The 24 Hour Difference

Image from Classroom Clipart

You can also find this post at The Surrendered Scribe

As you know, I'm originally from Upstate NY and that's where I was on September 11. That day is so seared in memory that I don't even need to tell you the year, you know. You remember exactly what you were doing that day.

I lived far enough away from NYC (in fact in OH I'm the same distance away pretty much) that the terror of that day affected me like most of the world. Shock, grief, sadness, the gamut of emotions associated with loss. Yet because I was far enough away, I did not lose any family members or loved ones as thousands did.

The day changed me though, I bet it did you too. How many of you refer to September 10? Do you remember what you were doing that day? I know I don't. I remember after the 11th thinking about how I had been in the Big Apple two weeks before. I didn't give a thought about my safety then. Now anytime I see a plane in the sky I pray for their safety. What a difference a day makes.

I know of one family that changed their lives because of the 11th. They didn't want to keep taking life as they did on September 10. They realized life is short and you are not promised the next day, yet boy, do we take it for granted.

I'm a deep thinker, maybe too deep I suppose, but I wondered and still do about choices. How many people on September 10 started a rebellious relationship? Ended one? Found out they were pregnant? Ended a pregnancy? Forgave someone? Held a grudge? Started over? Kept the same routine thinking, I'll change tomorrow? Had another drink, or went to another casino when bills were due and family was concerned? How many on September 10 said I'm starting this--or---I'm ending it?

I pray, truly pray there is not another day ever like September 11 for any country. I often think of Israel where that thought is daily for them. They lived with strict travel and military a lot longer than we ever have because they had to. But again, we are not promised a second. Is there anything today that if you knew tomorow would change everything for everyone, you'd do different?

I'm just asking, you don't have to answer.

If you have questions though, my hope is like that family that switched things around in their lives after the 11th, that you seek a Bible believing and reading church, a clergyperson with the same foundation as that, grounded in Christ. Maybe a Bible study, many YMCA's are treating the "C" in YMCA as it was always intended, about Christ. If you want to take a private step for now, I always encourage people to get a Bible they are comfortable with (I suggest NIV only because I truly can not grasp formal language like King James and was intimidated by it as a seeking person) and read the book of John. Take a chapter a day and each day for a month, ask God to show Himself to be real (oh, He will, I promise) and to give you the tools to make whatever changes you feel are necessary.

Wake up September 12, Lord willing, with no regrets.

And let's not forget the people who gave all so we could have another chance at another day.

Julie Arduini is a surrendered writer with her own blog, http://thesurrenderedscribe.blogspot.com/. A graduate of the Christian Writers Guild, she also blogs for the Christian Writers Forum Sundays as the mommy blogger. She is active with FaithWriters and has several writings ready to publish in different books and anthologies in 2008-09. One of the books will be a quote in Kathy Vick's Simon and Schuster/Howard's gift book, "Run Like a Girl."You can also find Julie the third Thursday of each month over at Take Root and Write with her column, Finding Freedom through Surrender. She facilates a group by the same name at the sister social networking site, Christian Women Take Root.

Journey to Salvation: Part One

Well, I promised a few weeks ago that I would begin a series of blogs that would explain my journey with the Lord, and I hope and pray you will be encouraged in some way by my testimony…

Did you ever feel like you had it all?

Like you were in control of everything in your life and you didn’t need anything more?

That’s how my husband and I felt before the day our baby girl was traditionally baptized, when she was just a few weeks shy of three months old. We took her to an emergency room because she had a fever--we thought she would be diagnosed with some sort of infection, we would get an antibiotic, and we would go home. As we waited in the emergency room for test results, she stopped breathing. They summonsed the trauma team, and a sound rang out throughout the entire hospital that I will never forget. Suddenly a nurse physically took her from my arms and ran her to the trauma room.

During the minutes that followed, my husband and I felt like we were in the middle of a horrible nightmare. What was going on? We just came for an antibiotic—we wanted to go home.
During those minutes that felt like hours, I don’t even think I prayed. Up until that moment, I had no frame of reference to even try to call upon the Lord for help.

Once they got her stabilized and we could see her –the tiny, 11 pound baby girl that began her day in a beautiful white baptismal gown, was now on a ventilator with multiple wires and many pieces of medical equipment connected to her.

Again, I don’t recall even trying to utter a single word of prayer.

That moment and the days that followed changed a part of who my baby girl is, and in turn, changed me as a person in more ways than I ever imagined possible….

Maria and her family reside in NE Ohio. She and her husband are the parents of two. Their daughter is a person with hemipelegic cerebral palsy. Because of her experiences, Maria provides parent-to-parent support for families involved in her local early intervention program. Her gift for writing has come directly from the Lord since her daughter’s diagnosis. She writes a monthly column entitled, “Special Parents, Special Kids” for the Mahoning Valley Parent magazine in Ohio; and has expanded into Parent magazines in parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. She is also a contributing author at www.mommiesmagazine.com. Maria is very passionate about getting the word out to special parents that they are not alone in their journey of raising their special child; and that they were chosen by God to parent their children. Maria welcomes comments and communication as well as invitations for her to speak to your group.