Dozens of little hands built bird houses out of popsicle sticks
Impaired, your struggle was softened as my hands intertwined
Boys temporarily oblivious, concentrating on their own work
One finished, replacing me; my smile glowed in righteousness
Canoes paraded downstream, miles erupted with constant wonder
We camped at a farmer’s field, a place to refresh for another day
We gathered golden crawfish, treasures from the rocky river bed
A surprising treat consumed in mere seconds, let’s go get more
Zero did not matter in the windless sunny day as the ice called
Your energy made chopping holes and setting tilts pass quickly
Laughter echoed, as fish filled a little pool carved on the surface
Each one of you an earthly perfection, joyful beyond imagination
The task simple, build a ball of sticks for a race down a little hill
Teams of four strategized, with only a few feet of string to bind
One inspired solution, branches weaved like lines on a basketball
In the anticipation, we found the courage to declare, all winners
Alone atop the bleacher seats, I volunteered to coax you down
It should have been a short walk to the other side of a small pond
But, you picked up a stick to touch every living thing on the way
In that long hour, my patience grew, to find its permanent home
We trained for months, miles and hills no longer challenging
Ready, we ascended mountain after mountain, day after day
Pausing at a glorious panorama; I stepped aside for quiet prayer
Your joke exploded, was it me or the mountain itself that shook
So many other times I knew this was the place I needed to be
With like adults and a group of boys, so many joyful memories
Reflection yields precious gifts, fleeting as they may have been
Within each experience, I can now see, Christ was center stage
Dozens of little hands shaped bird houses out of Popsicle sticks
Impaired, your pair struggled as mine unconsciously intertwined
Boys temporarily oblivious, concentrated on accomplishment
One finished, joining to help, my smile glowed righteousness
Canoes paraded downstream, miles erupted with excitement
We camped at a farmer’s field, a place to refresh for another day
Crawfish, golden treasures from the rocky bottom were gathered
A surprising treat consumed in mere seconds, “let’s go get more”
Zero did not matter in the windless sunny day as the ice called
Your energy made chopping holes and setting tilts pass quickly
Laughter echoed, as fish filled a little pool carved on the surface
Earthly perfection, each one of you joyful beyond imagination
A simple task, build a ball of sticks for a race down a short hill
Teams of four strategized, with only a few feet of string to bind
One inspired solution, branches weaved like lines on a basketball
In the anticipation, we found the courage to declare, all winners
Alone atop the bleacher seats, I volunteered to coax you down
It should have been a short walk to the other side of a small pond
But, you picked up a stick to touch every living thing on the way
In that long hour, my patience grew, to find its permanent home
We trained for months, miles and hills no longer challenging
Ready, we ascended mountain after mountain, day after day
Pausing at a glorious panorama; I stepped aside for quiet prayer
Your joke exploded, was it me or the mountain itself that shook
So many other times I knew this was the place I needed to be
With you, a group of boys, now young men, joyful memories
Reflection yields precious gifts, fleeting as they may have been
Within each experience, I now can see, Christ was center stage
I was involved in scouting over a ten year period, attending weekly meetings and virtually every month going on camping weekends, which were sometime multi-day experiences. There are so many special memories I will never forget. As I reflect back over those years, I now understand that Christ was present in each one. It was why there was so much joy. The adults that went gave entirely of themselves to make sure the boys had a good time. It is an unselfish act exactly as I can imagine Christ would have done. The task was to simply give them lessons in life that they could not get anyplace else leading to well beyond simple crafts.
As leaders, boys naturally watched how we behaved, helping each other be successful despite whatever disability one might have had. Each of these little moments have made me realize that without noticing then, Christ bright light had shown outward, He was center stage. My prayers and gratefulness goes out to all scouters past and present who give of themselves to help girls and boys mature into fruitful adults.
