A Survivor's Prayer By Carmen Sewer Knowing that the Father is with me is a most comforting thought as I begin each new day. I pray: Thank You, Father, for waking me up this morning. I do not know what this day will bring. Please be with me in all that I say and do. In Jesus' Name, Amen. It was my first day back to work after vacation, and the day was Tuesday, September 11, 2001. As I sat at my desk on the ninth floor of a lower Manhattan office building, I felt the chair shake with force. My coworkers began to ask each other what caused the vibration. We didn't realize what was happening until we looked a few yards past the window and saw smoke coming from the upper floors of the World Trade Center across the street. The first airplane had just crashed into the building. A few minutes later, after the initial shock had begun to wear off, another airplane flew through the side of the second building. With the second crash, our office building shook with such force that I thought our office had been bombed. Filled with fright, I ran down the corridor, down nine flights of steps, and out of the building. I was faced with many other people who were running, screaming, crying and standing in semi-shock. Then I saw a coworker who was my neighbor and asked her if she wanted to accompany me to the train station since we both got off the same train stop in Brooklyn. She replied that she couldn't, saying, "I can't go home right now. I'm waiting for a friend who works in the World Trade Center." Feeling sad and frightened, I took what was probably one of the last #3 trains out of Manhattan to Brooklyn. When I left home that morning, there was no way I could have known that the City of New York would become a target for terrorists. I didn't know that so many people would lose their lives. I had no idea that I would panic and almost forget that God was still in charge. I didn't realize that years later the memory of that disastrous day would still linger. But I know now that my heavenly Father, in all things, brings calm in the midst of chaos. Almighty God, thank You for being the Lord of all nations, for Your grace and mercy, for Your blood on the cross as it forgives those who trust and believe in Jesus, for being the Light that guides us in perilous times, for being the Rock that can be leaned upon, and for the power of the Holy Spirit. Carmen Sewer has held the office of Atlantic District LWML Vice President for Leader Development and is past member of the LWML Leader Development Committee. She is a member of Risen Christ Lutheran Church, Brooklyn, NY, and enrolled in the district's Diaconate Program.