Patriot Day 2022 | JOY for Today

9/11 shocked our country to its core. On that day we realized our vulnerability, but we also found our strength. Through strength in unity and shared purpose we shifted a tragic moment in history to hope for tomorrow and found JOY in perseverance. Together we can overcome.

"Lifespan Development" picture from Lumen Learning CC BY 4.0

Patriot Day Topics:

• Did You Know... Three we didn't.
• Wolfe Stew Connects Musings from the Mrs.
• Bible Verses and Quotes Regarding 9/11 and Citizenship.
• Activity Suggestions Remembrance, Commitment, Discussion (for PreK-Middle School)

Did You Know:

1. Four planes crashed in three different locations? Two of the planes careened into New York City's World Trade Center, a third targeted the Pentagon, and the fourth crashed in a Pennsylvania field. A total of 2,996 people died and over 6,000 were injured. (The Fact Site)
2. Flight 93 was reclaimed? A Pennsylvania field was not the target of the final plane, likely the White House or the U.S. Capitol was, but the crew and passengers of Flight 93 (40 people in all) successfully fought against the terrorists who chose to crash the plane instead of relinquishing control. (History.com)
3. It took firefighters 100 days to extinguish the fires around Ground Zero? On the day of the attack New York City fire fighters, whose focus was evacuating people from the towers, lost 343 members. (The Fact Site and History.com)
4. 9/11 memorials exist around the world and even in space? These memorials, which include tower rubble, can be found in Israel, Italy, and space tools on Mars. (The Fact Site)
5. The 9/11 attack is the largest loss of life event from a foreign attack? Higher, even, than Pearl Harbor where 2,403 lives were lost and 1,178 were injured. (The Fact Site and The Sun)

We'd Love to Know:

Another fact you'd include?

Wolfe Stew Connects

We grow complacent. We feel secure and let our guards down until something shatters it. Then, we struggle to learn how to move forward.

This was 9/11.

We'd forgotten what it felt like to be attacked, then in an instant realized how vulnerable we are. We dug deep, found strength, and moved forward.

These 9/11 events happen in your personal life constantly. 9/11 events shatter your reality, expose your vulnerability, and force you to change direction or make different choices. 9/11 events make you realize you don't have it all figured out and you're nowhere close to perfect. 9/11 events force you to dig deep, find strength, and bravely move forward again. 

During 9/11, we found strength in each other. For your personal 9/11 events, you can do the same. We are part of a family, you and me. We're united through our Father, destined for His kingdom, called to His purpose, and strengthened in His love. In God's family, we challenge each other to grow in faith, fortify ourselves in Godliness, pick up our fallen brothers, and keep marching hand-in-hand toward the promised land. We find strength to overcome every trial and tribulation when we stand united in Him.

A common trial we all face that often leads to personal 9/11 events is temptation - the desire to make ungodly choices. When we live united in God, we serve each other by encouraging a return from and resistance to temptation by keeping our feet planted firmly on The Rock (Psalm 18:2). Learning about temptation and resistance to it is our GROWTH focus next week. We'll be responding to a passage on temptation in James and contemplating why temptation leads to blame and shame. If you'd like to join us in training with short, but impactful, Bible-based daily exercises, we'd love for you to join us. Let's unite in understanding that none of us is perfect and accept that we all need Jesus!

We'd Love to Know:

How 9/11 strengthened you?

Bible Verses and Quotes 

Bible Verses

• "You should pray for rulers and for all who have authority. Pray for these leaders so that we can live quiet and peaceful lives - lives full of devotion to God and respect for him." I Timothy 2:2 ERV
• "And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, test you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not." Deuteronomy 8:2 ESV
• "The Lord is close to those whose hearts are breaking; he rescues those who are humbly sorry for their sins. The good man does not escape all troubles - he has them too. But the Lord helps him in each and every one" Psalm 34:18-19 TLB
• "The time is coming, and is already here, when all of you will be scattered, each of you to your own home, and I will be left all alone. But I am not really alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you will have peace by being united to me. The world will make you suffer. But be brave! I have defeated the world!" John 16:23-4 GNT
• "Our citizenship is in heaven. We look forward to a savior that comes from there - the Lord Jesus Christ." Philippians 3:20 CEB

Quotes

• "On September 11, I always take the day off. I want to be in a peaceful quiet place praying. It is a day I both mourn and celebrate." - Genelle Guzman-McMillan, 9/11 Survivor
• "Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children." - George W. Bush
• "If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate." - Sandy Dahl 
• "September 11, 2001, revealed heroism in ordinary people who might have gone through their lives never called upon to demonstrate the extent of their courage." - Geraldine Brooks
• "The attacks of September 11th were intended to break our spirit. Instead we have emerged stronger and more unified. We feel renewed devotion to the principles of political, economic, and religious freedom, the rule of law and respect for human life. We are more determined than ever to live our lives in freedom." - Rudy Giuliani

We'd Love to Know:

Which verse or quote encapsulates your remembrance of 9/11.

Activity Suggestions

All these activities focus on remembering and moving forward. Together we can!

Our Nephew's Suggestion:

Dress up in red, white, and blue.

It certainly would help to remind us that we are all part of the same team.

Our Suggestions:

Remember what happened. Choose from one of the resources below to help you and your learner remember the events and effects of 9/11.

• PreK-2 Choose a book from Growing Book by Book's list of September 11th picture books. The two we're checking out this year are: 
• Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey by Maira Kalman (links to Goodreads)
• Survivor Tree by Marcie Colleen (links to Goodreads)
• 3-5 Watch and respond to a 9/11 video by BrainPop. Choose one of these scrapbooking pages from Cynce's Place for a written response or research notes. For a generic choice, we like "We Remember" (opens PDF).
• Middle Schoolers Make and illustrate a timeline using History.com's 9/11 timeline for reference.

Commit to unite. We are diverse, but we are one country, one world, one team. Make a commitment to a change you can make that will serve to remind you we are one. What's your one word?

Discuss Patriot Day Themed "Would You Rather...?" Questions. Download my current work-in-progress for daily holiday themed Would You Rather questions that will eventually include three questions for each September, October, and November day.  I will continue updating it on OneDrive as I work toward completing it. Would you rather...

• Volunteer to help clean up or distribute food and clothes?
• Talk to people about helping others or write a book about it?
• Donate your money to help someone else or do something to help them?

We'd Love to Know:

What you do to remember Patriot Day.

We’re excited to share one more day with you and wish you JOY for Today and HOPE for Tomorrow. Come back next week for...Fall Equinox!

Fighting the Good Fight with You,

Find even more JOY for Today in our monthly calendars, holiday, and seasonal posts.