Do you remember where you were?  I do.

I had just gotten home from dropping Taylor off at school.  First grade.  Eight years ago.  I was pregnant with Piper and laying in bed.  Turned on the television and couldn’t begin to comprehend what was unfolding in front of me.  CJ wasn’t home at the time.  I didn’t know what to do, but felt something needed to be done.

So I went back to the school to get Taylor, bring her to the safety of our home and hold her tight.  I expected the school lot to be full of cars.  Panicked mothers longing to hold their children.  That wasn’t the case.  I was pretty much the only one there.

As I entered the school to collect her, I voiced my concern that no one else was getting their children.  I remember the teacher commending me for coming to get Taylor.

I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

I love this image.  I remember first seeing it and it’s stuck with me every since.  I wrote a post on 9.11 last year … you can read it here.  It was simply titled “remembering” … and as we start this 9.11 … 2009, I again, can’t help but think … we’ve forgotten.

Do you remember what happened to our country on that fateful day?  I do.

We all banded together.  No one was yelling, honking, rushing.

We were crying, hugging, and praying.

We were a kinder, gentler nation.  Do you remember?

And as I was thinking about this “memorial” post and the feelings I have of that day … I thought how appropriate this scripture:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. …” {Galatians 5:22-23 NIV}

I feel that the fruit our nation was bearing after 9.11 modeled very closely what the scripture tells us we should model.  But then we forgot.

Life happens.  Frustrations happen.  We move on and we simply forget.

Do we need a crisis in our lives to be reminded that we should be bearing good fruit everyday?  I know I’m guilty of it.

But my prayer, today and everyday … is that I bear the fruit of the Spirit.  And did you know, “the fruit” is a collective noun … we can’t pick and choose which ‘one’ suits us.  Which one is easier.  We need them all in our lives.

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.

On this day, September 11, 2009 … won’t you join me in praying {for yourselves and our nation}, that we remember to bear the fruit of the Spirit today … and everyday.