SM Tip - A Sense of Wonder

This week, for an upcoming Eagle Scout Magazine article, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mohammed Al-Jumaili, who is apparently the first refugee of the Iraq War to become an Eagle Scout. I also talked with his Scoutmaster, Steve Bauer.

Mohammed has a unique story, but Steve told me something that contains a bit of truth for all of us who are longtime Scout leaders. He said that on one of Mohammed’s early camping trips, he spotted the young Scout staring at a lake. As Steve recalled, “I said, ‘What’s up, Mohammed?’ and he said, ‘I’ve never seen a lake before.’ He was just standing there in awe.”

Now, most of your Scouts have undoubtedly seen a lake before. But they may not have seen a climbing wall or a Dutch oven cobbler or a monkey bridge or a flag retirement ceremony or any of a hundred things you may have seen a hundred times. As you welcome new Scouts into your troop this spring, I hope you’ll try to see Scouting through their eyes and share a little of their wonder at the magic of Scouting.

Republished with permission of Mark Ray at http://www.eaglebook.com/