Where were you?

It's hard to believe that it's been five years since September 11, 2001.

So... where were you?

I was a college freshman. I had a horn lesson from 9-9:30 that morning, and instead of going to the Snack Shop during my free half hour (as I usually did), I went back to my dorm room to think about whether I should tell my ex-boyfriend happy birthday if I saw him that day. (Yes, that was my biggest worry that day--although I was probably also worried about how to keep my horn teacher from noticing that I hadn't practiced.) I went to my 10:00 class--Principles of Christian Growth--and a girl in the row in front of me came in and asked, "Did you see? They flew a plane into the World Trade Center!" I thought she was kidding, until the teacher got up and started talking about it. I think we stopped and prayed--I can't remember for sure, but it seems like we would.

It's funny how, after that, it didn't seem to matter so much whether I wished that guy a happy birthday, or whether I was prepared for my horn lesson.

I went home for dinner that night and watched the evening news--saw the towers collapsing, the Pentagon burning, the ground in Pennsylvania smoldering. It was scary. And it made me stop to think about the eternal destiny of the people who died, and about what I was doing with my life. If I had been on one of those planes, or in one of the buildings that was hit, would I have been ready to die? I mean, I know I would have been ready in the sense that I was trusting in Christ alone for salvation. But would I have been able to look back on my (short) life and see anything of real value accomplished?

What about you?