09.11

i sat today remembering what was nine years ago. sitting around my brother's table talking with my sister, mom, and best friend about where we were. our emotions. our thoughts. our memories that in some ways feel like yesterday and in others like a million years ago.

we talked about how much has changed since then, how much our world has changed, our lives.

we sat in silence for just a second all of us with various thoughts probably about the families, about the recovery, about the devastation.

and then i kept thinking about how God is no different.

he grieves deeply.

he redeems greatly.

our nation and our world might have changed forever due to the planes crashing into the world trade center, but our God is no different.

so today i remember both.

"for today, for a minute, it's not all right. i understand that God is sovereign, i understand that grief mellows over time, and that guarantees aren't a part of human life, as much as we'd like them to be. but on this day, i'm crying a little for what might have been..." (niequist, 2010).

may we rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.

trusting He will give beauty for ashes.

gladness for mourning.

for those families who lost so much on that day, i remember.

for a God who promises to redeem, i trust.