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MessageFrom: Katie's Dad
Sent: Saturday, September 14, 2002 10:45 PM
To: Distribution List
Subject: FW: Where You Were
Friends,
I have just come home for my first good night's
sleep this week. Tomorrow, I will go back to the hospital
to pick up my wife and my new baby daughter, Katie. She was
born yesterday, September 13th at 12:44 pm. She is a beautiful
miracle.
I just checked my email, and the message
below was one of the many I had received in the past three
days while I was tending to my family. There have been plenty
of times in my life that I have doubted, questioned and wondered
about God. There have been a few instances, some incredible
moments of spiritual clarity, in my life in which God is the
only explanation for the outcome. Participating in my daughter's
birth and holding her as they dimmed the lights in the room
while she opened her eyes for the very first time was a big
one. There has been no single time in which I've felt closer
to our creator than I did that very moment. It will remain
a clear, wonderful, beautiful frozen snapshot in my mind for
the rest of my life.
We lead busy lives. A lot of "stuff"
happens that can make one a doubter, make one bitter, or make
one wander from one path to another. In spite of life's frequent
trials and whatever our personal foibles may be, it is the
spiritually clear and poignant moments and events that we
must hold fast in our hearts and in our souls. In this light,
I send this to you.
As you read this, search your memory for
the moments you have felt close to God. Reinforce them. Own
them. And try to live today as if they are happening in each
and every moment.
They are.
Dad
Where
You Were
You say you will never forget where you were when you heard
the news on September 11, 2001. Neither will I. I was on the
110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who called his
wife to say "Good-bye." I held his fingers steady
as he dialed. I gave him the peace to say, "Honey, I
am not going to make it, but it is OK...I am ready to go."
I
was with his wife when he called as she fed breakfast to their
children. I held her up as she tried to understand his words
and as she realized he wasn't coming home that night.
I
was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a woman cried
out to Me for help. "I have been knocking on the door
of your heart for 50 years!" I said. "Of course
I will show you the way home -- only believe in Me now."
I
was at the base of the building with the Priest ministering
to the
injured and devastated souls. I took him home to tend to his
Flock in Heaven. He heard my voice and answered.
I
was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every
prayer. I
was with the crew as they were overtaken. I was in the very
hearts of the believers there, comforting and assuring them
that their faith has saved them.
I
was in Texas, Kansas, London. I was standing next to you when
you heard the terrible news. Did you sense Me?
I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew every name
-- though not all know Me. Some met Me for the first time
on the 86th floor.
Some
sought Me with their last breath. Some couldn't hear Me calling
to them through the smoke and flames; "Come to Me...
this way... take my hand." Some chose, for the final
time, to ignore Me.
But,
I was there.
I
did not place you in the Tower that day. You may not know
why, but I do. However, if you were there in that explosive
moment in time, would you have reached for Me?
September
11, 2001, was not the end of the journey for you. But someday
your journey will end. And I will be there for you as well.
Seek Me now while I may be found. Then, at any moment, you
know you are "ready to go."
I
will be in the stairwell of your final moments.
God
During
the next 60 seconds, stop whatever you are doing, and take
this opportunity. (Literally it is only 1 minute.) All you
have to do is the following:
You
simply say an "Our Father" for the person that sent
you this message:
Our
Father who are in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name, Thy Kingdom
Come, Thy Will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not
into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the
kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Next,
you send this message to everyone you know. In a while, more
people will have prayed for you and you would have obtained
a lot of people praying for others.
Next,
stop and think and appreciate God's power in your life, for
doing what you know is pleasing to him.
If
you are not ashamed to do this, follow the instructions. Jesus
said, "If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of
you before My Father" If you are not ashamed, send this
message...only if you believe. "Yes, I love my God. He
is my fountain of Life and My Savior. He Keeps me going day
and night. Without Him, I am no one. But with Him, I can do
everything. Christ is my strength."
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