Ann Pierce Arnett, grateful Girl Scout
Philippians 1:3-7a; 9-11
I thank my God  every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me…. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Reflection: 

This afternoon I made Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. We love them. Every batch is different.  I think I use the same ingredients every time but sometimes they are small, chewy and soft and other times large, thin and crispy. Actually one time for a party I managed to leave out the flour and they turned out more like Chocolate Chip Brittle. My friends who are gluten free thought I had discovered the secret fountain of youth! But I was not pleased. I brought them to the party anyway as it was too late to do anything else.

Baking cookies often reminds me of our Girl Scout Troop when we were working on our cooking badge. Our Troop Leaders Mrs. P and Mrs. R. drove us downtown to the County Extension Agency where we were to learn how to make the “perfect cookies.” It was probably around 1955 and I remember a tall building somewhere in downtown Houston and riding in a dark elevator up to the “Model Kitchen of the Future.” When the elevator doors opened we were led into a room with very bright lights and seated on rizors while a  beautifully dressed “Leave It To Beaver Mom” demonstrated how to prepare, measure, mix, cook and serve the perfect cookies for our families. There was one other Girl Scout Troop there as well. We were all given aprons and both troops began to make a batch of cookies. 

I’ve always been short and my memory is that my chin barely rose above the “Model Kitchen” work space. My buddies carefully measured and stirred; and spooned the dough out onto the perfectly buttered cookie sheet. When the cookies came out of the oven we carefully arranged them on a large plate. We were having so much fun. And then the Extension Agent Director inspected and judged the two plates of cookies. It turned out that uniformity was the criteria for the winning plate of cookies…  sorry to say, we didn’t win. 

We were pretty disheartened at the time, but our leaders praised us on the ride home, and even though our cookies were all shapes and sizes they tasted great. The following week at our regular weekly meeting we all received our Girl Scout Cooking Badge.

I have such wonderful memories of those days at Mrs. P’s home. Our two leaders were as different as night and day. Mrs. R. always wore her Girl Scout Leader’s dress with stockings, high heels, and pearls.  She was the one who made sure the refreshments arrived and that the meeting followed the best practices outlined in the Girl Scout Manual.  Mrs. P. on the other hand, usually had on slacks and gorgeous earrings.  She smoked and wore red nail polish and spoke French occasionally which always got our attention. She told us stories about marrying a Frenchman here in the U.S. but when the war broke out against Germany he took Mrs. P and their 6 mos. old son back to France to help defend his country.  Miraculously, all three wound up in Switzerland and eventually got back to the U.S. after the war. We loved them both – Mrs. R. and Mrs. P.  They were the best mentors we could have ever wanted.  

This past month, my husband, Bob, was in the hospital with severe Pneumonia for two weeks on the 11th floor at Methodist Hospital. Of course I went every day to visit and check on his progress. He had excellent care and I had an incredible supportive team of friends and family who made sure that we had everything we needed and that our emotional health was not neglected. Our neighbor John was one of my many drivers. It was such a blessing to have someone drop me off and return later to take me home. Those conversations on the drive each day kept us encouraged and supported. It gave me a chance to process my experience with so many who knew us and cared for us. Bob and I will never forget their love and prayers. 

So this afternoon I’m making imperfect cookies and remembering Mrs. P. And Mrs. R. and John and all the others. Week after week they have loved  us. So this afternoon I’m not baking for Bob and me. I’m making a batch for John and his family. His son is a sophomore at Tulane and has been home while Tulane is without electric power as a result of the past hurricane. But tomorrow, his mom is driving him back to New Orleans to restart classes on campus. This semester has not been perfect for him and his classmates but Chocolate Chip Cookies might help them remember they are not alone. I pray it will help. That is our hope.

Prayer: 
God I know that you love me in good times and in the midst of challenges and that you send me loving friends to mentor and support me each day.  May I in turn pass that love onto others as you have loved me. In the full assurance of grace and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.