September 11, 2001 . . .
This is one of those days that will live forever as one that you can tell people specifically where you were and what you were doing when you heard. This was a day that rocked our nation to its very core. It rocked us as individuals to our very core. A pain, an agony that was so deep that prayers were without words. In Romans 8, Paul talks about this very thing. “The Holy Spirit itself will go before us when we have groanings to deep to be uttered.”
An unspeakable darkness on our country that happened quickly one late summer morning. Just as we were getting our day started. Just as we had dropped our kids off at school. Just as we were looking at that list of things to do today. Then it all stopped. We were glued to our televisions as the horror unfolded. As it became all too clear that this was a planned attack on our country. On your country. On my country.
But, in that same moment we saw First Responders rushing in to the unknown. We saw men and women risking their lives for people they had never met. We all have the images engraved in our minds of these First Responders covered with soot, smoke, ash, blood – carrying seemingly lifeless bodies, carrying babies, carrying the hopes of our nation on their very backs.
These men and women got up that same morning and headed off to work expecting a normal day. They kissed their wives or husbands good-bye. They tousled their kids’ hair before walking out the door. Having no clue what the next couple of hours, couple of weeks, couple of months would bring. But in they went. Without thought to their own safety. Without knowing whether or not they would ever come out of the buildings that were smoking and shaking. Buildings that were on fire. They saw people jumping to their deaths as these First Responders went inside, praying so desperately for the strength to continue, for the courage to continue up the flights of stairs, for the wisdom to handle what they faced.
Today we honor these brave men and women. Not just those who were in New York City, or Washington DC or in Pennsylvania that fateful day, but those who serve us each and every day. The men and women who get up in Terry County every morning and kiss their wives or husbands good-bye and tousle the heads of their children as they head out the door, not knowing what the day will bring.
First Responders, you have our deepest gratitude and our deepest thanks for what you do each day. And count this as our promise that you also have our prayers as you face each day.
God Bless our First Responders and God Bless America.
Gina Caswell Kelly
