“We have grown dull toward this world in which we live; we have forgotten that it is not normal or scientific in any sense of the word. It is fantastic. It is fairy tale through and through. Really now. Elephants? Caterpillars? Snow? At what point did you lose your wonder at it all.

“Even so, once in a while somethign will come along and shock us right out of our dullness and resignation.

“We come rounda corner, and there before us is a cricket, a peacock, a stag with horns as big as he. Perhaps we come upn a waterfall, the clouds have made a rainbow in a circle round the sun, or a mouse scampers across the counter, pauses for a moment to twitch its whiskers at you, and disappears into the cupboard. and for a moment we realize that we were born into a world astonishing as any fairy tale.

“A world made for romance.

“Creation unfolds like a great work of art, a masterpiece in the making. And just as you can learn about an author by the stories he tells, you can learn a great deal about an artist from the workds he creates. Surely you see that God is more creative than we can possibly imagine, and romantic to the core. Lovers and honeymooners choose places like Hawaii, the Bahamas, or Tuscany as a backdrop for their love. But whose idea was Hawaii, the Bahamas, or Tuscany?

“Let’s bring this a little closer to home. Whose idea was it to create the human form in such a way that a kiss could be so delicious? And he didn’t stop there, as only lovers know.”

……………………………………….

“Take the best romantic scenes you’ve ever seen, life them out of time and space, and you have something of Eden.”

……………………………………….

“God creates us in his image, with powers like unto his own – the ability to reason, to create, to share intimacy, to know joy. He gives us laughter and wonder and imagination. And above all else, he endows us with that one quality for which he is most known…He enables us to love.”

So, wouldn’t it be great if we could help the campers to marvel at the world around them and really soak in it’s beauty? Then to begin looking at it as a place specifically designed by God for us to fall in love with Him? And then to realize that this incredible, romantic God has given us the ability to love Him and others as well? I’m just saying…

We need to set up a time to make phone calls to invite teachers and small group leaders to make an early commitment. We need to have a list of classes and teachers in order to put out a registration sheet and the registration sheet should be available by May 1st. Hope and Bonnie will brainstorm a list of people to make those phone calls and see when they are available to make calls. We’re also thinking that we could have Julie do a pre-worship announcement and appeal for volunteers. Perhaps a booth in The Gathering Place would be a good way to make it real to people that the plans are starting to come together already.

Cal contacted Linda Ippel (a potter from Grand Rapids) and Rachelle Carlson (a photographer) about either teaching a class or having some other involvement.

Julie has purchased some videos to prompt Wonder in the campers. Jason suggested that perhaps we could have a video night in which we invite leaders to view some of the videos that we have picked to pique their curiousity and creativity. We could couple this with a teacher/small group leader training.

Jason found a database template online that we think will work for BAC (with some modifications).

After all this, we’re going with a burgundy shirt for the campers and black for the leaders.

Once all that information has been gathered, it then needs to be organized. And after all that is said and done, it needs to be safe (so that it doesn’t get damaged, lost or destroyed) and it needs to be accessible. Hold on a minute? Accessible? That’s it! What we really need is someone who knows Microsoft Access who can help us pull together a database to manage all of this information!

Bill Workman, who has been an active participant in Art Camps and Vacation Bible Schools for years, has offered to help us put together a spreadsheet solution. Thanks, Bill! As a staff, however, we’ve recently discovered one of the real dangers of spreadsheets and are now thinking we might need to take the next step.

Unfortunately, we’ve reached the limits of our network. We don’t know anyone with the kind of experience and expertise in Access that we would need. So we’re putting out a call for help. If you know of anyone is capable of pulling together a database (we’ll take care of data entry!) who might be even remotely interested in helping us on this project, could you send us a name? It would relieve a lot of stress and headaches for us!!!!!

• Cake decorating
• Imprinting
• Screen decorating
• Babysitter’s sign language
• Woodworking (table)
• Mosaics
• Boomwhackers
• Russian egg art

see full post for more classes

• Tie-die
• Basketry
• Smoothies and Iced Coffees
• Paintball art
• Spinner bait
• Origami

• Drama
• Sewing
• Woodworking (Adirondack chair)
• Journalism and Photography
• Creative Writing
• Scrapbooking

• Bling
• Tie-Die
• Pizzaz
• Watercolor landscapes
• Scratch art
• Face painting
• HAPI hands
• Stomp

see full post for more classes

• Cake decorating
• Fruity fun food
• Swirly painting and more
• Eric Carle
• Pastor C Rap
• BAC2ONE’s Got Talent
• Woodworking (birdhouse)
• Imprinting
• Ceramic wind chimes
• Origami
• Jig bait
• Sculpture
• Weaving
• Mosaics
• Clay critters
• Simply stiching

• Drama
• Sewing
• Drawing
• Sign Language
• Watercolor
• Scrapbooking
• Telling stories through dance