It took me a bit longer to get William settled down so we could go to church today. I had debated bringing him into service with me, but as he’d been crying so hard on and off from teething pain (even after trying Infant Tylenol and teething toys), so I put him into the church nursery. As a result, I missed the opening candle lighting by a Girl Scout. The special service featured local Cub and Boy Scouts including Tim, who leads a Boy Scout pack and his son, Riley, a Boy Scout.
It was really great seeing father and son together up on the alter. I still wonder what Tim was whispering to Riley at this moment.
All of the scouts including Tim’s other son who is a Cub Scout helped lead parts of the service.
I had heard somethings about Scouts that I had questions on, and looked forward to talking with the Scout Leaders after the service.
It was great seeing the confidence with which the boys lead their part of the service.
They seemed very happy and excited to be there and interacting with our church.
I was amazed to see how many service projects this one troop had been a part of in the last 10 months.
After the service, I spoke at length to Tim and his sons. Matt and I had discussed when I was pregnant if we would let a son join the Boy Scouts, and while we liked the concept, we didn’t want a child joining a group that excluded others for their sexual orientation.
Tim assured me that the Scouts is now much more open. His pack was associated with our church, a Methodist one, and not the Lutheran Church system as most were. As such, Tim’s pack had been open to all boys regardless which sexual orientation the boys identified with. Now, all Boy Scout dens are as well, and starting next year girls can join the Cub Scouts (though not the Boy Scouts) as well. It’s exciting seeing all these changes and now if William wants to join the Scouts someday, we would support him doing so.
~ Danielle
Over 40 First Time Mom 