Yesterday many of us felt what it must have been like on Dec. 7th, 1941. We went to sleep on Monday night never knowing that the next day our world would be changed forever. Yesterday our children watched events unfolding and for the first time many realized that Mom and Dad can not always protect them. That bad things do happen in America and that there is not always an explanation for them.

    My nine year old twins want to know if our town will be bombed. “Will they bomb the Cave Hill Motel, Mom?” they asked, thinking of the biggest building they know. How my heart aches for them, and for the other children all across this country whose cocoon of childhood innocence has been so tragically ripped away.

    Tonight I went to a volleyball game and watched two teams from opposing counties play each other. After the game many stood in the cafeteria and watched President Bush on television assure America that we would take action. This crime will not go unpunished. No longer was there a division of our team versus your team. All the people in that room, glued to the television set were of one mind... and one sorrow. At that moment and ever since then, I have had the feeling that for the first time in a long time the divisions and differences among America’s people have dimmed, and that we are once again “one nation under God.”

“God Bless America, my home sweet home.”

    As I typed this message late last night I heard my daughter in her bedroom. She is seventeen and the events of the day hung over her head like a gray rain cloud that she can see, but can not fully grasp. Like everyone else she had been watching the news reports. It was late and she thought everyone else in the house was asleep. Her door was closed but the room where I work is next to hers and so I heard her clearly. At first I thought she was singing along with her radio but then I realized she was singing with a video clip on television. Her soft soprano voice became louder as she enunciated the words. I stopped typing and listened as she sang, “God Bless America, my home sweet home.”

    Chills ran up and down my spine and tears stung my eyes. How precious she is to me, and how precious our country is and the freedoms we enjoy. Today, more than most days we stop and realize the blessings of having our loved ones close, safe, and healthy. Today we realize how quickly things can change and how often we take those blessings forgranted.

    Pray that God will bless America, our leaders, and the people who lost loved ones. Pray for the injured and those caring for them. Pray without ceasing, because just as our children depend on us to keep them safe, we must depend on God to lead us through difficult times. He is “our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

Title: "Pray Without Ceasing"
Author: Teresa Bell Kindred, http://www.teresakindred.com
Publication Date: September 13, 2001

Share with Others	Related Heartlight Resources
Print this Article Send it to a Friend Discuss	Prayer for the Nation Woe to Me!