Lessons Learned from a World Trade Center Victim/Victor After 9-11

Jennifer Wong.....does this name mean anything to you?  It does to me. I never met her though. I heard about her and met her family as I was writing a book called "As the Towers Fell, Stories of Unshakeable Faith on 9-11"(2003).  She died the morning of September 11th at the age of 26. The plane was a direct hit so she most likely died instantly. 

I recently got to speak to a group of graduating seniors(my boys class).  I decided to use what I knew of Jennifer's story to encourage them as they think about how significant their life could be. It was short(short attention span)and I certainly couldn't go into all the details of her life that I knew but here are 3 things I have learned from her and thought I would share with everyone who reads this.....

A little background: Jennifer was an Asian American, a follower of Christ and daughter to very strong Christian parents. According to her family and friends, Jen was full of life and loved the Lord deeply. In fact, over 1000 people showed up at her memorial service in honor of who she had been to them and others......this is what I shared with the graduating seniors.

Lessons Learned from Jennifer Wong

1. Make God your top desire.  No matter what you do in life, Christ needs to be #1. If you don't have a relationship with Christ, you need to decide if you are going to follow HIM or not. For those who are followers of Christ, it is important that you hunger and thirst for God every day. That seemed to be a significant part of who Jennifer was according to her diaries, her family and friends. No other desire can fulfill you except the desire to know God. In the Bible, it says very clearly what will happen IF you fully trust Him.

Psalm 37 says: 

3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
    Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
⁴ Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you your heart’s desires.

⁵ Commit everything you do to the Lord.
    Trust him, and he will help you.
⁶ He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
    and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

2. Make others a priority in your life. Jen made an intentional decision to think about others instead of herself. She loved them and they were drawn to God because of her. In fact, because of the way she lived, there were those who came to Christ AFTER she died as they watched her family deal with the tragedy and remembered how Jennifer treated them.  She seemed to have a lot going for her on the outside" looks, friendliness, great job, good family......she could have become very involved in herself and only things that concerned her and what she wanted but she chose Christ instead.  Don't get me wrong, she enjoyed life but she knew her SOURCE and she followed Christ command to love others. She got out of her self and thought about others. It showed by the response at her memorial service.

Jesus said it over and over again:  Love God, Love Others. 

 3.  Whatever you do in your careers, do for God and not for yourself. Doing "this life" for God is much more fruitful than just for yourselves. It seemed that Jennifer's desires were to live for God and through her job, her career, her home life and her relationships, all were there to glorify God.

What about you?  

Colossians 3:23 says this: ^"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters". 

Jennifer was young and vivacious, she seemed to have life going for her and in moments, her life was taken away. She did not anticipate going to work that morning to die. She said goodbye to her sister at the subway never to be seen again.

Wonder what you and I would be doing differently if we thought we would die this afternoon? Or tomorrow? Would your life make such a difference? Every life is important to God and as followers of Christ, we can make a difference in this world. EVEN AFTER Jennifer's death, she keeps making a difference. The very fact that we are right here, 13 years later, talking about how she lived is proof that God can take any of us, no matter what we have done in the past and make a difference in this world! 

My challenge to you today.........let your life be God's,not your own as you travel through the next years. What you decide today on how to live WILL make a difference in others tomorrow.  

To God be the Glory for Jennifer's Life......may we all make our life count so that others will see Christ in us.....................