For a split second, I feared for our lives.
My husband, toddlers and I were hunkered down in a tent for a weekend campout. My older son was in his own mini-tent. Six Girl Scouts, including my daughter, were split into two small tents, just footsteps from ours.
The rain pelted the vinyl walls. The drops fell so swift and heavy that it sounded like buckets of nails being dropped on sheets of glass. Water began to slowly drip through the fabric. Wind tugged and pulled at the tent stakes, pushed into the ground deep enough, I hoped, to keep any of our tents from becoming airborne.
It was about 2 a.m. and the storm had been relentless since we shuffled the scouts to bed five hours earlier. It paused long enough for me to hear our sister troop abandon their gear and hurry home before the clouds began spewing again.
I ran out to check on my scouts. I feared their fear. I dreaded unzipping those tents and finding them huddled together, tearful and frightened. I unzipped each tent carefully and found – sleeping girls, gossiping girls, giggling girls who stashed their flashlights quickly under their pillows as I entered.
Success.
With each of our PCS moves, our family has had one constant: scouts. Our sons are Cub Scouts, our daughter, a Girl Scout. My husband and I both volunteer as troop leaders and district organizers. Our weekend schedules are based on the activities of the two groups.
What seems like a lot of work and stress to some people is a way of connecting with our community for us. My husband and I have met some of our closest friends through scout leader training and seminars. Our children have made friends for life through the program.
And no matter how often or where we move there is always a scout program nearby. When everything is new and unfamiliar, my children can count on scouts to remain constant.
For me, the opportunity to lead, and teach my Girl Scouts, is a fantastic feeling. In the three years my troop has been together here, they have grown and learned to work together.
They can pitch their own tents, make their own dinners and handle themselves with ease in torrential downpours. I know that my leadership is not the only reason they can do these things, but it has been rewarding to be part of the process.
Military life is a busy life. Between PCS, deployment, training and daily life there can be little room for much else. But if there was one thing I could tell every spouse I met, it would be to find your volunteer niche and make time for it.
All of my closest friends are fellow scout leaders. Scouting has taught me the coolest places to visit in each of our new duty stations. Scouting has made us part of our community within weeks of stepping off the plane.
There are hundreds of volunteer organizations and, undoubtedly, there is one that fits your interests too. Give it a try. You never know where your volunteer role may take you.
