Bib Lit II Was Completely Normal...

5 Years Ago Today.

Even though the class at Taylor University started 31 minutes after the first tower was attacked, only one person come in with the knowledge of what had happened, and he didn't know very much. "A plane flew into a building" was how the news was broke to me. My first thought? Crazy crop-duster! I must have recently watched Independence Day. Then he clarified, "No, in New York, not Indiana." Someone said "World Trade Center," but to be painfully honest, I had no clue what that was. But I still didn't imagine there would be much damage. I still figured it was a small private plane that maybe took out a corner office. We didn't even realize there had been a second plane that had hit the second tower. We had class until 10.

When I got back to my dorm, the atmosphere was vastly different. There was a group of people in front of the TV in the lounge, and buildings were falling. It was confusing to try to figure out how many buildings had been hit, because the same two kept falling over and over. But it didn't matter how many times I saw those buildings fall, it didn't hit home with me. The biggest embarassment to my character and regret in my memory of that day came when Katie, the P.A. on 2nd spoke out in the silence, "People, we need to be on our knees." I'll never forget those words, and the feeling of pit of my stomach sinking as absolutely no one in that room, myself included, hit the floor. I don't know, maybe I'm not remembering right. Maybe there was just a pause that seemed like forever. Maybe people did react and pray. I just remember the stares she received and the awkward feeling that hung in the air. Shouldn't we have fallen immediately? Shouldn't we have been on our knees even before she said that?

Five years later, I am much more aware of the world around me. And more importantly, I am quicker at the draw when it comes to prayer, whether it be for people close to my heart or those thousands of miles away that I have never heard of before. And maybe it's the pregnancy hormones, but I have also been on the verge of tears more times today than on that tragic day five years ago.