More Than Just Cookies

More Than Just Cookies

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the Girl Scouts? Is it Thin Mints or really cool sashes covered with awards? Today, the Girl Scouts may be best known for their cookies. But that’s not what Juliette Gordon Low had in mind when she founded the organization on March 12, 1912. Juliette wanted the Girl Scouts to be a place where girls could develop physically, mentally, and spiritually. She hoped girls would get outside and experience camping, hiking, and basic first aid. Eighteen girls gathered at her home in Savannah, Georgia, for the first meeting. Now there are more than 3.7 million Girl Scouts worldwide, and at least 50 million girls have gone through the program.

While Juliette lived a privileged life in Georgia, she also had her share of struggles. Growing up, Juliette enjoyed writing poems, acting in plays, swimming, and rowing. Chronic ear infections plagued Juliette, and she lost most of the hearing in one ear during her late teens. She married at twenty-six, but at her wedding a piece of rice lodged in her good ear as she and her husband left the church (traditionally, wedding guests threw rice at the newlyweds for good luck). The rice punctured her eardrum and her ear became infected, resulting in a total loss of hearing. When her husband died in 1905, Juliette looked for ways to best use her life. In 1911, she met Sir Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts. A year later she founded the Girl Scouts, and the rest is history. Her organization has helped girls for more than one hundred years.

The Bible tells us God created us to do good works (see Ephesians 2:10). He gives us special skills and abilities that we can use for his glory. As you look at Juliette’s life, she was always giving back. She didn’t let her near deafness stop her from impacting millions of lives.

Daddy-Daughter Time

What good works has God prepared you to do? Are you outgoing? Do you play an instrument? Maybe you could visit a retirement center to cheer somebody up. Do you enjoy animals? Maybe you could volunteer at an animal shelter to care for the dogs. God has given you unique talents that you can use for him. Your dad might be able to help you identify some. If you have any cookies in the house, enjoy some milk and cookies as you discuss how you can use your abilities for God.

What’s The Word?

We are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.   Ephesians 2:10 (HCSB)