What do you think of when you hear “It’s the most wonderful time of the year”? If you ask around, you may get different answers, but my guess is that many people will say Christmas. There’s a song with that phrase in it that is played around the holiday season. Do you know what I think of when I hear those words? “BASE CAMP!” Different words can mean different things to different people. So, I might be exaggerating that Base Camp is the most wonderful time of the year, but it sure is one of the best!
While I don’t know everything that is being prepared, I think there might be some mysteries and detective work involved. When you think of mysteries and detectives, what comes to mind? I think of clues. Do you know that we ALL use clues everyday even if we aren’t detectives? For example, you see a man in a uniform with a badge, who do you think of? Yep, a police officer. You just ‘deduced’ something, just like a detective. It isn’t a word we hear very much but kinda means that you took everything you know and all your experiences, and you made a very good ‘guess’ about what you saw. I would say that we are generally right, but under different circumstances, maybe not….. Who might the person be if you saw him or her in the same clothes but walking into a theatre? They still might be a police officer, or knowing that they are going into the theatre, maybe they are one of the actors? The theatre could be another clue.
Do you know who some of the best detectives are? Your parents. No, really, I am being totally serious! I know you may think that they have eyes in the back of their heads, but really they are just good at ‘deducing’. They take all their experiences, all they know about you, and while looking at the clues have a pretty good idea what you have been up to, are currently up to, or may be planning to be up to. It’s true. If mom comes into the kitchen and finds crumbs on the counter and chocolate chip cookies missing, what do you think she thinks? Sounds like somebody stole cookies from the cookie jar, but who? The next thing she does is to call her three children into the kitchen and ask them about it. She’s trying to give them the opportunity to confess because she already knows who the thief is. How? Well only 2 of her 3 kids can reach the cookie jar, and only 1 of those 2 has chocolate on their mouth!
Anyway, based on past experience, I am deducing that Base Camp 2015: Joshua is going to be tons of fun. Have you invited your friends? Have you had your parents sign you up yet? Don’t let them forget. While they can be good detectives, they do sometimes forget things.
Signing up early also helps our staff know how to accurately plan. If only 30 kids sign up online, Miss Lacey may think that that’s all we are going to have. Although, she may also look at past years and think only 30 kids have signed up, but in past years sometimes 30 more have signed up the first night. So, maybe we’ll have 60. Then, the first night she finds you all have done such a great job inviting friends who need to know Jesus that we have 120 kids! She would LOVE to have that happen, but will admit that knowing ahead makes it easier to plan for snacks, crafts, and general fun. So please, while staff can maybe ‘deduce’ how many to expect, it is a lot easier when campers sign up ahead of time! Even if you don’t, please come anyway! We would love to have you!