I came up off of my bed screaming as I read the ticker tape running across my television screen: “Flight 77 has disappeared off the radar screen.”.flight 77 was a 757 jetliner that had left Dulles International airport bound for Los Angeles but commandeered by terrorists into the Pentagon that fateful day of September 11, 2001.

THOSE 6 crew members were my acquaintances and friends and I cannot tell you how many times I personally had worked as a flight attendant crew member on board Flight 77 bound for LA….

That day my parents were on the golf course in S. Ca and heard the news of the 9-11 attacks and the airliners that had crashed into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. They were panicked. I had the usual habit of picking up extra flights to work for more hours and normally a flight to Los Angeles. Two crew member slots had been open to take for Sept 11. 2001 on Flight 77.

I had flown a 3 day trip the Saturday , Sunday and Monday prior and gotten in later Monday afternoon.

There IS a story…..That Friday I had gone to Madison County, Virginia to a retreat that I had helped planned for some YWAM associates. Of course I did NOT want to leave the event early Saturday morning to fly the 3 day trip on my schedule so I thought about calling in sick. At that time I had a legitimate “medical out” due to some recurring physical problems and could be excused on a sick call if I needed it. BUT I felt good that day and could not begin to justify a sick call. I wrestled with this decision. I asked a new friend to pray with me and this friend adamantly said “No I think you better fly your trip.” This decision probably saved my life. Why? Well I flew my trip and was not legal to put anymore time on my schedule that Tuesday morning of Sept 11th. Had I not flown my trip I would have wanted to quickly make up that trip and most likely taken a spot on Flight 77.

The other part of the story is this: In May of that year I began a fast of television in obedience to what I felt God leading me to do. If you remember there are fasts in the Bible that were used actually to save people’s lives. Months later I felt that this fast was crucial to the decisions I had made that weekend.

I had wakened the morning of 9-11 on a day off after having flown my 3 day trip. My phones were ringing off the hook as people called to check on me. My parents in S. Ca called from the Freeway to check on me as they thought for sure I was on Flight 77. I had told them days before I was looking to add a Los Angeles flight to my schedule that week.

I was off that Tuesday and my son called me from James Madison University to tell me of the first plane going into the Twin Towers …that is when I turned on my t.v set to watch news for the first time in months due to staying away from television on that spiritual fast.

Is my life more special than others? … than my friends who went down on that plane that day? Absolutely not. I do feel that my destiny on earth was not complete and that is why I am still here today.. to do the work my Heavenly Father has called and created me to do.

Six weeks after 9-11 I retired early from American Airlines.

Today I honor my friends and coworkers who died on the planes. I salute you all. Please say a prayer today for their families as every year is hard for them. They were all amazing people and I attended memorials for them.

They and their families are in my thoughts and prayers today along with the others who lost their lives on 9-11.

The scriptures encourage us to pray and commit our path to the Lord, to be sober and vigilant for there are evil plans out there…to listen carefully to God in our lives and sso much more. I am thankful to be sharing this story with you today.