A Calling...No More

Today I got a phone call letting me know I was being released from my church calling. It's an assignment I've had for over three and a half years.

In my church we're given assignments, or callings. Unless you're an employee of the church, all the day-to-day functions are completed with unpaid labor. Some callings have more responsibility, such as a Relief Society President (leader of the women in the congregation...), Bishop (congregation leader...), or Stake President (leader of several congregations...). And with great responsibility comes great time commitment. 

My calling was that of Cub Master--an important calling, but one of the ones that didn't require a lot of time. In fact, I'd say of all the callings I've had in my forty years of callings, this one's been great. It helps that I had wonderful people working with me to make life for the boys in our neighborhood just a little better.

Some callings last longer than a couple of years--most, in fact. Three years is about average for many of them, so my release wasn't that surprising. The timing threw me a little bit. Next month is the Annual Blue & Gold Banquet, a time when the scouts have a sit down meal with the whole family. There's a program, games, and good fun. For the first time in four years, I won't be a part of it. But change is good. It's time for another to take up the binder of Cub Scout information and use The Scoutmaster Minute book. He'll now get a chance to help the boys in the neighborhood, and if his experience is anything like mine, he'll get a lot out of it.

Cubstruction...An Educational Word

What is Cubstruction, you ask?

It's a word I learned about just tonight. Basically, it's having cub scouts construct something--anything--out of common household items.

We also talked about thrift.

You see, being thrifty involves not only the wise handling of money, but also the conservation of resources. I am the cub master in our congregation. It's challenging--a little bit more than some church assignments--a lot less challenging than others. But is is a fun assignment. Tonight we had our Pack Meeting, and we learned about Cubstruction.

For the past week I went around the house and gathered up fifteen of various items around the house. Fifteen nails, fifteen buttons, some almost-impossible-to-blow-up balloons, paper cups, paper plates, toilet paper tubes, pencils, yarn, ribbon, rubber bands, and even pinecones from our yard. We set up everything before the meeting started and the scouts had to sit to the side and wait for our meeting to be over before they could begin building.

To be honest, I was a little worried that the kids would be bored with the collection of stuff. I mean, we're talking about kids who most likely spend a lot of time playing video games. I told them there were no rules--they could build whatever they wanted, and you should have seen the look in their eyes. They could not wait to get at it. I saw them all scoot to the edge of their seats in anticipation. And when I said, "Go!" they ran to the table and got to work.

I suppose I should have more faith in these industrious kids. If I did they wouldn't surprised me as much. They each jumped in and for about twenty minutes, the usually noisy hall was quiet as the kids worked. They were even disappointed when I told them they needed to stop. Not even the mention of refreshments dampened their spirits.

In the end, the things they created were not function and they were in no way useful, except they taught their cub master something: never underestimate these incredible scouts.