my son is an Eagle scout

And I think I’m more happy than he is about that little fact.

Yeah, this isn’t a normal q&a Friday, although I did ask myself quite a few “Q”s through the whole process.

Like “How in the world do you sort through all the heaps of info. you need to know to do an Eagle Project?”

And “Why in the world is there such an incredible amount of parts to this darn thing?”

And “Why will this form we have filled out five times simply not save in the computer so we don’t have to do it all in one shot?”

Or “Is all this pain and agony going to be worth it? 

But in the end, we became a team, me and this boy, and we both came out smiling.

I know you’re not really supposed to be “proud” but man alive I’m pretty excited for this boy of mine. 

And you know what?  I’m thanking my lucky stars for the scouting program. 

Yes, the rules and regulations and all that goes into it can be a pain sometimes (like, a lot of times), but when you see that shining boy who has completed campout after campout in the cold or in the burning heat and learned what it takes to be a “citizen of the nation” or how to tie a darn knot or how to take charge of “personal management” or even how to relate to other scouts in his troop and his leaders it makes my heart warm to think of boys all over the planet figuring out all these good things and becoming good men in the process.

My how he’s changed over his years of scouting.

Max did the work for the actual Eagle project way back here and here and here (THANK YOU once again for all the help from blog readers!)

After that “high” he was on from actually doing the project, he took a break. 

And then we got serious about the paperwork.

I should have like 52 of these pictures on different days cause boy howdy that little “paperwork” piece seemed to take FOREVER. 

We had to get five merit badges signed off which he had already done the work for so that should be easy, right?

But wow, it sure took ages. 

We were pretty happy when that part was over…

There was a deadline to be included in a Court of Honor with a bunch of other boys in our area so Max had to work his tail off to get ready in time.  And that means his mother had to work her tail off too.  At first he thought there was NO WAY we could do it in time.  So many different people to call and things to do. 

But as a family we memorized this scripture that first week:

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

--2 Timothy 1:7

And I’m just sure that was the kicker to help him throw those hesitations and fears to the wind and realize he had POWER to get to work.

…Or was it the threat of his mom being hopping mad at him if he didn’t? 

Hmmmm…I guess we’ll never know, but some how it worked :)

He got up the courage to call all those people, go to a bunch of different merit badge counselor houses to get things checked off after little interviews, and get this binder together.

But it was really this woman who made this whole Eagle thing happen for him:  She is our hero and I know I sound dramatic, but we will remember and love her forever for all she did to help get this done.  She sat down with him and sweetly told him the essay he had written for hours was from the old format and walked him through every step of the submission process.

And then suddenly we were there: the night of the award ceremony, up on a stage getting pinned as his parents and beaming with love for this boy of ours who has grown into such a great young man.

Here’s the display table we shared with Taylor (our friend who did the Eagle project with Max in India):

Six boys got their Eagles that night and it was quite a shin-dig. 

One of the moms made it into a luau with roast pig and everything. Claire and her cousin were pretty excited to help serve up the food for a little bit.

We were so grateful to have so much family around to help celebrate.

I wish I had pictures of everyone, but at least I caught a few.

So great to have my Dad in town for the big day:

Awesome grandparents.

This is when Max started getting bugged about pictures:I mean, who wouldn’t when their mom makes them do a cheesy pose like that one.

So then everyone got loopy.

And Dave left to take whining Lu home so I didn’t get a pic. of him, and my Dad was too goofy for normal pictures as you can see…

But in the end, of course, those darn pictures aren’t what matters. 

I went in and watched my huge 6’4” child sleep for a minute before I went to bed late that night and I thought I would burst with gratitude for him.  And for the scouting program.  And for all the leaders and grandparents and friends who have shaped who he is becoming. Because I really, really like him.

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be his mother.

Labels: max