— Adorning the Truth —

Remembering the Day: Beauty for Ashes

September 11, 2018
Seventeen years ago today, I was doing the breakfast dishes and watching the Today Show on our small kitchen television when they started to show footage of the World Trade Center on fire. An airplane was reported to have hit one of the towers causing the fire.

Kory, who was 6 at the time, came running through the kitchen, and I said, “Hey, buddy, look at this big building that just got hit by an airplane!” I simply thought the tower had been side-swiped by a big jetliner. Actually, I was hoping that was all that happened, as I had tickets to see Elton John’s Aida in New York City the very next day along with my sister who was in the air at that very moment flying to NYC on a plane from Austin, TX. (She was grounded in Houston.)

Kory immediately got out some paper and drew a picture of the scene. Little did I know in those moments that the plane was actually lodged inside that tower, and even worse – that a dear friend and founding church member was on it.
Jessica had just graduated from the University of Massachusetts and had recently begun work for an accounting firm in Boston. A bright, new, young professional, she boarded the plane that day for a business trip to Los Angeles. It wasn’t until the next morning that we discovered she had been on that first plane, and that this tragedy had hit much closer to home than the short 160 mile drive that separates Amherst, MA from NYC.Robert and others from our church spoke at her funeral which was covered by many local news stations. It was a beautiful celebration of her life and her faith – exactly as she would have wanted. In their generosity and love for the church, her parents requested that all gifts in memory of Jessica be given to our church. Jessica had been on the core team for planting the church all those years ago.

Jessica’s favorite verse was shared at her funeral:

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

I Corinthians 1:18

For over a year we received checks in the mail – everyone from American Airlines to Jessica’s immediate family, co-workers, and even strangers just wanting to do something tangible. That money is how we were able to eventually purchase a building for our church, and it’s a pretty incredible story.
Jessica on the left with her friend, Sarah.
Last week, some dear friends from Stillwater, Oklahoma came to visit us. After lunch downtown, we took them to see the church only a couple of blocks away. Though they have prayed and given generously toward the ministry of our church for 20 years, they had never seen it in person. It was fun to give them a tour, and they just couldn’t have been more delighted in seeing with their own eyes the place they’ve prayed for so often. Honestly, to see it through their eyes, renewed my own delight and joy in the truly amazing work God has done here.

Steve asked Robert to tell the story of how we were able to purchase this old United Methodist church for our own growing congregation. (We’d been meeting in lots of borrowed spaces for about 6 years.) When he got to the part about how we just “happened” to have the exact amount of earnest money required on a $1.2 million dollar property, he recounted the story of Jessica, her death on that first plane to hit the first tower, and the gifts that poured in from all over the world in her memory.

None of us could really hold back the tears, emotion, and awe at that point.

Out of tragedy, beauty.

Out of grievous loss, provision.

Because of one life taken, literally hundreds of new lives given, reborn, and transformed.

Kory texted me earlier today: “Remember this morning 17 years ago?”

I sent him photos of his drawings.

He had forgotten about those, but he had not forgotten the day.

And none of us have forgotten Jessica.

Her story is intricately woven into the truly incredible story God is writing here in Amherst, MA.

…to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
Isaiah 61:3
Pray for Jessica’s family today if you think of it. The loss of their child is an ever present grief, though they maintain great faith in the goodness of God in spite of their pain.

P.S. Today didn’t seem the appropriate time to tell the rest of my “battle and rescue” story, but I’ll be back tomorrow or Thursday to tell you what I’m learning from it.

6 thoughts on “Remembering the Day: Beauty for Ashes”

  1. What a beautiful story of the fulfillment of Isaiah 61. I have been drawn to that verse lately, especially how He gives beauty for ashes and joy for mourning. Thank you for telling the world about how God blessed so many through Jessica. Her family will be in our prayers today.

  3. Thank you for sharing this beautiful story and a bit of the church history. What a wonderful reminder of God’s goodness, even in extreme tragedy.

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