New York, a little while ago.” It was Tuesday, 09-11-2001. I immediately remembered my book. The title no longer seemed pushy or edgy. It was going to stay, “When Now Becomes Too Late.” ~Terrance Farley
Life can change in an instant. Would you have been ready? Prayers going up for everyone.
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