A Decade

Moments in history. . .when time stood still. . .forever etched in our memory.

I am not old enough to have witnessed man's first steps on the moon or the assassinations of notable people like Martin Luther King Jr. or John F. Kennedy.  I do remember where I was the night Princess Diana died (and it's almost a miracle that we got the news because we were staying at a remote cabin with 1 TV channel!).  Of course, I remember where I was a decade ago today.

I had somehow just survived my first year of teaching and I think I spent the entire summer trying to catch up on sleep.  I was certainly re-evaluating if I even wanted to teach any more, given how horrible the year had gone, and I was wondering if I had wasted 4 years of my life in university for nothing.  I lacked direction and purpose.  I was 22.


The morning of September 11, 2001, I remember getting up and then heading to town to pick up the mail.  I was frustrated that the radio station was not playing their regular programming and so I started to try various stations, only to find out that all of them were reporting on the same thing - airplanes flying into buildings. . .chaos. . .horror.  From that point on, I couldn't turn off the radio or TV and it took me a number of days to finally say that my life had to go on, even though so many other people lost theirs - either because they died that day or lost someone special in their life and it was as though their own life had ceased.

It feels like yesterday and forever ago, all at the same time.  I cannot have even begun to imagine the life I've lived in the 10 years since that day.  I did go back to teaching - a few times over in fact.  But here I am again, trying to figure out if the classroom is where I'm supposed to be.  I don't question that I'm qualified (not like a decade ago) or that I lack the passion to teach, I just don't know if that's where God desires me to be His hands and feet.

I no longer wonder about wasted years.  I've had so many good and bad experiences since 2001 and if I've ready to take the good, then I must be willing to also take the bad.  Both make me who I am today.  I certainly would never have guessed that I would travel on 3 major trips in that time, visiting 5 different countries around the world.  I don't have quite the direction in life that I'd like, but I am confident that I personally know the One who holds my life and my future.  I am 32.


When we stop to reflect on this day in history in 1 year, 5 years or in 10 years to commemorate the 20th anniversary, what will our world look like then?  When we stop to reflect and think back on that day in 2001, will we see change - in ourselves, in our world?  So much can change in a decade, and even in our world, so much can stay the same.  I can't imagine what the next 10 years will look like for me.  What adventures are around the corner.  The people who I'll meet.  I'll be 42.