I\u2019ve come a long way from where I was 10 years ago. When I think about that day and what has happened since, I often think of what Joseph said to his brothers, \u201cYou meant evil against me but God meant it for good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even before September 11, I was haunted by a recurring nightmare. I could hear someone speaking to me, but I couldn\u2019t see who it was. Someone who kept saying, \u201cYou\u2019re not doing what you\u2019re supposed to do, Stanley.\u201d<\/p>\n
I narrowly escaped from the 81st floor of the World Trade Center where I was an investment banker, thanks in no small part to Brian Clark, who didn\u2019t know me, yet stopped to help me on his way down from his office three floors above.<\/p>\n
Later, I went around the country speaking to church groups, telling my story. I was in Springfield, Missouri, when I had the nightmare again. I met with a pastor the next day and he noticed that I was upset. I told him about my nightmares.<\/p>\n
\u201cMay I pray for you?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
He laid his hands on my head and prayed. In that moment it was like someone flipped a light on in my soul. I suddenly knew what I had to do.<\/p>\n
I enrolled in Global University, an online Bible college. I read the Bible and my course books when I got home from work, studying every night from 9:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. A year later, I finished the program. I\u2019m now a fully certified minister.<\/p>\n
I still work as an investment banker but for a different bank. It grew too difficult to go back to the office with so many friends gone. The very first day I sent out my r\u00e9sum\u00e9, I got a call from a man I\u2019d worked with a decade earlier, who now was a director for Royal Bank of Scotland.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you died,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I told him. \u201cI lived. Thank the Lord. I lived.\u201d I got the job.<\/p>\n
My wife, Jennifer, and I hardly talk about what happened. Lot\u2019s wife looked back; I believe in looking forward. There\u2019s a lot to look forward to these days, a lot to be grateful for. My daughter Stephanie is 18 now, and is going to St. Francis College. She hopes to become a school teacher one day.<\/p>\n
My little one, Caitlin, is 14 and starting high school this year. We\u2019ve all grown much closer since 9\/11. I know now to spend less time at work and more time enjoying my family.<\/p>\n
Brian and I\u2014we\u2019re brothers for life. This year, on September 11, we\u2019ll get together at my church in Ozone Park, New York, and tell the congregation about what God did for us 10 years ago. I plan to bring the shoes I wore to work that day.<\/p>\n
The soles are melted and they\u2019re caked in ash. I keep them in a shoebox with the word \u201cdeliverance\u201d written all around it. They\u2019re kind of like my ark, a reminder of God\u2019s presence and the life I owe to him. <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve come a long way from where I was 10 years ago. When I think about that day and what has happened since, I often think of what Joseph said to his brothers, \u201cYou meant evil against me but God meant it for good.\u201d Even before September 11, I was haunted by a recurring nightmare. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[228],"ppma_author":[2045],"class_list":["post-15607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gods-grace","tag-september-11"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n