An Answer to a Prayer

I was 10 years old when my mom took me to my first Cub Scout meeting. Over the next 11 years, I crossed over into a Scout troop, was elected to the Order of the Arrow, became a Life Scout, spent memorable weeks at summer camp, and generally engaged in what I would later learn is “positive youth development.” My time in Scouting as a youth shaped my 20s and 30s, and made me who I am today.

I met my wife at the University of Oregon in 1991: Kaleen was 19, I was 22. We agreed at the time that we would never, ever have children if we married. Five years later, we married. Six years after that, Kaleen turned 30. A clock, imperceptible to me, but loud to her, began ticking. And rather than praying for her heart to change, I prayed for mine to change. My prayer was this: “Teach me to love a child, to teach a child, to nurture a child.” But although my heart was changed, and although we tried to conceive a child, nothing happened for three years.

Then, in January 2009, my prayer changed: “Show us the thing that will keep us young, engaged, and let us make a difference.” I prayed that prayer for six months. On July 31, 2009, we were invited to Camp Baker—the summer camp where I spent so much time as a youth—for a donor appreciation day (we had been giving money to the local Scout Council for many years). Summer camp was in session. We canoed; we hiked; we tied knots; we went to a campfire. And we had prayers answered.

Since July 2009, Kaleen and I have been blessed with dozens of children—who have kept us young, engaged, and let us make a difference. We are deeply committed to Scouting in a number of ways, but we’ve especially loved our role as Provisional Troop Scoutmasters at Camp Baker, which has allowed boys and girls who couldn’t otherwise have attended summer camp the opportunity to do so. Maybe this was not the vision that Kaleen had when she was 30—or that I had when I prayed for a change of heart. But it has given us a purpose, and allowed us to be part of the positive youth development of boys and girls who are the hoped-for future of this country and our world. I consider the day I returned to Scouting—July 31, 2009—as one of the happiest days of my life.