Let's Roll

Let's Roll!  These were the last words of Todd Beamer, a hero of 9-11.  He, along with some other fearless passengers, fought the hijackers of United Flight 93 heading toward Washington DC on September 11, 2001. During the struggle, the plane tragically crashed in Pennsylvania. Everyone on board died, but many lives the terrorists had chosen for death were saved . As he talked on the phone with an Airphone operator sharing and receiving information he uttered his last words as he and fellow passengers began a counter attack..... "Let's Roll."

Lisa Beamer wrote a book about her life with Todd, their family, his life and death and how she coped when he was gone.  She titled the book Let's Roll after Todd's famous last words but I especially love the little sub-title;

                        Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage.

There are so many wonderful lessons in this book, but one especially has been amazing in my own life.  Toward the end of the book Lisa shares about accepting an invitation to speak at the National Prayer Breakfast the year after 9-11.  She shares about quoting this passage of Scripture from Isaiah 40:30-31;

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

Then she shared her own perspective and wrote this;

"The difference between those who stumble and those who run is only the action of hoping in the Lord." 

Lisa Beamer, Let's Roll, p. 304

When I first read her book, I wrote that quote on a notecard to help me remember.  Currently it stays as a bookmark in my Bible.  For a long time it was pinned to a bulletin board behind my computer.  For a season it was lost.....only to be found at the perfect time during our adoption waiting months. I want to run and not stumble in my life and I love the reminder that hope is an action. This is such a comfort when I feel powerless and stuck in some painful limbo-land.

In an interview with Stone Phillips you can read here, Lisa says this when asked if she can forgive the  hijackers, "You know, bitterness and anger doesn’t get one very far in life. And I won’t allow it to seep in. I won’t allow someone else’s terrible actions to turn me into a person that I don’t want to be."

For me, as we remember and honor those who lost and lived through that time, I can think of no greater challenge than to take up the ACTION of hoping in the Lord, to refuse to let anger and bitterness even seep in to our lives. 

Whatever storm you face today; I hope that this reminder from a woman who walked with strength and poise through an emotional hurricane choosing hope encourages you to hang in there.....Let's Roll!