What did she do?

I spent this week with a diverse group of children and high school youth, mostly from St. Paul. The high school youth did a wonderful job serving as counselors for our day camp - leading small groups of children through each day's activities, joining them in silly songs and games, and coming alongside them in afternoon service projects and fun.

This morning, I called the parents of the counselors to thank them and to share something I appreciated about their kids. I am new to the church and was coordinating the program for the first time, so I do not know the kids or the families well. But after a week together, I knew just enough about each young person to make the calls.  

Right away, I hit a snag. When I called the parent contact of the first young woman on my list, the person who answered was not her mother. After some conversation, I realized she was something like the mother of all children - so I asked, "Do you know her mom's name? Do you have her number?" 

"What's wrong?" she demanded. "What did she do?"

I explained that nothing was wrong. That this young woman had worked really hard and had done a great job. That I was so happy to work with her and hoped she would apply again next year.

Silence. 

Then I heard a squeal of joy on the other end of the phone, "You have got to call her momma. Her momma needs to hear this." After much scrambling, she found the number I needed and was about to hang up when I said, "Wait. Before I call her, I need to tell you about your two girls."

"What's wrong?" she demanded. "What did they do?"

"Well, both of your daughters are already extraordinary leaders. They see what needs to be done and they do it without being asked. They have great ideas and they are fun to have around. If I needed to get a job done, I would ask them."  I laid the truth on pretty thick which resulted in a lot more squealing on the other end of the line. 

After a dozen calls, I was able to reach all but a few of the parents. There was a great deal of squealing on the other end, but especially from those who were always anticipating bad news and were overjoyed to hear the good.