On the morning of September 11^th, 2001, I walked into the office of my son’s elementary school, tired, but anxious to report for duty as a parent volunteer at the school. My husband and I had just returned the night before from visiting New York City. It was my first visit there—my birthday trip. Being from a small town in the south, I had always wanted to see it and the Big Apple had surpassed my expectations.

It was 8:55 when I walked into the office that day and noticed everyone staring at the TV mounted on the wall. Glancing up, to my shock and horror, I saw the north tower of the World Trade Center on fire, smoke billowing out, waves of bizarre confetti falling to the street below. It was surreal. This couldn’t be happening, I thought. We were just standing atop that tower, enjoying the expansive view, less than 48 hours ago. It had been a highlight of our trip.

As I tried to make sense of it all, another plane slammed into the south tower right in front of our eyes. There was an audible and collective gasp from the teachers and office personnel who had congregated there. We listened and quickly realized that it must be a terrorist attack.

 It would not be a normal day at our little elementary school. In fact, nothing in our world would ever be the same.

 I’d decided to take my son home so I hurried down to his first-grade room. Like many parents that day, I wanted my children huddled safely under my roof. After leaving the school, I picked up my one-year-old daughter who was with my parents and headed home to turn on the TV. I picked my older middle school son up a little later in the day as his school was discouraging parents from showing up en masse and causing a panic.

Meanwhile, my husband was already at home. He’d taken that day off from his job as a manager at the local hospital because our original plan had been to fly home on September 11^th. We’d changed our plan last minute so he’d decided to go ahead and take the day off anyway. When I realized we almost flew home on September 11^th, it gave me chills. If we’d flown home then, we would have been on a plane when every aircraft in the country was forced to land.

 I arrived home just as the towers were falling, live on TV.  I thought back to our time in New York. We’d visited the Statue of Liberty on the ferry and taken amazing photos of the New York skyline and the iconic twin towers. We’d gone to a Broadway show, eaten great food, attended a Yankees game, and visited the financial district and Wall Street. It was the trip of a lifetime. We had stayed in an older hotel just off Times Square, close to all the action of the city.

On our last day, September 10^th, before heading to the airport, we took a walk around the port area. I stopped in front of a fire station and took a photo of a ladder truck with firemen milling around and two firemen in the front seat of the truck. Since then, I’ve often thought about that fire crew and whether they survived the horrific day. It occurred to me that while we were having the time of our lives, there were evil individuals plotting the largest terror attack in the history of our country.

We never know what is coming around the corner in our lives, or what will be our last day on this earth, but God does.

When we know Jesus Christ and have placed our trust in Him, we need not fear the future. He is with us, leading, guiding, protecting, until our last appointed breath on earth, then he takes us to our heavenly home for eternity. I’m grateful that God preserved us and that, as close as we were to the tragedy, it wasn’t our time on September 11^th. Since then, we’ve raised our kids to adulthood, witnessed all three come to know Jesus Christ, experienced the births of 4 beautiful grandkids, traveled the world, reveled in glorious family time and been present for our parents at their deaths. Although not without its challenges, life has been a blessing and a joy.

We continue to pray for the thousands who lost family members on that tragic day as we commemorate the event each year and will never forget our fateful trip to the Big Apple on my birthday.

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26 (CSB)

“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand or marked off the heavens with the span of His hand? Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure or weighed the mountains on a balance and the hills on a scale?. . .Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding.” Isaiah 40:12, 28