We rarely get to know the impact 1 choice makes on our life, good or bad, but sometimes it is revealed to us.
When I was 8 years old, our babysitters at the boys and girls club, told my mom about girl scouts. They helped me get a scholarship and I was able to join for 1 year as a brownie. It was an awesome experience for me on one part to be a part of a group working towards common goals as well as individual goals.
You see back then it was not regulated like it is today. Us kids, not our parents, were required to sell the cookies. My mom did nothing with us kids so if I wanted to earn something or do something I had to figure out a way to make it happen. So I put my uniform on, loaded up my little red wagon and walked around the whole town, until I sold all my boxes, then went back and loaded up with more and did it again.
I was only allowed to order so many at a time, so each week I would have to turn in the money from the previous week and “buy” more boxes. I didn’t know it takes 40 “no’s” to get a yes. I just knew how many boxes I had left and that my goal was to get them all sold. Thankfully the Lord protected me and I was never robbed while out selling.
I learned so many great things: how to count change; how to add and subtract or multiply; how to talk to strangers; how to be respectful of people who didn’t want the cookies; how to introduce myself; how to keep at something until the task was done not just when I was tired; how to play tetras before it was invented to keep my boxes from falling off the wagon while going up and down hills; how to resist temptation and not eat the cookies when you’re hungry; how to not spend the money on something I wanted but to return it to the club; how business worked with buying and selling of products, and much more.
Of course I still support them today, even though I only got to be in for 1 year, I’m thankful for that time and want others to have the same opportunity. It breaks my heart though to see moms out there doing the work because they want their child to win instead of letting their child learn. I see the girls sitting down playing on a phone instead of talking to people. It is so sad.
But this last week, the Lord showed me on a box of their cookies why I was in the program, even if only for 1 year. The girl scout cookie program is the largest girl led entrepreneurial program in the world. It’s goal is to teach 5 essential skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics. Their mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. It clearly worked to help make me who I am today and I’m thankful for it.
What decision in your childhood had a positive impact on your life?
