9/11/01

I find myself watching alot of the coverage of the 9/11 anniversary events today. I'm not really sure why...it really hadn't fazed me the past few years. Who can help but think about where they were 5 years ago today. This morning, as I watched the Today show, Jonathan came down and sat on my lap and asked me, "What is 9/11?". I asked him some questions to see if he had any memory of the event and was kind of surprised to find out that he didn't. Strange, isn't it?An event he can't even remember will have such a profound impact on his life.

Most of the children in today's elementary schools can't remember 9/11, but their parents sure can. People who have taught for a long, long time say that this generation of parents are some of the most over-protective and un-trusting they have seen. NO wonder.Think of what we have seen since then...the images we've had to process. We've seen terrorists bomb busses, trains, and subways. We've seen them invade schools and take hostages. We've been told that we need to come up with a family terror plan and buy plastic covers and duck tape for our windows. We've seen arrests and close calls. We've seen danger.

We no longer have to just worry about strangers approaching our children on the street, we have to worry about them posing as 13 year-olds and approaching them in chat rooms. We no longer have to just worry about our children getting sick from the flu or pneumonia, there's now Avian Flu, SARS, anthrax. WE don't just have to worry about our kids getting in fights with kids at school, but we have to worry about MySpace character asassinations. And, whether it's conscience like it is today, or buried somewhere in our subconscience, we worry that one day, maybe soon, our kids could be victims of a terror attack. So, maybe, just maybe, there is good reason for our overproectiveness and untrusting natures.

During an interview with President Bush today, Matt Lauer asked, "If we saw all of the intelligence that you see on a daily basis, would it be harder for us to sleep at night?" The president said probably so. So, Matt Lauer asked, "So, then, how do you sleep at night?" And, the President answered, "Because I have faith in Almighty God" Amen. You see, I owe it to my children to remember that though I do not know what the future holds, I know WHO holds the future. I know WHO holds their future. And, I pray that He will guard them and protect them, especially when I can't.