The following letter sent earlier this summer to the Trail Life Home Office is being shared here with Ginny's permission. This letter is to every member of the Trail Life family that, by God's grace, makes stories like these possible. Keep Walking Worthy! It's making an impact every day.
As a mom, I wanted to take a few minutes and tell you about the young man you all helped me raise.
As with many families in Trail Life, we have a long history with scouting. I was a Girl Scout and my husband was a Cub Scout. We even put our oldest son through Cub Scouts all the way through Boy Scouts. But when David, my second son, came along, Boy Scouts had already started coming off the rails and we were looking for a better option. It took a few years before a Troop was close enough to us so he did make it all the way through Cub Scouts—bridging up to a Trail Life Troop.
During those first couple years of getting to know the Trail Life program as well as a whole new Troop we all just existed within the program. Then something clicked and I saw a fire I had not seen before.
David began to step up as a leader. His peers naturally were seeking his advice before making decisions. He was having meaningful conversations regarding his faith, the loss of his brother, and offering advice to his peers. I was blown away by the maturity I was beginning to see in my son.
This occurred alongside my husband, Jody. I loved seeing him so passionate about Trail Life in a way I had not seen in him before. I can’t fully express the joy it gave me, as a wife, watching him become a leader within our Troop and eventually a Point Man. In order to be successful in his role as a leader, Jody had to really evaluate and grow in his own faith.
This is the power of Trail Life. I am so incredibly proud and fortunate to witness both of the men in my life in an environment where they are encouraged to know Jesus, be men, and experience adventure. It has had such a positive effect on them as individuals as well as on our family.
Encouraging David to grow in his faith, teaching him leadership, and challenging him to new experiences with Trail Life has poured out into other aspects of his life. David dedicated himself to his education and is graduating from both high school and college with an associate degree. He has become a leader at his church youth group and gets asked to teach. No, he won’t earn his Freedom Award. But he has poured so much time into helping shape his peers into leaders, creating processes within the Troop, and looking to ensure the longevity of his Troop.
David has fully embraced adventure. He often challenges his peers to think beyond what they think they’re capable of when planning campouts and other activities. He has led the planning of our Troop’s two High Adventure trips. You see it even in his school photos. Instead of getting all dressed up like many of his peers, he put on a Trail Life shirt and we took some action-shots of him rappelling.
Just to be clear—I’m not looking for gifts or anything of the sort. I’m just a proud mama seeing her little boy growing into the godly man I prayed he would become. And you all–your dedication to Trail Life–played a big role in that.
I really just wanted to say thank you!
Ginny Bialowas
Find a Troop near you or Learn how to bring Trail Life to your community at TrailLifeUSA.com