Commitment

In the summer of 1989 I volunteered as a chaperone for a mission trip with the youth at my church. We joined over 1000 other teenagers and leaders for a week of intense work in the mining town of Logan, W. VA. I was the leader of a group of seven teenagers.

We put our heart and soul into repairing the home of the family we were assigned too. The seven of us had secret prayer pals, but being the leader I prayed for all my kids. On the last evening, each group formed a circle and one at a time we prayed for the person in the circle. The kids had an option of laying a hand on the one being prayed for but passed until I was the one in the center. Then while each prayed silently for me, enfolded in such love, I suddenly began to rise off the floor. A staff member who had joined our group screamed at the sight and I gently floated back down to the floor.

It was at that moment that I really knew what commitment meant – it makes life worthwhile.

~ Blessings

I AM WHO I AM - THE WOMAN WHO WRITES THESE WORDS AND LIVES THE LIFE SHE IS INTENDED TO LIVE WITH JOY, PEACE AND LOVE.

Becoming Ageless

One of the most humbling experiences for me right now is being a Girl Scout leader, at my age.  My physical body is not what it was thirty years ago when I camped with my daughter’s troop in Houston or even fifty-six years ago when I started camping out with my troop or at Camp Marydale in Louisiana.  I have to laugh at myself because I do follow the rules and wear socks over my ankles with close-toed shoes.  I don’t wear make-up, or blow my hair dry, or worry about how I look. How I look is not important; it is how I feel.  When I’m at camp with our troop, I am ageless.

 

That’s why I am able to dress up in a vintage uniform for a fashion show, play statues in the garden to help the girls kill time waiting for supper, dive into a cold mountain-top swimming pool, hike forty-five minutes through the woods on a small trial dodging horse manure, just to get to the barn to see the horses, and accidently taking the “short cut” to Shelter Rock for the Scouts Own ceremony which made us a bit late.  But doing so bonded our troop by hiking in silence and reaching the a point where we had to climb down damp and slippery boulders requiring each of us to help the next until we all made to the fire ring only to learn that the easy path was to go around the lake and come in from the back.  Another reason was standing in front of the entire camp, at dusk, closing the ceremony only to be visited upon by a flock of bats flying all around us taking center stage.  How surprised and delighted I was to see our girls see the bats in wonder and not scream or shout in fear; building memories for a life-time!

 

It’s also why I was able to dance with the girls at the Alien Ball, to hear one of our new little girls tell me she was so happy to be in our troop, and finally watching our youngest, a five year-old Daisy Scout keep up with the girls and keep us smiling with her great attitude.  It doesn’t hurt that I was surrounded by some amazing women who shared the experience with me including one who had never been camping.  Their support and love for the girls made it so much easier for me.  What better way to honor my ageless nature than by living with enthusiasm and gratitude. ~ Pris

Lake Adahi

 

I AM WHO I AM - THE WOMAN WHO WRITES THESE WORDS AND LIVES THE LIFE SHE IS INTENDED TO LIVE WITH JOY, PEACE AND LOVE.