In a world where more boys have smartphones than dads, it’s easy to underestimate the power of presence. Embodied, steady, presence.
Without a steady fatherly figure in their life, boys often stray and flounder. What they need is not a perfect man with sagely wisdom and Mcgyver-level skills. It’s not always the big, headline-worthy moments that make the biggest impact on a boy. No, for most boys, it’s really an accumulation of little moments, woven together over time, that form security, identity, and trust.
For a boy whose impression of men is that they inevitably leave, seeing a man who shows up, day-in, day-out, is paradigm shifting. Grounding. Aspirational. Cycle-breaking.
That’s one of the beautiful things about Trail Life. Boys are immersed in an intentionally masculine setting, surrounded by men and peers who model what godly masculinity looks like in the steady rhythm of everyday life. It’s one thing to rise up to meet a temporary challenge. Sharing a mountaintop experience is certainly meaningful. But when it comes to character formation and relationship building, nothing can replace the long, slow, deliberate work of faithfulness in the every-day.
This is a story about that kind of presence—and what God can do through it.
From Chaperone to Mentor
It all started with Bill just helping out with his grandson. “My grandson, Josh, wanted to go to Trail Life,” he says. “His dad works rotating shifts, so I started taking him on the nights he couldn’t.”
One evening, as he was talking with Andy, Troop SC-0019’s Troopmaster at the time, Andy shared, “I just wish we had somebody who could run a Navigators program… somebody to teach rope work.’”
Bill said, “Well, I come from a Boy Scout background. I don’t know what a navigator is, but I do know a thing or two about rope work. I spent a whole summer teaching rope work at a Boy Scout camp. All summer, nothing but ropework.”
“That’s perfect!” Andy replied. “That’s a real answer to prayer.”
And just like that, Bill was more than just a chaperone for his grandson. “I didn’t plan it. I didn’t seek it. I think God planned it.”
That same night, as Andy explained more about the Navigators program, showing Bill the ropes (no pun intended), Andy pointed out a boy. A high-energy, blonde-headed sixth grader who, at the time, needed far more than rope skills.
Lucas.
A Boy Looking for Something More
When Lucas was in sixth grade, his little brother, Jacob, wanted to participate in a twin day activity for homecoming with his friend. His friend wanted to wear a Trail Life shirt, so Jacob asked his mom if she could get him a Trail Life shirt to match his friend.
“Where do we get a Trail Life shirt?” Lucas asked his mom.
“I don’t know.” She laughed. So they looked Trail Life up online and got in contact with Andy with SC-0019. Andy agreed to hook them up with a t-shirt and invited them to Trail Life. Why not give it a try?
Lucas didn’t walk into Trail Life with a clear picture of what he’d find—but he knew what he wanted. “I told Andy, ‘I want to learn how to lead.’”
That desire didn’t come from nowhere. It was shaped by loss, confusion, and hard questions at a young age. “I was adopted when I was six. A few years later, my parents got divorced, and that sent me into a downward spiral. I was confused. I was angry. Honestly, I was mad at God.”
This heavily impacted how Lucas viewed men. “I thought it was normal for dads to leave. I thought that’s just what happens.”
Then he stepped into a room full of men who were different. “Through Trail Life, I started to see that not all men are like that. Some men chose to stay.”
It didn’t fix everything overnight. But it opened a door. Lucas now had men in his life that were not only present, but invested in him and his journey.
Judy, Lucas’s mom, saw this as an answer to prayer. “When my husband left our family, my prayer for my sons was simple: ‘God, please send godly men into their lives.’”
What started as a prayer became a community.
“The men in our Troop are like family,” Judy says. “They’ve poured into my boys in ways I couldn’t have on my own. There is always someone texting me, and making sure my sons are included and taken care of. It’s like having a network of big brothers and uncles.”
The First Lessons
Boys don’t grow into men of character on accident. They need men to guide them and there are many lessons to learn along the way.
Some of the earliest lessons for Lucas in Trail Life were simple…and a little painful. “We were learning how to fuse the ends of ropes,” Lucas recalls. “I didn’t know what I was doing. Melted plastic went straight through my shorts onto my leg. I still have a scar.”
Bill laughs. “Yeah, and I thought we were all going to die before we learned how to tie a square knot—but we made it through.”
There was structure. Expectation. Accountability. And plenty of volume. “I never cussed at them,” Bill says. “But I think I probably yelled at them more than a few times.”
“He can yell pretty loud,” Lucas grins remembering those days. “We’d all be messing around, acting crazy, and then Mr. Bill would put his foot down and reel us back in. But it was good for us. He wasn’t being mean. He just set the standard.”
For a boy who had learned to question what a man’s role should be, those moments mattered. In men like Bill, he saw consistency. Correction coupled with genuine care. Mistakes followed by ownership, apologies, and second tries.
He saw real men who also saw him.
A Flagpole in the Cold
The training at weekly Troop meetings prepared Trailmen like Lucas for the main-events: weekend campouts. Bill and Lucas both recall an early campout in their Trail Life career as a highlight. They were camping at Lucas’ grandparents farm. That evening, Lucas walked up to Bill and said, “I want to build a flagpole.”
“Oh?” Bill said, eyeing him quizzically.
“I want to build a flagpole. We need a flagpole. Can you help me build a flagpole?”
Bill thought for a moment and then smiled. “Ok. Let’s do it.”
So they got to work. And kept working. Into the night. In the cold. “We didn’t start until everything else was done,” Bill says. “It got down near freezing. We didn’t finish until about one in the morning. And we didn't get any assistance from anybody. I wanted him to have have the experience of seeing it through, seeing that he had what it takes. I thought it was good chance to practice all those knots lashings we’d been practicing during weekly meetings. So we spent half the night doing that. That was really memorable. Lucas put up with me the whole time.”
“More like he had to put up with me,” Lucas interjects. “I was whining. I wanted to go to bed.”
“I just told him, ‘We’ve got to finish this. We’ve got to persist and not give up,’” says Bill.
And that’s what they did. Together, they raised a 20-foot flagpole—built by hand, in the dark, in the cold.
“That became the model for our troop,” Bill says. “Every flagpole after that was built the same way.”
But the real lesson wasn’t about knots or lashings. It was about finishing what you start. Now, years later, Lucas watches younger boys build that same pole.
“I just laugh,” he says. “I’m like, ‘You bums, imagine doing this at midnight in freezing temperatures!’”
More Than Skills
What started with rope work and merit badges grew into something much deeper. “God gives each of us passions and skills,” Bill says. “And if you have them, you need to make them available for Him to use.”
So he did. Rope work. Electricity, flags, firearms, conversations—all of it became a doorway. “I just got to where I looked forward to every week,” he says. “Watching them learn—that was my payment.”
For Lucas, that investment was personal. “Recently I asked him to be my mentor,” he says. “We’re going through Revelation now. He listens to me—everything, all my ideas, all my crazy plans. He’s there for it.”
Learning to Lead
As Lucas steadily absorbed what he was being taught, he began to live it. “I’ve seen him step up and take responsibility,” Bill says. “He served as the first officer, and he took it seriously. He set the example.”
Still, leadership didn’t come without hesitation. “I don’t always want the younger guys to look at me as an example,” Lucas admits. “I’m a flawed person.”
Bill’s response is simple.
“He just needed a little push,” Bill says. “Some assurance—and then he could go do it.” And when Lucas does, he runs.
Lucas knows where much of that growth came from. “Mr. Bill has taught me a lot about how to lead—how to be assertive, how to bring people back when things get off track.”
But more than leadership techniques, it’s the heart behind it that stands out. “He’s always joyful. He genuinely loves people. I want to respect people the way he does.”
A Changed Heart
Some of the most important changes in Lucas haven’t been visible on campouts or in leadership roles. They’ve happened quietly.
“I finally forgave my dad,” he says. “That was huge for me. I still have things I’m working through, but I’ve grown. I have more love for people now.”
His faith has become personal—and active. “Whatever you do, do it to the glory of God. I realized that means giving your best—your full effort.”
The Gift of Showing Up
Looking back, Bill still sounds a little surprised by it all. “I was just there,” he says. “That’s all I was doing—just being present for my grandson.” But presence turned into influence. And influence turned into legacy. “That whole chain of events—it’s not human design,” he says. “That’s God’s plan.”
Now, in a different season of life, Bill continues in a quieter but no less important role. “I can’t do as much as I used to, but I can still encourage people. That’s what God’s gifted me to do.”
And he hasn’t stopped encouraging Lucas. “I always ask him, ‘How are you doing on Worthy Life?’”
Lucas smiles. He knows that question isn’t going away.
The Trail Ahead
Lucas is looking forward. “I'd like to attend Liberty University,” he says. “With a football scholarship, hopefully, but if not, I’ll try to walk on. Hey, I’ll even be the water boy if I have to. Being the water boy can be fun too, just being around all the action.”
Beyond that, he’s considering a military career. I’d like to give back in a way that shows what others have given me.”
He’s off to a good start. Already, he’s serving and leading, right where God has placed him.
Two Stories, One Purpose
At the end of my conversation with Lucas and Bill, the conversation turns to their plans for the rest of the day. There’s talk of guitars and maybe a jam session.
“I've been a bass player since I was 14 years old. I still remember some of it. Every once in a while they'll let the old man out of the cage and I get to play at church. So I think we may just pull out a guitar and bass and see what happens.”
“Could this be the beginning of the new band. I'm witnessing?” I ask.
“I guess. Do you know if you know any drummers?” Lucas quips.
“We’ll see what happens,” Bill says. “No expectations.”
It’s a small moment. But it captures something bigger. A man who showed up for one reason—and stayed for another. A boy who came looking for direction—and found both guidance and purpose. Neither of them planned it. But both of them are living it. And somewhere along the way, a grandfather with a skill set and a sixth-grade boy looking for answers found themselves walking the same trail.
And both of their lives are better for it.
Find a Troop near you or Learn how to bring Trail Life to your community at TrailLifeUSA.com
