Learning Patience

Fred and Jonathan will be leaving for Scout camp on Monday morning at 4:00 a.m. and will not return until Saturday afternoon.  As you can imagine, we will miss them tremendously.  However, right now, I am just trying to use a little thing called patience.  In preparing for camp, these boys are driving me crazy. 

Jonathan lost one of his special Scout t-shirts - Class A or something like that.  He has to wear one everyday for the entire week.  He has three, but we can only find 2.  He doesn't seem to be too worried.  He did wonder how he would make it through the week with only two shirts, since they don't have a washing machine at camp.  He really told me that they didn't have a washing machine at camp... like I thought there might be one!

Fred has made piles all through the house that need to be packed.  Seriously, couldn't he designate one room for packing.  I tried!  Every time I found a pile, I would move it to a central packing area.  He didn't seem to get the hint.  Even when I flat out told him what I was doing.

Lastly, you wouldn't believe what this camping trip has cost me.  We've bought drinks, snacks, a $150 bike rack, a serious cooler that will take two men to lift, both boys needed new shorts, plus all kinds of supplies.  Since this is their second year on the long camp out, plus all the small camp outs they do, I thought surely they wouldn't need anymore gear.  I was wrong.  I swear camp is just a big excuse to buy stuff!

I get frustrated thinking about it, but then I try to remember that it is for a great cause.  The boys (and their leaders) learn so much from Boy Scouts.  I am so thankful that Jonathan has had this opportunity, and I am thankful that Fred is right there with him.