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Every Day is Precious: Organize your 'troop' for a needy family
By ROB PAYNE
For Williamson A.M.
We know the Girl Scouts. Marcy started a Brownie troop a few years ago, before her diagnosis, so we know firsthand what a fine organization it is. But, no one really comes in contact with an organization. We meet, talk and write people. This week we learned again what kind of people are with the Girl Scouts. This week the co-leaders of Troop 1884 went to our online volunteer dinner calendar (www.EveryDayIsPrecious.com / Dinner) and asked if it would be OK if their fifth-grade Scouts cooked dinner for us. They didn't just bring cookies. They brought a delicious chicken and rice casserole, green beans, carrots, biscuits, and tiger butter a decorated peanut butter and white chocolate dessert. According to the co-leaders, the girls did all the work: cutting vegetables, opening cans, measuring ingredients and baking. One of the girls had even created the design for the dessert: their troop number in a heart-shaped pattern. Each girl also brought a flower as she came in, showing it to Marcy before placing in a vase to make a bouquet. They visited with Marcy for a few minutes after the flowers were arranged. Seeing Marcy for the first time can be a little daunting, especially for a child. There are wires, tubes and hoses running over, under, in and out of her. But the brightness of her smile and the beauty of her eyes overpower the plethora of plastics. The visit went very well. Marcy showed them how her speech synthesizer works. We talked about which girl did what task in preparing the dinner. We talked about fifth-grade teachers. We talked about American Idol: who is their favorite to win, who is going to get booted off this week, and just how cute Jon Peter Lewis is. Dinner preparation must have gone as well as the conversation. I saw no injuries among the girls (or co-leaders.) There were no ingredients or finished product visible on the girls, so they must have avoided accident and food fights. I did not, however, see the condition of the kitchen. Darcy, our 10-year-old daughter, didn't get home from soccer practice until after the troop left. When she saw what they brought, she said, ''Let's ask them to cook for us every night.'' She loved the Ritz cracker crust on the chicken casserole. From their Web site, the Girl Scouts of the USA is ''the world's pre-eminent organization dedicated solely to girls all girls where, in an accepting and nurturing environment, girls build character and skills for success in the real world.'' Movies and television today try to convince us the real world is cruel and violent: that the only way to move up is to push someone else down. Troop 1884 chooses to help create a real world that Jesus would like: one in which people do for others as they would want done for themselves. If you know a family in need, rally your troop to help. Even if you are not involved with scouts, you probably belong to another group or a group of friends who would be willing to join you. You could make a world of difference.
Every Day Is Precious is a column to remind us to treat everyone we see today as if it could be the last time we see them. It is written by Rob Payne, whose wife, Marcy, was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) in August 2000. For a collection of these columns in book form, more ways to help others, more about Marcy, or to receive e-mail updates on her condition, visit www.EveryDayIsPrecious.com. If you have helped someone without being asked, or know of someone who has, share it with others. Send to rob@everydayisprecious.com or to Every Day Is Precious, 2051 Harvington Drive, Franklin, TN 37069.
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