Scoutmaster

They've made me a scoutmaster in my church. I've been associated with the scouting program since I was eight years old and I have always enjoyed it. You'll never here me complain about being asked to help out in scouting.

I have fond memories of my scoutmasters. For the first few years my dad was it. He was always a different man when we were out camping. Not better, not worse, just different. I feel like I know him better because of the time that I spent watching him interact with my friends. My second scoutmaster was the scoutmaster in his troop for decades. He still had the scouting spirit burning strong when I moved back to my hometown a decade after leaving. He was awarded the Silver Beaver for his decades of selfless service.

I see the young men I am teaching now and I marvel at the potential they all have. We're going camping tomorrow, (I'm writing this late Thursday night,) and once again I find myself feeling that thrill of anticipation before the big event. I'm scoutmaster to one of my own boys. I hope he'll have the same fond memories of scouting with his father that I do. I hope that decades from now, I'll still love scouting and the joy of teaching scouting to young men. I hope that some day my boy will look back at his youth and want to be a scoutmaster too. And make a difference in at least on person's life.

Pain

Last week with the Boy Scouts we worked on the Personal Fitness Merit Badge. It required that the boys all test a baseline for how many push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups they could do. They also have to run a mile. At the end of six weeks they need to show improvement on these exercises.

I decided to do the exercises as well. I couldn't do a single pull-up; however, I beat all of the boys (not the two other adults) in sit-ups and tied the best boy in push-ups. I'm not dead yet.

Of course the next day I was a little sore. The day after that I was REALLY sore. The last of the pain subsided a full six days after the workout. Which leads me to a quote I read recently that I really like.

"Pain is weakness leaving the body."

At first flush this saying is kind of insulting. I mean, what about the chronically ill person that through no fault of their own, is wracked with pain? Or the person that suffers from back pain for years with no relief?

Even then, I believe, God is giving us a chance to strengthen our character. I have met some people that have been to depths of physical pain and they can come out of it much stronger in character. I have also met one or two that have come out of their pain wounded and bitter.

So, once again, I am amending someone else's saying:

"Pain helps weakness leave the body."

There, that should take it from Gym cliche' to profound.