Jack’s Winning Words 6/13/08
“Wisdom oft times consists of knowing what to do next.” (Herbert Hoover) The motto of the Boys Scouts is: BE PREPARED. While we mourn the loss of life when the tornado hit the Iowa scout camp, we admire the survivors who knew what to do next. In scouting I never got more than the Tenderfoot ranking (and I’m sorry for that); but I’ve known several who became Eagle Scouts. ;-) Jack

FROM GOOD DEBT JON: I camped out with the Boy Scouts, in about February 1969 I was 12. They called it Project Deep Freeze, (we had about a foot of straw in the bottom of each tent) I had the jacket patch for years. It was then I decided I was an indoor dog. I knew what to do next: I quit. One night of sub zero camping disabused me of the notion that “Eagle Scout” would be in my future. If I recall correctly, we camped in a field, behind the Reynoldsburg United Methodist Church, a mile from my warm bed. It prompted a growth spurt of my sarcastic and cynical side. This day however, my prayers are with the Iowa Scout families.

FROM J.L. IN MI: Hearing and watching about the Boy Scout Camp brought back a lot of memories. I had two Girl Scout Troops at the same time. We were invited to a leadership camp with 4 girls from each troop of my troops. Because I was also a Troop Consultant, Leader Trainer and First Aider, I was given a tenting area with 30 girls and leaders from around the area. Which meant I had to make sure everyone got their tents up, camp set up and were doing what they needed to be doing during the weekend, including my own girls. We got our tents set up and were getting ready to make dinner when the sirens went off at the camp. All we had for shelter was a steel and brick wash area with a brick outhouse at each end. We sheltered as best as we could and believe me, we were in deep trouble. We were in a heavily treed area. When the storm hit, I had the girls kneel in front of the steel structure and the women on the outside. There was no place to go at all. And, I had my daughter there with me. We all prayed! The storm hit, knocked down and blew away our tents, etc but thankfully we did not suffer a direct hit. Elsewhere in the camp, trees were down, and the camp sustained damage, but not one was injured. There were nearly 200 girls at camp that weekend too. Thank the good Lord.

FROM C.L. IN MI: I reached the Life Scout rank could never find time to get enough merit badges to become a Eagle. In 1945 I was elected to "the order of the arrow' A LEADERSHIP GROUP IN SCOUTING. Our welcome to the order required a weekend stay at our camp, in those days not a lot of cars or phones we finished up about 9pm on Sunday nite no car my folks had no phone so I walked/ran the 23 miles from Mayville to Falconer arrived home about 6am. Most kids today have never had that experience. they don't know what they are missing.

FROM D.S. IN SO CAL: the tragedy in Iowa will most certainly lead to the perpetual question of “how can God allow such things to happen”. There are some in our church that tell me “Presbyterian’s” believe in pre-destination. I’m not so sure about that, as much as God created a world that depends on nature’s own physical happenings and that he would not interfere with those things, because what is changed in one instance may in turn make something worse happen somewhere else. It is a perplexing situation when bad things happen to good people and we want someone to blame. The people that have faced such terrible tragedies and still respond “God is great” certainly have that inner faith I wish to have. They understand that God’s total plan is beyond us to know and understand.