I wish I had spoken up....

In my college days, I was an R.A. (Resident Assistant) in the dorms for three years. Most of the time I enjoyed the job. In my first year as an R.A., (when my future hubby was my Resident Director!) I lived on the second floor. Late one weekend night, I was off-duty and sleeping in my room just down the hall from the stairwell door.

I was not sleeping hard, as was often the case in the dorms. They were always loud until after 2:00 a.m. on the weekends. Since I was an R.A., I slept with one ear open most of the time. It was quite tiring. At times I was a counselor, at times a discipline enforcement officer, other times a friend laughing with the girls on my floor. I was always good with names, and I knew many of the residents that lived in my dorms.

This particular night, I believe it was spring. I don't remember what I had done that evening, but I do remember this incident. I had gone to the bathroom, and all looked quiet. A few minutes later, I heard a crash near the stairwell. I didn't get up because I figured someone had fallen on the stairs, probably carrying something. I heard some laughter and exclamations from some guys. 

I didn't sleep, feeling like I needed to check outside my room. I opened my door, while in my pajamas, and looked into the hallway. Much to my dismay, there was the exit sign about the door to the stairwell, hanging off the ceiling, broken. AAH!?!! Sigh. If I had gotten up when I heard the noise, and spoken up then, I might have caught the people who broke the sign. I called my R.D. Joshua at the time and we later had it repaired. Oh well...

It's not a good memory, but I learned a lesson that night. If you hear something odd, go check on it. It has served me well as a mother to my children. I check on them often in the night if I hear crying or whimpering. My hubby will check too, if he hears the kids. God has His own ways of preparing us for what lies ahead, using our experiences in the past to form who we are today. 

Was there a time you wished you had spoken up or done something differently? What did you learn from it?

3.) Describe a time when you wish you had spoken up.

Proverbs 31:9
Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Luke 6:45
A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Acts 25:18-19
When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. 19 Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.