Never Forget

Never Forget, a phrase we all use to remember a time our nation lost so many dear ones. We won't forget what happened and what was done. How can we forget the emergency teams that came from multiple states to help serve and protect - to literally save lives that day! For many of our teens and pre-teens who weren't alive, weren't there, they can't possibly forget such a significant event because they heard the stories, have been taught the history, maybe even their family or youth director was directly affected.

September 11, 2001 was a day I almost lost my dad.  In my high school chemistry class, I sat and heard that the building my dad worked in was hit by an airplane.  A time before cell phones, social media, and instant access, I was glued to the TV in class to see the story unfold.  A few moments later my principal came in to let me know that my mom called and wanted to talk.  There was no update just that we need to pray and she wanted to make sure I knew what was happening.  So I had gone back to class, waiting to see what my new future would be, what my life might be like if my dad didn't make it.  What seemed like forever and maybe was less than an hour later the principal came to bring me to the office again.  My mom was on the phone and I wasn't sure I wanted to hear what she had to tell me. The news that followed changed my life, it was the day God spared my dad, a day God decided my father was here to stay.  It was a day I will never forget because God saved my dad from almost certain death.

The miracles I saw that day in my own family and others show what God did amidst all the evil that took place.  Though too many lost their life that day, the death toll could have been millions.  Though my dad was working in Tower 1 on the 78th floor, he was eating breakfast on the 45th when the plane hit.  Though the towers fell, they stayed up long enough for my dad to walk 45 flights to safety.  Though NYC was closed off, no traffic in or out, my dad was waiting for me when I got off the bus.  I am truly blessed, my dad is truly blessed and we won't forget that day.  Today I spent some time having lunch with my dad and I am so thankful for that opportunity, something that might not have happened 18 years ago.

And yet, we often forget the most significant event in our lives, even if we weren't there or alive - Jesus' death burial and resurrection. I can't forget the day God saved my dad's physical life, but sometimes I forget that Jesus saved me from a different death.  The Bible explains that we all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23).  In this sin we are told we are dead (Ephesians 2:1), and even further our penalty is Hell - eternal death (Romans 6:23).  I have been spared, not by what I have done but through the God's great love for us (Ephesians 2:4).  He has made me alive, when I was dead (Ephesians 2:5)!  Yet I don't live thankful each day, I sometimes forget what God has done.  Maybe it's because I didn't see the flames I was pulled from.  I never saw the chains enslaving me to sin.  If like a fireman pulling a person from a burning building we could see what Christ saved us from, would we remember?  I ask that you Never Forget Christ's work at the cross!

- If you would like to hear more of my story, I am happy to share especially over coffee!  You can also hear more of my family's story, including my dad’s firsthand account, by reading my mom's book available on Amazon: Wounded But Not Broken: 9/11 A Decade - Vicky Yasika