Yu Have Come to the Right Place.

A Moment of Thanksgiving

I had a learning experience a few evenings ago. The mother of one of my Boy Scouts called at 10 pm on a school night - a little late at night. She spoke to me in very broken Mandarin as her English was even more broken. Unfortunately, I don't understand Cantonese very well otherwise the conversation may have been much shorter. I sensed that she was upset about something but had a difficult time verbalizing. Fifteen minutes later, the conversation had gone nowhere and I was beginning to feel a little agitated. What did this lady want? She was asking me something about what age a boy could become a Boy Scout. I didn't understand what the problem was because her boy was already 12 and was already attending Boy Scouts. It was getting late, the conversation was going nowhere and I could have easily become more frustrated and spoke sharply. Normally, I might have. I've gotten more impatient in my old age and have continually tried to improve this weakness of mine. I'm so glad that in this situation, the only nice thing I could think to say was "I sense you have a concern - would you tell me what it is?" It turns out that her son was disappointed that he didn't earn anything at our recent Court of Honor and she just wanted to understand how to talk to him about it. I could have easily ruined a relationship with the parent of one of our budding stars had I reacted impulsively. But now, this boy gets special attention because of his good mother. I have a long ways to go, but I just wanted to share a small moment of "PHEW!!" with all of you. A moment to be grateful for. And bless this lady's soul - she's a parent who cared enough to call and discuss her and her sons concerns with me.

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