Ranger meeting last night was a little different in the Pioneer/Trailblazer
class.
Opening ceremony started with all the groups together - pledges, motto,
code, prayer, and announcements.
We then broke off into classes.
I stood up and started telling the boys about a wreck that I saw involving a
very gas-hauling tractor trailer and some cars. I described the explosion
and the heat of the blast. I told how I got out of my car and starting
running toward the accident, when all of a sudden I saw ...
I stopped talking and another commander - Bob - started telling of a deer
hunt he was on a couple of years ago. He described in great detail the
field he was in and the weather. He was sitting down with his gun across
his lap when he heard a noise. He turned just in time to see 5 deer running
right at him at full speed ...
He stopped and I started right in with another story.
We took turns and told 3 stories each. Each one stopped right at a point
that leaves you wanting to know more. For almost 30 minutes, not a boy
moved or talked.
After Bob stopped his last story, I asked the boys how many of them would
like to choke us and make us complete the stories. Every hand went up. I
asked how many of them felt frustrated - same reaction.
I asked them how they thought commanders felt when boys worked so hard on a
project, advancement, or GMA --- and then quit when it was almost done. The
devotion continued on with references to Paul's saying that "we run a race"
and our Christian walk.
After I finished the application part of the devotion, I asked the boys if
the frustration they felt earlier had went away. Most of them said it
hadn't.
Bob and I finished our stories(the ones that were true). (The story of the
wreck was not true....)
*****
Several of the boys have just been hanging on the edge of Rangers without
making a commitment. I am hoping that having them experience this
frustration of something left unfinished will motivate them. A few of the
boys told me after class that they were through dragging their feet and were
going to start working harder in Rangers.
In His Service,
Allen R. Cook - Cookie
Outpost Chaplain
Belton A/G -- Belton, Missouri
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web page: http://www.crosswinds.net/~rrcookie/
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