Where were you on September 11, 2001?
Most people can tell you in great detail where they were.
I was at home. Back then, I was still single. I worked from home, but I was actually about to leave the house when I looked over at the television where The Today Show was on. I saw the first tower get hit, and I couldn’t believe it. After that, I literally couldn’t leave my house. I wanted to leave, but I was glued to the event: watching it unfold, watching the towers collapse, watching the world we all knew fall apart right along with them.
I really wanted to go to my dad’s house, so I could be with someone else. But then there was the news of the Pentagon, then Flight 93. I kept thinking, Where is there a safe place to go? What’s going to happen next?
I wasn’t strong in my faith back then. I was just on the verge of coming back to Christ—and that would happen a few months later before I met my husband. I remember being overcome with sorrow, and I remember the fearfulness that began to dominate our country–personally and corporately. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time watching everything being played back.
I want to remember those who died.
I want to honor them, their lives, and their families.
But it is so hard to relive it.
It’s also hard to explain it.
I’m wondering how to talk to Ainsley and Garrett about 9/11, what it means, and how to process it for them. As Christians, my husband and I want our kids to understand what happened that day, God knew that all these things were going to happen. He wasn’t surprised.
I don’t have all the answers, but my kids already know that. So, I tell them that even though I don’t know, God does know. He is our rock and our salvation. Right now, we live in a fallen world, and these things will continue to happen. One day, though, we will live in a perfect world with Jesus, where nothing like 9/11 will ever happen.
I have learned that the best way to process events like this with kids is to just let them talk. Listen to their concerns and fears. Then, remind them of all of God’s many promises, his love for us, and that we have an eternal destiny. No matter what happens on this earth, we are promised eternity with him in heaven. He is in control of it all.
Read scripture to them and pray over them. Pull out your Bible and read to them all of God’s promises and faithfulness. Hide God’s Word in their heart, give them verses to memorize and help them with it when they rise up in the morning and before they go to bed at night. There is nothing more powerful than His Word.
In you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. (Psalm 25:2-3)
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. (Acts 8:35-37)
I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:20-23)
How do you explain 9/11 to your kids? What are some of the conversations you’ve been having with your kids this weekend?
Photo credits: 9-11 Pictures, Kevinwebb 22.com, Behind Blondie Park
Faithful Provisions remembers the heroes of 9/11. May they rest in peace.
I didn’t feel an immediate need to discuss it with my children who were 10 and 11 years old at the time. I knew that they had been exposed to pictures of war in school and during the Bosnian conflict, so I knew they understood something about war.
I told my son, the most inquisitive one, that when a lot of people die at the same time like that it is a big party in heaven, I don’t know if it is true but it offered him a new way to look at it.. I also told him that courage is good and some things are worse than dying on a battlefield or dying while helping another person.
I think the lesson we all need to remember 10 years later is that we don’t want to be like the demoniac that lived amidst the tombs in Gerasene. This man couldn’t be comforted and he was wailing and cutting himself with stones because of memories and grief. We need to remember that the Lord came so that we can have joy and it is the enemy that tries to steal our joy and leave us with grief.
I just ran across this today! I do not have children but if I did, I would have said basically the same things as you all did, PTL! This might shed some new light as to the “whys”. Sometimes God does reveal things to his servants of His choosing and in his time. You decide:
http://www.sidroth.org/site/News2?abbr=tv_&page=NewsArticle&id=10457
9 Harbingers at Ground Zero
Blessings to all ye servants the Lord,
G
Kelly,
I’m a believer in truthfully and honestly answering the specific questions of children without offering any more details than necessary.
On Sept. 11 2001, I was teaching a full class of kindergartners. A mother came bursting through the door right after Bible class wanting to take her child home. She was crying and rambling about planes flying into buildings. When I finally got her to calm down so she would come to the door and do some explaining to me, I got a better ‘picture’ of what had happened. She took her son and left. I returned to classroom full of children whose faces were filled with nervous anxiety. You could have heard a pin drop.
The Bible Story that morning had been about Daniel in the lion’s den. We had talked the fact there were men that didn’t love and obey God and they wanted to hurt Daniel. But Daniel did what was right, obeyed God and God protected him. The children quickly came to the fact that if we are doing what is right and obeying God, He can protect us too. That was just enough ”information’ to satisfy their curiosity about the ‘alarm’ that Mom had issued. We stopped and prayed for our country, our president, and the thousands of people that were hurt and that God would comfort the families of the people that died.
It was not the lesson I had planned to teach that day, each year, it is a great reminder to me of the greatness of our God and His desire to draw all men, women and children unto Himself.
While I would not want that tragedy to ever happen again, it is a lesson I hope I and those students never forget.
I didnt have kids at the time of 9/11. However, since then, I have had three, who are now 8 and 6 ( they are twins)! Friday night, we were watching a special on 9/11. As my son saw the plane fly into the second tower, he said, “That was cool!” I felt mad, how could he say that, but then i realized that we had never explained to them what 9/11 was. So, my husband and I began to explain to him, and my daughters about 9/11. We told them that what we just saw wasn’t cool, it was real, and hundreds of people lost their lives at that very moment. See, he had thought it was a movie.
We then talked about how just like in the Bible, when people would invade Israel. We told them that God loves us, and He is in control of everything, and that through that situation, we need to rely on Him and not ourselves.
Thank you for your heartfelt, candid, and beautiful tribute to the memorial of 9/11! I praise the Lord that you received Christ and have devoted your heart, life, and Love to him!
At the time, ten short years ago, I was feeding my one year old breakfast when the phone rang. My frantic sister told me to quietly and quickly turn on the television. What I saw was indescribable. I turned the sound down on the TV and called my 7, 6, and 5 year old into the room. We began to pray. Waiting and wondering what might happen next brought forth a myriad of thoughts, many of which I found it necessary to cast down that my mind would be free of worry and able to fully rely on Christ ~ Praise the Lord that death has no sting; therefore, fear of death has no control over the mind of those who seek Him and focus on Him.
I told my children what was happening but that there was no reason to worry: all things work together for good to them that Love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. Since the Lord allowed it, in His Sovereignty, we could trust Him; His Love would abound in the midst of the storm. We held each other and cried; we continued to pray for the families of those who lost loved ones and for the selfless heroes who gave their lives to bring salvation to those in need. The story that unfolded was priceless.
I remember a nation that was NOT afraid to speak the Name above every name! I remember a nation that came together to bring peace in the midst of trial. I remember a nation of neighbors willing to do without that children and families could eat and be clothed and have shelter. I remember a nation that broadcast open prayer and devotion, vigils, memorials, and thanksgivings! I remember a nation that cared not about religion, color of skin, or of national origin but of friendship and love! I remember a nation that was ready to destroy the stronghold of the enemy and not afraid to speak the name of the Lord from whom Salvation WILL come. I remember a nation that didn’t care who was offended by the TRUTH.
Today marks ten years. That nation that bonded in love has now joined together in striving not to offend. It has forsaken the memory of those who lived to die. It has forgotten that peace comes with a price tag. It has forgotten that Jesus Christ came to shake things up not walk the gray line.
Pray for those who walk without Him, pray for those who walk with Him, and pray for those that cannot walk alone. Pray blessings, not curses; for we trust the Lord and seek to walk in the Light even as He is in the Light. Speak Truth, forsaking self and expecting persecution; for He said it would come to those who followed Him. Seek comfort from the Comforter. Ask for Wisdom, Knowledge, and Truth. Be ready in all seasons to give your testimony in Love. This is the Love that Leads.
As History is re-written, I pray that we who know Him will choose to remember…
Kelly,
I would like to correct one issue in your article, that I found VERY well done BTW. Please know that no one saw the actual collision of the first jet into the first tower on 9/11. We all saw the result but not the real time impact. In fact, the only actual camera film which recorded the incident was a french documentary team that was actually filming a documentary on the NYC fire department at the very moment the first plane hit. No one actually saw the footage of the first impact until the next day: 9/12/01. Here it is…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE82r4ycQs4&feature=related
We know for sure that we are in His hands, just as we were 10 years ago. He shall preserve us, and keep us. Amen.
We stumbled upon a book at the library, “Fireboat,” that does a lovely job of telling the story to young children (my oldest is 4 and he loves the book). The focus of the book is about the John J. Harvey, including its heroic display after the 9/11 attacks, so the difficult, tragic theme of that day is overcome with this heroic story. I thought it was very appropriate for sharing this important day in our US history for young kids. Check it out. Available on Amazon for only $6.99 I think and free at the library!
Lay out as many 9/11 news photos of the day as possible while reading the 18th chapter of John’s revelation: it’s an eye witness report of 9/11 written millenia before the fact, except that it has begun but is not complete yet.