Updated: 7/14/00
"I know how to use scissors;
I can cut cloth if I try.
I'm eight years old, a big girl now,
And hardly ever cry."
I gave her the application
And parent participation sheet.
(Her eyes were filled with sunshine
as she left on dancing feet.)
Next day my friend was back again.
No longer wearing the smile she'd had.
"I guess I'll skip the Brownies"
(Her eyes were dark and sad).
"My mom is awfully busy,
She has lots of friends , you see,
She'd never have time for a troop,
She hardly has time for me."
"And dad is always working,
He's hardly ever there.
To give them any more to do
Just wouldn't be fair."
She handed back the papers
With the dignity of eight years
And smiling bravely left me,
(Her eyes were filled with tears.)
Do you see your own girl's eyes
As other people may?
How she looks when you're "too busy"
Or, "just haven't the time today"?
A girl is such a special gift,
Why won't you realize,
It only takes a little time,
To put sunshine in her eyes.
You say "I'll start tomorrow"
But tomorrow is far away.
She's little for such a short time
So won't you start today?
The weeks went by, you asked again
She still had no craft to show.
Then you began to wonder,
Why didn't they glue or sew?
For after all, it's dues each week,
And driving here and there.
The uniform, permission slips
And cookie sale to share!
Ah... but she brought home much better things
That no glue or craft could make
If only to lend a helping hand
When needed for someone's sake.
It's the caring, sharing, learning, growing
The Golden Rule is our thumb
For she'll be the one with the helping hand
In the future years to come!
You see, although we think of Scouting now,
It really isn't "today"!!
It's the Scouting for tomorrow
And to help them explore a new way.
So when she comes home the next time, please
You can rest with a brand new start
For the craft that she's brought home today
Is molded in her heart
Because the girl
has a need,
We have an obligation.
Because the girl
has a choice,
We must be her better choice.
Because the girl
has high expectations,
We must excel.
Because the girl
wants to explore,
We must be her guide.
Because the girl
wants to belong,
We must open our arms.
Because the girl
is searching for direction,
We must be her compass
Because the girl
encounters times of turmoil,
We must be her safe haven.
Because the girl
is tomorrow's woman,
We must care today.
Because of the girl…
We exist.
I dreamed I went to Heaven and on the golden stair
I saw an angel dressed in green with a halo in her hair,
And she looked kind of funny midst all the glorious white,
The others asked her jealously what gave her such a right.
"I'm a Girl Scout Leader; I have no claim to fame,
But being a Girl Scout Leader is more than just a name.
My jobs on earth were many; Praises and thanks were few,
I did more work in one day than ten people ought to do.
I was a ready helper, the best home nurse to be found,
I became an expert discoverer and a whiz at art in the round,
I helped girls to develop values, I taught them to dance and sing,
We learned to relate to others for the friendships that would bring.
I hiked the trails until my feet could never win a race,
I sang the Brownie Smile Song till the smile froze on my face.
But still it was a lot of fun; Life never was a bore,
This role isn't new to me
I've been an angel before."
People are gifts! I am a
person. Therefore, I too, am a gift. A gift to myself, first
of all. Have I ever looked inside my own wrapping? Have I ever
accepted myself as the special gift that I am? Perhaps I am afraid.
And yet, I know I am beautiful! Yes, I am beautiful! Yes, I
am a gift to me. I must be a gift to others! Am I willing to
be unwrapped? To be a gift? Can I risk being opened?
I can be a message of love to someone else. I can be. I will
be!
When people exchange the gifts that they
are with one another, there is friendship. Friendship means that
we give and are given, that we receive and are received. In friendship
we cherish without possessing, we encourage without forcing, we hold one
another gently with open hands.
People are gifts, sent gift wrapped.
Some are wrapped delicately as if to say, "handle with care!" Some
have been mishandled in the mail and their wrapping is torn. Some
are wrapped tightly and knotted as if to say "please do not look inside!"
Some are loosely wrapped and want to be opened. But the wrapping
is NOT the gift. People in my life are gifts to me. Sometimes
the gift is very easy to open. Sometimes the gift is afraid to be
opened. (Maybe they have been opened up before and thrown away!)
I never want to tear the wrapping, I want to be very gentle. Oh, that all of us could be in lots of
circles! Then we will see ourselves and others as gifts!
You, my friend, should be cast in gold
for the things you've done that will never be told.
For the dinners delayed by Girl Scout
meetings, for the friendly smiles and cheerful greetings.
For the badge requirements no one wanted
to do, which you insisted were important, too.
For the meetings you led that went just
as planned, with no one there to give you a hand.
For the calendars you sold and the cookies
you ate...
For the toilets dug, meals cooked on a
grate...
For the one more girl you absorbed in
the troop, because she wanted to be in your group.
Tell me again how you lost your voice,
was camping in winter really your choice?
And wasn't that you I saw shopping downtown,
trying to keep up with twelve little clowns?
"Why do you do it?" you're probably asked,
"Who forced you to take on this year round task?"
Those innocent young faces really tell
it all,
And that's why we're hoping to see you
next fall.
When you were made, they broke the mold.
If you're ever re-cast - it will be in
gold!!
Somewhere between the sternness of a parent and the comradeship of a pal is that mysterious creature we call a Girl Scout Leader. These leaders come in all shapes and sizes and may be male or female. But they all have one thing in common, a glorious twinkle in their eye.
Girl Scout leaders are found everywhere - on filed trips, camp-outs, square dances and contests. They are always preparing for, sitting through, participating in, or recuperating from a meeting of some kind. They're tireless consumers of cookies, experts at threading needles, and peerless leaders of songs and games. They have a telephone stuck in their ear, a jar of glue at their fingertips, ashes in their hair and blisters on their feet.
A Girl Scout leader is many things - an artist making a display for an event, a nurse patching up a skinned knee, a counselor at camp, a lawyer filling ut reports and a shoulder to cry on when a project just didn't work.
Nobody else is so early to rise and so late home at night. Nobody else has so much fun with such a large family of girls. We sometimes forget them, but we can't do without them. They receive no salary, but we can never repay them.
They are "Angels in Green", "Saints in
Sleeping Bags". Their only reward is the love of the kids and the
respect of the community. But when they look around them at the skills
they've taught and the youth they've built, there's an inner voice from
somewhere that says, "WELL DONE".
Isn't it strange that princes and kings
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings
And common folks like you and me
Are builders of eternity?
To each is given a bag of tools, --
A shapeless mass and a book of rules;
And each must make, ere life is flown,
A stumbling-block or a stepping-stone.