Any ‘Mission Impossibles’ conquered lately?  I think we can face little ones all the time, things that feel too big.  It can be learning your ABCs to studying for a big test.  How about having to pick up your room?  It was really fun playing, but how are you ever going to put everything away?  Mom seemed pretty serious about not getting to go outside with your friends until it is done.  Ugh!  I guess I’m talking about those ‘missions’ that feel too big or discourage us.

When you have something that feels too big, what helps you do it?  Do you think that people in the Bible ever felt like things felt too big to do?  What about Noah being told to build the Arc?  It would feel like  gigantic, impossible task to me!  I get nervous hanging pictures let alone trying to build something that is suppose to float!

Can you share some other examples here, or with family and friends of times in Bible where something must have felt impossible?  What helps you face your impossible tasks?  What helped the people in the Bible?  I hope to hear some of your ideas before we talk about this more.

Let’s look at finding CJ.  Above are some pictures of animals that live where she is.  Do they look familiar?  Do we have them here?  Brainstorm with each other about it.  Where do you think she is?

If you have time, share what you think about any of the questions above or maybe draw a picture for us of one of our Bible friends and their ‘mission impossible.’

I’ve been thinking about Base Camp and the theme. If you hang around long enough, you may hear someone talk about ‘Mission Impossible’. It is actually the title of a movie that you probably won’t be ready to watch until you’re older, but it does make me think about things that seem impossible. In the movie, there are lots of spies trying to stop terrible things from happening. They have to gather all the information (clues), figure out what the best thing to do might be, and go for it. They get themselves into some pretty tight spots that seem impossible.

I doubt I would ever make it as a real spy facing bad guys! The thing is that everyone has things that feel impossible in their lives (even grown ups!). Do you have something in your life that feels impossible right now? Have you ever felt like something was impossible? When I look at my life, I know there are and have been things that seem impossible but maybe weren’t. Seeming can be a lot different than something actually being what we imagine.

Anyway, I want to hear about some of the things that you all have thought were impossible but maybe found out that you could do. Thinking something is impossible is pretty scary, but sometimes you just have to do it anyway. A good example to me is riding a bicycle. Some of you jumped on your bike and were off in no time flat. Other kids take a bit more time to learn that skill. My youngest daughter was like that. She is good at so many things, but that bicycle without training wheels really made her nervous. It felt impossible and took some pushing to get her to try. Guess what? Over time she learned it.

I’d love to have you all respond below with your answers or even draw us a picture of something you once thought was impossible but now you can do. You can give it to me at church, post it below yourself if your parents have a way to do it, or while I haven’t asked Mr. Luke yet, I am guessing you could pass some to him. I might be able to pick them up someplace at church then.

Before I go, I do have a different mission should you choose to accept it. My oldest daughter (whom we will just call CJ) is off on an adventure, and I want to see if we can use some clues to figure out where she is now. CJ even told me that she may bring a surprise or two back with for the person who figures it out or participants in general. It really depends on what she finds in ‘her’ budget.

Anyway, this first clue will probably not help much but will tell us some of the places she is not. CJ has never before been where she is now, so the following places we can cross out as she’s been to them.

Okay, given the size of the world, that isn’t a ton of help.  We can narrow it down by knowing that this time she did not need her passport, and she has lived or been (even briefly) to the following states:  Tennessee, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Iowa, South Dakota, and while not a state, Washington D.C.

Remember to ALWAYS ask your parents before posting anything.

 

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!