9/11 from a child's perspective

I can't believe it's been eleven years since that day. I remember exactly where I was and the feeling inside my stomach. I remember thinking...is this real? How can this be happening? I'm still sick over the whole thing and trying to explain it to a group of 7 and 8 year olds is even harder.  I tried to focus on the positive...all the people who risked their lives to help strangers, the stories of people missing their flight or staying home from work that day, the fact that through it all God was there.

God was not absent from 9/11, he was there. He was there with the firefighters and policemen as they saved countless lives, He was there with the people who were trapped and feeling helpless, He was there for the scared and grieving families. He gave us free will because of his crazy love for us and then he is there to clean up our messes. That is how I explained it to my class.

We prayed for the families, we prayed that we wouldn't have to be fearful, we thanked God for his goodness. I'm so blessed to be able to talk about God with my students. I really don't know how to talk about the events of 9/11 without involving prayer.

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea." Psalm 46:1-2

Here is a drawing done by a young girl in Pennsylvania. It spoke to me 11 years ago and it still speaks to me today.