The Boy Scout Journey

WOW! That is all I have to say... thanks. Okay Okay I will explain.

As you all know Joseph has been in scouts for 6 years now, he went through cub scouts from Wolf to Webelo II and earned his Arrow of Light. He also earned every Webelo pin that you can earn and he worked hard for his awards. Of course as any cub scout parent will tell you, they work just as hard with their boys for those awards. They plan events, meet dens to carry out camping, hiking, attend meetings, and generally steer their boys in the right direction.

In March of 2009 Joseph crossed over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. The first meeting we attended I noticed something significant, there were no other Moms. Well I mean to say that the Webelo scout Mom's were the only ones that were there. We lined up against the wall in chairs and prepared to watch our "big" boys do boy scoutly things! We were proud, excited, we watched with great anticipation..........CHAOS ensued. 20 or so boys from ages 11-18 piled into the room, they were noisy, pushing, laughing, rough housing. The room came to attention twice that night, once for the opening and once for the closing. The boys were reverent and respectful during the pledge, and the prayer. Other than that I couldn't figure out what was going on, if anything.

I have since learned that in spite of what I see and hear, things are happening, maybe not what you would expect but the boys are changing. Bonds are forming and friendships are growing and it spans the age groups of the boys there. The older boys direct the younger ones. The transition from Cub Scouts has been a big one. We Moms are used to getting the boys in line and directing what they do and keeping them on track. They don't need us for that any more! It is amazing that a Mom can say 10 times, "put down the screw driver, don't poke it at people" and the activity never stops. All it takes is once from one of the older scouts and the screwdriver goes down.

With all this said, I love Scouts. I have enjoyed getting to know the other parents, I have enjoyed getting to know the boys. I have never met a better group of boys than those in our Troop and I am biased. So in August when we went out to help with an Eagle project at a local park, I was really excited to hear Joseph say that he did want to pursue his Eagle rank. I was equally sad to hear Joseph tell me that he wasn't going to make any exceptions with regards to observing the Sabbath in order to attend any scout events.

The Eagle path presents different challenges in our family due to the no work or other play on the Sabbath. Most all Boy Scout events occur on a Sabbath, and there is a book full of things that you need to do to reach your Eagle rank which are mostly occurring on the Sabbath. So when the last camp out came around and Joseph didn't attend because of the Sabbath, he and I had a talk. We discussed whether or not it was going to be worth it to continue down the Scout path.

To make a long story a little bit shorter, we decided with the help of our ScoutMaster, that I would attempt to help him get where he needs be on this path to Eagle by volunteering to lead events not on the Sabbath. Since we have a few boys who are homeschooled I am hoping that this will work out well.

My first event is coming up. I am planning a camping trip for the Monday of the week of Thanksgiving. All the boys are out of school that week so it seems like the perfect time to get an overnight event in. I am searching for camp sites, trying to find adult volunteers so I have 2 deep leadership, and imagining what in the world I am going to do with these boys during this camp! Brian has to work because he is furloughed later that week, so I am doing this one on my own!

I hope you will all be praying for me as I will need it!!!! A LOT!!!!

My upcoming blogs will most likely be about scouts and this crazy journey, so stay tuned.