Me and Anthony were called to be in the Cub Scouts a couple of weeks ago. Anthony was so excited. I was not as thrilled. It is a lot of responsibility and scouts is something that I am so unfamiliar with. We are both in different dens. I am in the bears and he is in the webalos (I'm pretty sure I spelled that wrong).
Tuesday was our second den meeting. I am getting more and more familiar with the lingo and with what is involved. Because we have such an older ward the cub scouts from all the wards in the stake are combined. There could be up to 15 boys in our den but normally there are about 6 kids that attend. There is a boy in my class that I have instantly connected to.
This particular boy is what the other 2 leaders call "a handful". When they described him to me they were very negative and it really irritated me. He is just a little kid. Shouldn't they be the example and find the positive in him? They described him in front of everyone and I just wanted to run up to him and give him a hug and tell him that he looked so grown up in his little scout outfit. When I walked in on Tuesday still feeling out of place he smiled at me and said "Sister lemon you can sit next to me!"
I have wondered why I was put into scouts but I honestly feel as if this little boy is the reason. I have always had a special place in my heart for children and I feel that all kids should be treated equally regardless of where they come from or how they act. This particular boy is loud and rambunctious and full of life. When all the other kids are yelling and screaming the leaders will yell at him and tell him to be quiet. It makes me so angry that he is picked out like that.
I have thought a lot about the future. What happens when he gets older and he remembers how he was treated? Kids are resilient but for only so long. I think about that glorious time when I will finally get to have my own children and I can't imagine sending my kid somewhere and wondering how they are being treated. My heart just aches for this little kid. I have had a really hard time with this new calling but I am so grateful to be able to help him. I hope that I can always have the patients to be his advocate and to help the older and "more wiser" leaders to understand that this is unacceptable, regardless of how irreverent he may be at times.
I'm sure that I will have many more stories and experiences to share but for now I just pray that I can keep positive and as organized as possible.
6 comments:
awww sister lemon! That is so cute! You will do great- I know, I was complaining a few weeks ago but it gets better. That kid will probably help you in more ways than you can really tell at this point.
Joe and I did scouts when we were newly-weds. It was fun, but I had no idea what I was doing. We had a combine scouts with another ward in our stake only that ward was a deaf ward. Now that made things interesting. Though we totally sucked at it being young and nieve. Hopefully we didn't ruin too many of those cute boys lives. Well, good luck Sister Lemon and I'm sure you will do great.
P.S. I'm getting the book today, so I will actually have it read for book club. My days of slacking are over.......
Good for you! It is really hard when you have a child that you know has been treated that way. Hopefully there are more people like you in this world and less of the negative Nellies.
What neat experiences you will have, especially with your positive attitude. I think the opportunity to influence other people for good is one of the biggest blessings of church service.
I LOVED my time in Cubs Scouts. HAVE FUN!!!
Jeff and I were put into scouts while I was pregnant with Brady. I grumbled about the calling too...and the kids always told us we were boring as we were trying to learn what we were doing. It got better and I learned a lot...it helped when my own boys got up into scouts that now I knew what was required of them. Good for you for loving that little boy...he will remember you for it.
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