Today was already an interesting day by eight o'clock in the morning when my first class began.  In the thirty or so minutes before class started, I had to deal  with a partial power outage and an exploding air conditioner. All of which I am glad to say is now under control. 

 It was my first time that I got to play RA and not just be an RA. 

Ok, so I didn't really do much except try to call maintenance and turn the air conditioner off  in the hope that the smoke would stop and that maintenance would get there before the fire alarm went off. 

Despite the fact that my role in the whole incident was really nothing more then a helpless bystander,  there to provide  moral support for the girls whose room was half full of smoke, it reminded me why I decided to be an RA.  I wanted to be there for the other girls, to be a friend to them, and to help them have the best year yet at Judson.

Sometimes that might  mean being the person to which they come to report that only half the lights on the hall are not working, other times it means being there to stand with them  while they wait on maintenance to stop their air conditioner from  filling their room with smoke, and other times it might mean helping to settle a dispute between roommates. 

Regardless of what it is that the girls on my hall need, being an RA gives me the opportunity to serve them. 

 "For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" ~ Mark 10:45 (NIV)

"In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' " ~ Acts 21:35 (NIV)