{"id":709,"date":"2013-02-27T02:42:32","date_gmt":"2013-02-27T02:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.com\/?p=709"},"modified":"2013-02-27T02:42:32","modified_gmt":"2013-02-27T02:42:32","slug":"the-most-amazing-gift-the-last-reeds-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=709","title":{"rendered":"The most amazing gift . . . the last Reed’s Run"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"reed's<\/a>As the CEM (Chief Executive Momma) of this family, it is very difficult to surprise me.\u00a0 Oh, I love surprises. When there are always little ears and eyes, a lot of \u201coopsies\u201d moments happen.\u00a0 The other reason for the lack of surprises in my life is the fact that I am a planner.\u00a0 When looking at details from carpools to holidays and from appointments to events, I am usually the keeper of all that goes on around here.<\/p>\n

The ten months of planning that it took to pull off Reed\u2019s Run each year were fraught with lots and lots of lists.\u00a0 Auction lists, t-shirts, website updates, marketing, parade promotions, registration forms, medals, volunteers . . . the list went on and on.\u00a0 Exhausting, but in the end so worth it.<\/p>\n

On the actual day, I flit about often being pulled in many different directions.\u00a0 I rarely eat, and I hug lots of people.\u00a0 I share a few tears, but none have compared to this year\u2019s finale.<\/p>\n

Everything was running smoothly (albeit not without a few bumps in the road).\u00a0 So to those that shielded me, THANK YOU and those that offered grace, THANK YOU even more!\u00a0 We finally got down to the last parts of the evening, the awards ceremony, the Jesus Painter performance, and the movie.\u00a0 I was up on the stage announcing the winners of the various medals and was to introduce Mike Lewis for the worship time.<\/p>\n

As I concluded the awards, all of a sudden I see Matthew (my high school best friend) coming toward the stage.\u00a0 I really wish this were videotaped, because I can only imagine what my face actually looked like.\u00a0 My mind was thinking, \u201cThis is weird.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t seen you in twenty-three years, but I wasn\u2019t expecting a deviation from my plan.\u201d\u00a0 As he came on stage and took the microphone from me, I am certain I was questioning his judgment and mine.<\/p>\n

What happened next, I never saw coming.\u00a0 But as I saw one of Reed\u2019s former Scout masters in uniform also coming forward, my knees grew weak and the flood gate of tears opened up.\u00a0 Matt explained how he was so excited to be here and about our friendship.\u00a0 He then told the tale of how he had made arrangements with Reed\u2019s former troop for this special occasion.\u00a0 He shared about his summer long ago at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, and how I was his pen pal while he was gone.\u00a0 They were special memories.<\/p>\n

Because of some kind of rule on timelines in the BSA, Reed couldn\u2019t be awarded his own Eagle Scout.\u00a0 \u00a0Sobbing in front of everyone, I heard one of the sweetest tales ever told.\u00a0 My dear friend decided Reed would indeed be earning his Eagle Scout, just not in the normal way. The gift he gave in honor our sweet redheaded boy is truly the embodiment of scouting.<\/p>\n

We were handed Reed\u2019s Eagle Scout award, his Eagle neckerchief, and a Philmont Scout Ranch patch.\u00a0 The Boy Scout Law states all the qualities that define scouts. \u00a0A Scout is: Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.\u00a0 What it doesn\u2019t say is that a Scout gives sacrificially, because in this magical moment, that\u2019s exactly what happened.<\/p>\n

The award placed in my trembling hands was Matthew\u2019s own Eagle Scout award, \u201cre-awarded\u201d to Reed. \u00a0Engraved on the award is the motto, Be Prepared.\u00a0 There was no way my heart was prepared for this surprise as it was truly an amazing gift.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the CEM (Chief Executive Momma) of this family, it is very difficult to surprise me.\u00a0 Oh, I love surprises. When there are always little ears and eyes, a lot of \u201coopsies\u201d moments happen.\u00a0 The other reason for the lack of surprises in my life is the fact that I am a planner.\u00a0 When looking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[27,71,331,348,401,453,476,526,603],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}