September 10, 2001

It suddenly struck me today that this is September 10! A very obvious fact to some of you I'm sure, but it sticks out a little more to me. Tomorrow everyone will remember the terrible events that happened on 9\11 seven years ago, and just like everyone else, I have my own story of what that day was like for me! My story started on September 10 though.

Our good friends, the Thomas family, have been missionaries to Romania for years, and after one of their first years there they came home that summer and asked my parents if my sister and I could go back with them for a short time. Looking back now my parents cannot believe that they let their daughters ( only fifteen and thirteen!) go halfway around the world, but it was totally a God thing! We left on September tenth, happy and full of smiles, flew from Portland to Washington D.C. to Vienna to Romania. When we arrived their Romanian neighbor asked how we had gotten there since all the airports in America were closed. We kind of laughed thinking how naive this dear lady was to think that the airports in America could really be closed! We began to unpack, but were soon interrupted by a friend who had helped us unload rush back to tell us that indeed, things were not right in the states. We rushed to a friends house who had TV and watched in disbelief what all had transpired back home. From the very airport we had been at only hours before!

It was an amazing time of trusting the Lord. We didn't know if we would even be able to get home for a very long time! God was so gracious in providing His peace and provision in working out all the details perfectly for our trip to go just as planned. Our dad was able to come over after four weeks, spent two weeks with us there, then brought us home.

Our time there was so amazing. We were able to go back to the same area two years later and see the same friends and children. David was even able to go with us that time. My heart yearns to go back there. Sometimes it is interesting to think about why God would place some desires in our hearts that do not seem to correspond with what He has laid out for us. I know that His plan is still unfolding in my life, and only if it is to pray for those people, I am so thankful for the experience I had to know and love those wonderful people!!