A Good Foundation

Manny: So are you, Joel. I'm Tiffany's agent.
Guest (Male): Really? I didn't know
Manny: When she gets here, she needs the script.
Guest (Male): Sure, right here.
Manny: And a spray of geraniums.
Guest (Male): Excuse me?
Tiffany Rockler: Greetings, support staff. I'm ready to go. Is tape rolling? Good. Is this the script? I may add lib a bit. I am Tiffany Rockler from Wildwood. I have come to encourage you all to get a copy of the very first Pause and Tales book ever, The Overcomers. How was that?
Manny: Oh, so inspiring, Miss Tiffany.
Guest (Male): Uh, just stick to the script, please.
Tiffany Rockler: The Overcomers is a wonderful continuation of the grand story of Pause and Tales. This is better. A continuation of the original story arc. How's that?
Manny: Oh, I have chills, goosebumps.
Guest (Male): I don't know. Story arc is too technical. Please, stick to the script.
Tiffany Rockler: To get a copy of your own, just log on to pause and tales.org. You are going to love all the adventure, the fun, and the great teaching that Pause and Tales is famous for. Wait. Manny, where are my geraniums? There are supposed to be geraniums in here.
Guest (Male): Stopping tape.
Narrator: Welcome to the world of Pause and Tales. Wild Mountain can be a pretty dangerous place. If you stay on the trails and stick with me, there's adventures to be had there, too.
Stacy: Come on, CJ, jump.
CJ: It's too far.
Stacy: It wasn't too far for me.
Narrator: Insight for Living is proud to present Pause and Tales. Next stop, Beantown, Modesty, and Hoohumunga. And only 23 minutes late. The Cannonball hasn't been this early since the brakes gave out, and it did the five-town loop for 6 hours till it ran out of steam. It is 23 minutes late, but technically it's still 2 hours early. Wildwood, pretty much the same as your town, populated with gray mules, timber wolves, and of course grizzly bears. Back behind the library is Papa Chuck's Fix-It Shop, where Papa Chuck is working away. As is often the case, the cubs Stacy and CJ have stopped by after school.
CJ: Wow, thanks, Papa Chuck. This is just how I saw it in my head. This is going to be great. Let's start right now. I can't wait.
Papa Chuck: I'll finish up these plans tonight after dinner. You can go out and start looking for a good place to build on. Good, strong tree, not too high off the ground, just a couple of feet ought to be about right.
CJ: This is going to be great.
Narrator: CJ is a fairly typical brown bear cub. He loves to play and swim. It's hard to keep him out of the water. CJ's got a bad eye, his left. It's considerably weaker than the other, and if that wasn't enough for him, that weak eye is a bright Hey everybody, look at me, sky blue. You can't help but notice it, and it is a constant source of embarrassment and trouble for him. What really sets him apart though is his heart. There's a goodness, even purity in that cub that's hard not to like. Got the makings of a godly bear, but he's still pretty distractible. He's a straight shooter and a real thinker.
CJ: Papa Chuck, thanks for drawing up these plans. This is going to be the best tree house ever.
Papa Chuck: I think I laid it out to be pretty easy to build. I can give you some scrap lumber a little every week, but it will be several months before you can get enough to finish with.
CJ: That's okay. We'll go looking for some ourselves. Let's go find a place to build.
Narrator: Stacy lives just up the street from CJ. She is the dramatic one. She can play football with the boys, getting bruised and scuffed up all day long, then go home, stub her toe, and cry like a wounded panther. She is brave as a lion and ready for anything. She has not been a Christian as long as CJ, but learning real fast. Those two are about as good a friends as you'll ever find.
CJ: Let's go. I think I know a tree that would be just right for a tree house.
Papa Chuck: You can pick up the plans tomorrow morning. Now look at me, you two. I'm serious now. Follow these plans carefully, and if you do find scraps, make sure that they're good and sturdy. You can't just go off and start nailing things together. You could get yourself in a mess of trouble, get yourselves hurt. This is a long-term project that will need your full attention.
CJ: You bet. We'll follow it to the letter. Come on, let's find a tree.
Narrator: Close the door on your way. Out. So the cubs ran out of the Fix-It Shop looking for the perfect tree to build on. After some initial discussion, debate, and well, a little arguing, they both agreed on a large old oak tree just north of town.
CJ: It has a nice thick trunk and a huge low branch to build on, just 3 ft off the ground. Any goofball could build here, and I'm not just any goofball.
Stacy: I'm in. Let's go get some building stuff. We've got some old boards in the backyard.
Narrator: Well, they pulled some old boards from CJ's backyard, and they found a few behind Stacy's barn, none of them very good for building with. They got the plans the next morning and started right in. They felt a great sense of confidence in those plans that Papa Chuck had drawn up. They carried them about everywhere they went. In their enthusiasm, however, they found that opening up and following of those plans to be somewhat burdensome. Now isn't it something how folks can have all the direction they'd ever hope for right in front of them, on paper, wise friends, even right there in the Bible, and they don't so much as bother to take a look. Sooner go crashing right in and working away on their own. Then when it doesn't work out, they're all upset, discombobulated cuz it didn't turn out right.
CJ: Look out. Another board's going to fall. Look out.
Stacy: You okay?
CJ: It's all right. We got to get real nails. These short bent ones aren't going in far enough.
Stacy: I know. If we don't stop these boards from banging your head, we're going to run what little lumber we've got. Very cute.
Narrator: One of the more enthusiastic animals in Wildwood is the little weasel everyone calls Goose. She can hardly contain her excitement as she drags another of her junkyard offerings to the clubhouse.
Goose: Oh, look what I brought. Look. Look, I found a window for you.
Stacy: That's great, Goose. I hadn't even thought of windows. Was there a window in the plan?
CJ: I'm not sure. I think so. Goose, see that roll of paper there next to the tree? Open it up and see if there's a window in the plan.
Goose: Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. Oh, it keeps trying to roll back up.
Stacy: Put a rock on the edge and unroll the rest.
Goose: Oh yeah, that works. Wow, Papa Chuck did a lot of work here for you guys. Where'd she go?
Stacy: She got rolled up in the plan.
Goose: Look at Goose's hand here. Rumble buddy, if you wouldn't mind unrolling me.
Stacy: I'm coming, Goose. You like a weasel burrito.
Goose: Uh, Papa Manny, if you're not in here
Stacy: Hang on. Ready?
Goose: Let me think. Yeah? Well, I'm sure there was a more uncomfortable way for you to get me out of there, but I can't imagine what it would have been.
Stacy: Sorry. You okay?
Goose: Sure, fine. Okay. These plans are unbelievable. Papa Chuck thought of everything. This would be a great tree house. When you get done with your tree house, are you going to build this one?
Stacy: We are building that one.
Goose: Where's the big bean to hold up the roof? This has two windows and a rope ladder. Yours has a stick holding up the ceiling.
Stacy: Leave the window by the tree and we'll get to it later. We got a little ahead of ourselves, but it'll be good and strong when we're finished. We're the kind of builders who work from just the picture in their heads. What do you call those builders?
CJ: Unemployed.
Stacy: Okay. I'll hold it in place and you nail. Move your finger or I'll hammer it, too. What was that? Did I do that? Hang on. The tree is falling over.
Charlotte: Hi, I'm Charlotte from Virginia. Don't go away. There's more Pause and Tales coming right up.
Tiffany Rockler: Hello, lovely listeners. Tiffany Rockler from Pause and Tales here to tell you all about the very new and very fashionable t-shirts now on sale in our store. We have a wonderful Tiffany Rockler shirt with a lovely detail.
Papa Chuck: Uh, Tiffany, that is a nut true.
Tiffany Rockler: Ned, what are you talking about?
Papa Chuck: Well, we have new Goose t-shirts and Ned t-shirts. Just go online to pause and tales.org to see them.
Tiffany Rockler: Wait. We have no Tiffany t-shirts?
Papa Chuck: Probably. Here it comes. Fire everybody.
Tiffany Rockler: You all will rue the day. Without a plan, with just a whim, it's clear to see how you could be out on a limb. All that you do is upside down, inside out and turned around until you build on solid ground, you'll never win.
Narrator: The weight of the tree house on the main branch has split the tree length wise and exposed the secret world of a termite colony busily eating away at its center. This, the tree the cubs thought so strong and true has failed them.
CJ: What are we going to do? The whole side of the tree is tilting, and our tree house is going to fall off the branch. We got to support it before it's too late. Quick, pound this board into the ground. And I'll use this one for support. We can nail them together and make kind of a leg under the tree house to keep it from tipping anymore. Goose, give Stacy a hand.
Stacy: Maybe we should quit on this one and build the one in the plan somewhere else. Well, I know a tree.
CJ: We've got this far.
Stacy: Well, I know a tree.
CJ: We can't give up now.
Stacy: But I know a tree.
CJ: Use a strong one.
Narrator: And in the same not planned out way, cubs and Goose furiously scamper about trying to save their scrap pile of a tree house. CJ's driving an old board into the dirt with another old board he's used for a hammer. What they don't see yet is if you've got a bad foundation, everything that you build on it is just a disaster waiting to happen.
CJ: Goose, hold the stake up so I can drive it in.
Goose: Oh, okay.
Narrator: While all this commotion is going on, the cubs have no way of knowing that their poor decisions are about to affect others. Three others is a matter of fact in about oh, a foot, foot and a half underground.
Guest (Male): How are we going to finish this burrow if you don't help me dig the tunnel?
Luke: Oh, Papa, I am just widening the passage a little. It's so cramped I feel like I cannot breathe.
Guest (Male): You're a gopher. It's supposed to be cramped down here. Help me dig this tunnel now, or you're going to be sent to your own burrow.
Luke: Yes, Papa.
Goose: Hello, boys. I'm back. Nice, honey. Have you thought about my idea?
Guest (Male): I have.
Goose: Well, what do you think?
Guest (Male): We don't need it.
Goose: But it would open up the main burrow and make it such a happy place.
Guest (Male): You talked me into the ferns, and you even talked me into digging a guest room. I will not have track lighting in my burrow, and that is that. What is that sound?
Luke: The burrow. Look, the burrow it's caving in.
Goose: It is not. It's just eight caving in.
Guest (Male): What is that?
Luke: It looks like the wood paneling mother has wanted for so long.
Guest (Male): It certainly is wood, and it certainly is blocking off our front door tunnel.
Luke: Blocking the tunnel. I can't breathe. How will I ever get out with the tunnel blocked off?
Guest (Male): Well, we could dig around it, or we could just go out either of two back doors.
Luke: Oh, wee wee wee wee, back doors. Oh, good. Good. I am breathing just fine. Merci.
Guest (Male): Start digging around this thing. I'll go left and look. You dig on the right. This shouldn't take any time at
Goose: I have always wanted a hole tree.
CJ: Wow, that went in easy.
Goose: Very curious.
CJ: But that's a good thing, good dirt to pound a stake into.
Goose: Well, I'm not sure that is a good thing. Is it going to hold?
CJ: Are you guys ready? This whole thing could fall any minute. Yeah, nail them together. Okay. Is that going to hold?
Goose: Well, it looks kind of wobbly.
CJ: It could just work. Maybe if we find some rope, we could tie it around the tree to keep it from splitting anymore than it already has.
Goose: Well, I know where to get some. I'll be back in a jiffy. Oh, jiffy. What exactly is a jiffy? If I take longer, would it be a jiffy and a half? I Oh, I might not be back for three, three and a half jiffy.
CJ: It's going to work, huh? Looks like it just might. How are we supposed to know that the tree was almost hollow? It looks strong enough. You know, when I was hammering in those first nails, they went in pretty easily. I thought that was just a good thing, you know, easy and all.
Guest (Male): Magnifique.
Luke: Papa, I love the wide open roomie party around the wood.
Guest (Male): Did it just move?
Luke: What?
Guest (Male): The wood. Did it just move?
Luke: How could it move? It is a solid piece of wood stuck into the dirt.
Guest (Male): Solid wood stuck into dirt that we have since cleared away.
Luke: So we cleared all the dirt away. So what is being supported by whatever is holding it up from the top? Look, it's as solid as ever. It would take an army to move this wood.
CJ: Stacy, did that move?
Stacy: Did what move?
CJ: The whole tree house. I think I saw it move.
Stacy: We've got it supported by that stake in the ground. It would take an army to move that tree house. Stand back here and look at it for a minute. Isn't it tilting more than it was before? Did it move? Did what move?
Goose: Hey, hey, hey guys, your tree house has crashed to the ground.
Stacy: I think it moved.
Eleanor: My name's Eleanor. I am from Reno, Nevada. Don't go away cuz there's more Pause and Tales coming right up.
Tiffany Rockler: I'm here today with author Dave Carl. I understand you have written the very first Pause and Tales book entitled The Overcomers.
Dave Carl: That's right, Stacy.
Tiffany Rockler: So is The Overcomers something very different, or is it a continuation of the big Pause and Tales story?
Dave Carl: Good question, Stacy. It absolutely is a continuation of the big Pause and Tales story. The Overcomers is like one giant Pause and Tales episode. I'm excited for folks to see what comes next.
Tiffany Rockler: Get your copy today at pause and tales.org. It's not so hard. I guarantee to build a tree house that will stay up in a tree. But your foundation must be strong, or your creation won't last long.
Goose: That explanation works for me.
Narrator: And so the cubs and Goose did what they often do when they're stuck or confused. They went straight away to Papa Chuck's Fix-It Shop.
CJ: We were just standing there looking at our tree house, admiring it from a distance.
Stacy: And it moved about an inch in the in the stake in the ground while it slid in the dirt like like there was no dirt at all.
CJ: The tree split all the way down to the middle, and the whole tree house fell over and crashed to the ground.
Papa Chuck: It's a miracle no one was hurt.
Goose: There is a pile of wood back there that looks like a toothpick collection. It's all just busted into a cabillion pieces.
Papa Chuck: Did you check out that tree before you started to build?
CJ: We thought we had, but but I don't know.
Stacy: How are you supposed to know something like that? You You'd have to cut down the tree to see the inside.
Papa Chuck: Goose, stop making the chair squeak.
Goose: Sorry. We were going to have so much fun in that tree house. We had such great plans.
Papa Chuck: Let me see if I got this all straight. You picked a hollow termite infested tree. You used scraps of bad wood, and you held them all together with rusty nails and old twine. And this was all part of your plan.
Goose: That twine was not old.
CJ: I just didn't want to wait for months to plan the tree house.
Papa Chuck: Goose, stop squeaking.
Goose: Sorry. I'm done.
Papa Chuck: If you had been in that tree when it fell, you would all be in the hospital right now.
CJ: Sorry.
Papa Chuck: Let's start over and do it right this time. First and most importantly, you need
CJ: To use the plans.
Goose: Long straight nails.
Papa Chuck: Even before that, you need a firm foundation. If your foundation is weak
Stacy: We know all about that.
Papa Chuck: Well, let's go find you a solid foundation to build on.
Guest (Male): I knew the wood had moved.
Luke: Did you see it? The wood flew across the burrow and disappeared.
Guest (Male): You live your life as a good gopher. You dig well, you eat plenty of fiber, and something like this happens. There is no explanation.
Goose: Well, did either of you good gophers look above ground to see what you were building under a stream like a river, and the water came flooding in on us?
Guest (Male): Exactly what I was thinking. Okay, everyone, let's go up and investigate.
Luke: Look at that tree. We could build under that.
Guest (Male): Look at it well, son. Where are the leaves?
Luke: There are no leaves, Papa.
Guest (Male): It is spring, and the tree has no leaves. What does that mean?
Luke: Wee, Papa. The tree is dead.
Goose: Good for you, Luke.
Luke: Thank you, Mama. What's that?
Guest (Male): It's fantastic.
Goose: It's beautiful.
Luke: It looks like a pile of scrap wood.
Guest (Male): It looks like the perfect place to build our burrow under.
Goose: It will be protected from the rain.
Guest (Male): And from anything stepping on top of our burrow and caving it in. This will be a very good foundation to build under.
Goose: Some of that wood could panel the dining room walls.
Papa Chuck: Okay, guys. What makes up a good foundation?
CJ: Something termites don't eat. What a good house is built on.
Papa Chuck: But what is a good foundation like?
CJ: Something that doesn't move.
Papa Chuck: Good for you, Goose.
CJ: Something that can stand up to a storm.
Papa Chuck: Excellent.
Goose: Spontaneous applause, everyone. Let's do a wave. It's going going gone. She shoots, she scores. I'm done.
Papa Chuck: So something solid, strong, something you can have confidence in, even faith.
CJ: You're not talking about the tree house, are you?
Papa Chuck: You're catching on, kiddo. What if you believed something that was really wrong about God?
CJ: Like what?
Papa Chuck: Like God was was angry with us all the time. What would you do if you thought that was true?
CJ: I'd be afraid to go to church.
Papa Chuck: Of course you would.
CJ: I wouldn't want to pray. I wouldn't want to bother him.
Papa Chuck: See, if you believe the wrong things about God, you start doing all kinds of wrong things. But what if you believe, like the Bible says, that God loves us enormously, eternally?
Goose: Immensely, incredibly, infinitely.
CJ: We got it.
Goose: I'm I'm done.
Papa Chuck: If we believe that about God, then what would you do?
CJ: Pray to him all the time cuz he loves me to talk to him.
Papa Chuck: Absolutely.
CJ: Go to church and serve him cuz he's smiley when we do. That's what mom says.
Papa Chuck: Your mom is a very wise bear. You've got to have a solid foundation.
CJ: Hey, what's this?
Stacy: Look, it's huge.
Goose: Well, I've never seen a bigger rock.
CJ: Something was built here before. Wow, look at those posts stuck right in the stone. They're still in tight. Could we build our tree house here?
Papa Chuck: I think that would be a great idea.
CJ: What was here before?
Papa Chuck: Well, a few things actually. It's called Fortress Rock. A long time ago, everyone in town was saved from a forest fire because there was a lookout station here.
Goose: Wow, a fortress. I like it.
CJ: Let's not build a tree house. Let's build a fortress.
Stacy: This is going to be great. Let's get some wood from the old tree house.
Papa Chuck: No no, let's use the right tools and good building materials. And this time, let's use the plans.
CJ: I can't wait for months to build it.
Papa Chuck: You can borrow some of my tools if you take care of them. And if you're serious about this
CJ: Very serious. We're going to build a fortress.
Papa Chuck: I can use some help on some jobs around town. And if you're willing to help me out, say on Saturday mornings, I could pay you in real lumber and real nails to build with.
CJ: I'm in. I'm in.
Papa Chuck: It'll take some time, but I think you'll really have something to be proud of when you're finished.
Goose: Oh, what a great place for our fortress. Look, you can see all the way to the ocean from here.
Tiffany Rockler: And Wild Mountain. Hey, there's the school. Without a plan, with just a whim, it's clear to see how you could be out on a limb. All that you do is upside down, inside out and turned around until you build on solid ground, you'll never win. It's not so hard. I guarantee to build a tree house that will stay up in a tree. But your foundation must be strong or your creation won't last long.
Goose: That explanation works for me. So hammer hammer, knock knock knock. Got to build on solid rock. Come on, spread the message down the block. Got to build on solid rock. Woo! Okay, I am done. I'm done.
Tiffany Rockler: So if your day is kind of tough, lean on the Lord. He is your rock. He'll lift you up. Cuz if he lives inside your heart, you'll always have a brand new start. He'll give you patience, give you hope. He'll give you love. So hammer hammer, knock knock knock. Got to build on solid rock. If you love the Lord and walk your talk, then you built on solid rock.
CJ: Don't build on a go first kindo.
Stacy: Don't build on sinking sand.
CJ: Don't build on mashed potatoes. You'll have a mess in your hand.
Goose: Don't build on swampy river.
CJ: Don't build on a fluffy cloud.
Papa Chuck: Just build your life on Jesus.
Tiffany Rockler: He's the rock. Say it loud. Hammer hammer, knock knock knock. Got to build on solid rock. If you love the Lord and walk your talk, then you built on solid rock.
Goose: Everybody, hammer hammer, knock knock knock. Got to build on solid rock. If you love the Lord and walk your talk, then you built on solid rock.
CJ: No wonder they built a lookout post here. I could see the town square. And look, a ship's coming into the bay.
Goose: Hey, look. What is that over there? Is that smoke?
Papa Chuck: That's a fire. That's a fire at the Collins mansion. Come on, we got to go help.
Narrator: To order a copy of today's program, A Good Foundation, just log on to pause and tales.org. A Good Foundation was written and directed by Dave Carl, music by John Campbell, and Solid Rock was written by Sandy Howard. Pause and Tales is an Insight for Living production and a proud member of the hiskids.net alliance.