Volunteering

My daughter's Girl Scout troop, along with other troops from our parish, went camping this weekend. I've known a lot of the leaders for several years now. While the troops I led were not parish girls, the school was in the same service unit, meaning neighborhood, as our parish and we did activities with them regularly. We were talking about how we got dragged into being leaders--some were recruited by other volunteers, others (like me) were recruited by our daughters. Looking at that group it struck me how most of us had every reason not to volunteer--with only one exception, we are working moms with more than one child. The one exception is the lady who was running the show. I know she helps her husband with his business, but she doesn't work full time. However, she raised four kids and now often babysits the profoundly handicapped daughter of one of them. Besides the Girl Scouts, she is active in the Boy Scouts, she teaches religion in our parish and is the parish babysitter on Sunday morning (and my baby loves her). I'm one of those people who suffers from "helium hand" and have at times found myself overcommitted; yet my life would be so much less without these things I do. I know not everyone is called to do everything, but I think most of us are called to do SOMETHING for those outside our little circle.