Let’s Roll! // A Devotion & A Book Review

Today, I want to share a devotion with you that I wrote last year. Too often we forget those who gave it all to save others. After the devotion, I will have a review of the book Let’s Roll, by Lisa Beamer, a widow of Flight 93.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
John 15: 13
King James Bible

It was supposed to be a normal flight, Flight number 93 at 8:42 a.m. Todd Beamer had just gotten home the night before from a five-day trip to Italy with his wife, Lisa. He had a trip to make for work, which he could have left for the day he returned to the states, but Todd decided to spend time with his little family. As it turns out, spending time with his sons David and Andrew (Drew) and his pregnant wife was a wise move. It was the last day they would spend together.
 
Everything changed for this 6-year Sunday School Teacher at 9:28 am September 11th, 2001. Everyone was screaming as the middle-eastern voice came over the speakers saying, “Keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board.” It was shortly after this that Todd got a look at the pilot and co-pilot, lying dead on the floor. Within minutes it became clear that their plane was heading for a vital target…Washington D.C.
 
Beamer made a call, explaining that the plane had been hijacked and that the pilots and one passenger had been murdered by knife-wielding terrorist. One had a bomb strapped to his waist, he informed them. Shortly after, while still on the phone, Todd, Mark Bingham, Tom Burnett and Jeremy Glick formed a plan to gain control of the plane. Beamer led his fellow passengers in reciting the Lord’s Prayer and the 23rd Psalm. To the official on the phone, Todd requested that if they didn’t survive the planned plane crash, would she please call his family and tell them how much he loved them. The last thing Beamer said that was heard over the phone was “Are you ready? Okay. Let’s roll!”
 
And with that, his final words joined the words of many Americans who dedicated their lives to freedom. And “Let’s roll!” to this day personifies the American mission. This is no time to stand idle and let things happen. It’s time to make things happen. It’s time to roll!
 
At 580 mph, the plane crashed at Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing everyone on board. They sacrificed their lives so that others could live and lead our country in the coming wars, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Let us pray their sacrifice 18 years ago was not in vain.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
John 15: 13
King James Bible

Let’s Roll!

Let’s Roll!
By Lisa Beamer
(2002)
5 Stars

From the Back Cover:
9-11.
United Flight 93.
You read all about it.
You heard Hero Todd Beamer’s last words.
But what about the end of the story?
In Let’s Roll! Todd’s wife, Lisa, reveals what really happened on that ill-fated flight, as well as poignant glimpses of a genuine American Hero. She talks candidly about Todd’s growing-up years, their marriage and last week together, and then family moments without him—the devastating day her children learned their daddy had died, how they celebrated his first birthday without him, the mix of grief and joy when she gave birth to their third child, and how she’s found the confidence to go on in the face of such tragedy and loss. It’s no wonder that, through this unpretentious homemaker and mother, an entire nation can…
Find Hope.
Find Inspiration.
Find Strength.
Let’s Roll!

My Review: Another book that all Americans should read! Oh, my heart was so deeply touched by the Beamers’ Story! Seeing her struggle through losing her husband, reading their backstory and watching their children adjust to life without daddy was both heart-wrenching and heartwarming. They are normal people, thrust into a situation they certainly didn’t ask for and their response was inspiring and encouraging.

One thing I didn’t expect to feel in this story was pity for the terrorists who hijacked Flight 93.

Please hear me out.

These guys were horrible people and by all standards deserved to die. But what killed me was their ages: 26, 24, 21 and 20. So young, so bent on evil…and reading the instructions that were given to them by Mohammad-Atta, the leader of the attack, is heart breaking. Did they really think they were doing the right thing? Did they really believe their god would bless them? Did they really think they had to kill themselves and so many others in order to gain heaven? That’s what made me fill pity. They were so dedicated to their religion…a false doctrine and a god that doesn’t even exist. They did everything “right” according to how they had been raised…and still ended up in hell, because they had been deceived by their elders.

What a tragedy! What a waste! So young and oh, so wrong.

There were a few things that I didn’t care for in the book; the Beamers were not raised as conservative as I have been, so there are probably several things we wouldn’t agree on. Namely, dating and kissing prior to marriage. And their love of sports was a little annoying to me as well. But my main dislike was the fact that they used the NIV for the scriptures. I am King James only, so this was the most frustrating part of the book. Lisa quotes scriptures I am familiar with and it’s so irritating to see it changed and watered down. If it were my book, I would have looked up the references and corrected them in the text.

Even so, the message of the book was powerful and so needed in this day and age. Were the Beamers perfect? No. Were they extraordinary people? Oh, yes. Because they have an Extraordinary Father in Heaven, Who controlled every detail of their lives, shaping them and preparing them for the day that rocked America to it’s core.

9/11.

I would recommend this to Biblically mature readers 18 and up for understanding/interest.