What I Wish I’d Said

What I Wish I’d Said

Words seldom fail me, but sometimes I fail them. Sometimes I fall short of offering exactly what a moment asks of me. The right words may come later, and leave me feeling like a kid who’s managed to untangle herself at the starting line only after the race is done.

A pregnant girl in a dirty pink T-shirt approached me as I spoke with a colleague in a hotel lobby. “Are you from here?” she asked. When we both said no, she paused, then came closer to tell her story. It involved a need for money, as I was sure it would. Should I believe she needed twelve dollars to spend the night in a nearby shelter? If I helped her out, would she use what I gave her wisely? Feeling no strong conviction either way, I gave her what little cash I was carrying. My friend did too.

Later I realized the moment could have been different if I had spoken instead what I knew to be true: “What I have is yours whether you’ve told the truth or not, because grace gives—and grace has given to me. And at this very moment, whatever our motives, God could not love either of us more.”

To the shuttle driver who deftly delivered me to the airport in a traffic jam and a thunderstorm, then confessed she was likely to be late for a court-mandated anger management class, I only said, “We’ll make it . . . both of us.” I wish I’d complimented her on how calmly she’d managed the kind of frustrating ride that usually kicks my own blood pressure up a notch. But I didn’t. I let the moment pass.

We have the power to bless, encourage, and offer hope with our words. Moment by moment, new opportunities will arise. When the next one does, I pray I’ll say what I’ll wish I’d said when the moment is gone.

A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!

Proverbs 15:23, NKJV