Paws & Tales

Ned: Welcome to another episode of my personal podcast, Ned Knows! Tonight I'm talking to the creator of Paws & Tales, Dave Carl. Well, thanks for being with me today, Dave.

Dave Carl: It's a pleasure to be here, Ned.

Ned: So, because I'm me, I happen to know that you have written the first-ever Paws & Tales book! Tell me more about that.

Dave Carl: I'd love to. It's called The Overcomers, and reading this book will be like reading maybe five regular episodes. The club is in the middle of a big new adventure and there are new characters we're introduced—

Ned: That's fascinating, Dave. I have it, though, by good authority that this book centers around Ned and how he saves the day for everyone.

Dave Carl: Well, no, that's not what the book is about. It is significantly about the struggle against evil that lurks high up in Wild Mountain. If anything, I'd have to say it centers around Stacy.

Ned: What? I gave you really good notes when you were writing this! What happened to all my great ideas?

Dave Carl: Well, mostly I didn't read them. There were a lot of notes, Ned.

In the book I did write, we meet Smidgen, a badger who really wants to become someone who will make a difference. And he meets up with Crocket, a genuine overcomer who begins to teach him how to survive in the woods and how to take care of the miners digging for gold in the tunnels of Wild Mountain.

Ned: Ned knows what this book was supposed to be about! In those notes you did not read, Ned inherits a million dollars, but he does not let anyone know about it, and he sneaks around and secretly helps those in need and uses all kinds of really neat gadgets to fight crime.

Dave Carl: I did read that part of the notes.

But in this first Paws & Tales book, The Overcomers, we follow the club as they begin a new adventure and we see how Crocket battles bandits and the evil Minion in only the way an overcomer can.

Ned: Well, I did not know that you changed the whole book, Dave! This is a bitter disappointment.

Well, this ends this episode of Ned Knows. Thanks for joining me, Dave Carl, who ignored all my notes. I'll see you all next time for another episode of Ned Knows. Stop tape!

Insight for Living: Welcome to the world of Paws & 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!

Insight for Living: Insight for Living is proud to present Paws & Tales.

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 the way. 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. A 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!

Insight for Living: 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 treehouse 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. Bye!

Insight for Living: 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.

Stacy: Let's go! I think I know a tree that would be just right for a treehouse.

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.

Papa Chuck: Close the door on your way! Ow!

Insight for Living: So the cubs ran out of the fix-it shop looking for the perfect tree to build on. After some initial discussion, debate, and 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 three feet off the ground. Any goofball could build here, and I'm not just any goofball. I'm in! Let's go get some building stuff. We've got some old boards in the backyard.

Insight for Living: 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. Isn't it something how folks can have all the direction they'd ever hoped for right in front of them on paper, from 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 because it didn't turn out.

CJ: Look out! Another board's going to fall. Look out!

Stacy: Ow! Are 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 into your head, we're going to ruin what little lumber we've got.

CJ: Very cute.

Insight for Living: 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.

CJ: That's great, Goose. I hadn't even thought of windows. Was there a window in the plan?

Stacy: 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.

CJ: 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. Whoops!

CJ: Where'd she go?

Stacy: She got rolled up in the plan!

Goose: I could use a hand here. Somebody! If you wouldn't mind unrolling me.

CJ: I'm coming, Goose. You're like a weasel burrito.

Goose: Oh, that's funny if you're not in here.

CJ: Hang on, ready? One, two, three!

Goose: 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.

CJ: Sorry. You okay?

Goose: Sure, fine. Okay, these plans are unbelievable. Papa Chuck thought of everything. This would be a great treehouse. When you get done with your treehouse, are you going to build this one?

CJ: We are building that one.

Goose: Where's the big beam that held up the roof? This has two windows and a rope ladder. Yours has a stick holding up the ceiling.

CJ: 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.

Stacy: We're the kind of builders who work from just the picture in their heads. What do you call those builders?

Papa Chuck: Unemployed. Okay, 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!

Dave Carl: Hey there everyone, Dave Carl here. We want to put your kid on an episode of Paws & Tales with the question, "If I could spend a day with..." fill in your favorite Paws & Tales character, "...I'd want to..." and we have some suggestions on the clubhouse wall or you can make up your own.

Make them short, but make them fun and have them refer back to an episode. Maybe something like this: "Hi, I'm Henry from North Carolina. If I could spend a day with CJ, I'd want to build a treehouse together."

We can't wait to hear what you all come up with. Send them in and we'll broadcast them to the world! Joel, I was hoping for some echo there. To the world! Joel, come on, man. Real cute, Joel. Real cute.

Guest (Female): 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.

Insight for Living: The weight of the treehouse on the main branch has split the tree lengthwise 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 treehouse is going to fall off the branch! We got to support it before it's too late. Quick!

Stacy: I'll pound this support into the ground, and I'll use this one for support. We can nail them together and make kind of a leg under the treehouse to keep it from tipping anymore. Goose, give Stacy a hand.

Goose: Maybe we should quit on this one and build the one in the plans somewhere else. I know a tree—

CJ: We've got this far!

Goose: But I know a tree—

Stacy: We can't give up now!

Goose: But I know a tree—

CJ: Use a strong one!

Insight for Living: And in the same not planned out way, cubs and Goose furiously scamper about trying to save their scrap pile of a treehouse. CJ's driving an old board into the dirt with another old board he's using 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: Okay.

Insight for Living: 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, as a matter of fact, in about a foot, foot and a half underground.

Papa Gopher: How are we going to finish this burrow if you don't help me dig the tunnel?

Luke Gopher: Papa, I am just widening the passage a little. It's so cramped I feel I cannot breathe!

Papa Gopher: 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 Gopher: Yes, Papa.

Mama Gopher: Hello, boys! I'm back. My son, honey, have you thought about my idea?

Papa Gopher: I have.

Mama Gopher: Well, what do you think?

Papa Gopher: We don't need it.

Mama Gopher: But it would open up the main bower and make it such a happy place!

Papa Gopher: 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?

Mama Gopher: The burrow! Look, the burrow! It's caving in!

Luke Gopher: It is not! It's just—

Mama Gopher: Cave in!

Papa Gopher: What is that? It looks like the wood paneling Mother has wanted for so long.

Luke Gopher: It certainly is wood and it certainly is blocking off our front door tunnel.

Mama Gopher: Blocking the tunnel? I can't breathe! How will I ever get out with the tunnel blocked off?

Papa Gopher: Well, we could dig around it or we could just go out either of two back doors.

Mama Gopher: Oh, oui, oui, oui! Back doors! Oh, good. Good. I am breathing just fine, merci.

Papa Gopher: Start digging around this thing. I'll go left and Luke, you dig on the right. This shouldn't take any time at all.

Luke Gopher: I've always wanted a whole tree.

CJ: Wow! That went in easy.

Goose: Very curious.

Stacy: But that's a good thing! Good dirt to pound a stake into.

Goose: 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.

Stacy: Yeah, let's nail them together. Okay, is that going to hold?

Goose: 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: Oh, I know where to get some! I'll be back in a jiffy. A jiffy, what exactly is a jiffy? If I take longer would it be a jiffy and a half? I might not be back for three, three and a half jiffies.

Stacy: It's going to work, huh?

CJ: 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.

Luke Gopher: Magnifique! Papa, I love the wide open roomy part around the wood.

Papa Gopher: Did it just move?

Luke Gopher: What?

Papa Gopher: The wood. Did it just move?

Luke Gopher: How could it move? It is a solid piece of wood stuck into the dirt.

Papa Gopher: Solid wood stuck into dirt that we have since cleared away.

Luke Gopher: So we cleared all the dirt away. So the wood 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 treehouse. I think I saw it move. We've got it supported by that stake in the ground. It would take an army to move that treehouse. 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?

Insight for Living: With that, the treehouse collapsed.

Goose: Hey, hey, hey guys! Your treehouse has crashed to the ground. I think it moved.

Dave Carl: Hey, Stacy, I'm helping out today, so I'll direct you. Whenever you're ready.

Stacy: Hey everyone, Stacy here from Paws & Tales. We've had kids from all over the country send in their announcer recordings and they are heard every day on the program. But we haven't heard one from you!

Dave Carl: Yeah, yeah, really good, Stacy, but this time with a little more pathos, please.

Stacy: Oh, Ned. Keep going, Stacy. Just head on over to pawsandtales.org and pop into the clubhouse to get one of the announcer scripts.

Dave Carl: Yeah, that's a good start, Stacy, but I need some more sparkle, please. Give me more sparkle!

Stacy: I don't even know what that means. Record yourself on your parent's phone and send it in to us so we can get your voice heard around the world. That's pawsandtales.org. This is so exciting!

Dave Carl: Well, let's think about your motivation on this. Good job, Stacy. Stopping tape.

Ned: Wait! I'm directing this! Do not stop tape, Joel! Do not stop that tape!

Guest (Female): It's not so hard, I guarantee,

To build a treehouse that will stay up in a tree.

But your foundation must be strong or your creation won't last long,

Mmm, that explanation works for me.

Insight for Living: 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 treehouse, admiring it from a distance.

Stacy: And it moved about an inch, and the stake in the ground, well, it slid in the dirt like there was no dirt at all.

CJ: The tree split all the way down to the middle, and the whole treehouse 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 gabillion pieces.

Papa Chuck: Did you check out that tree before you started to build?

CJ: We thought we had, but I don't know. How are you supposed to know something like that? You'd have to cut down the tree to see the inside. Goose, stop making the chair squeak!

Goose: Sorry. We were going to have so much fun in that treehouse. 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.

Stacy: That twine was not old. I just didn't want to wait for months to play in the treehouse.

Papa Chuck: Goose, stop squeaking!

Goose: Sorry. I'm done.

Papa Chuck: If you had been in that tree when it fell, you'd 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.

Stacy: Long, straight nails.

Papa Chuck: Even before that, you need a firm foundation. If your foundation is weak—

CJ: We know all about that.

Papa Chuck: Well, let's go find you a solid foundation to build on.

Luke Gopher: I knew it would have moved!

Papa Gopher: Did you see it? The wood flew across the burrow and disappeared! Oh, 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.

Mama Gopher: Well, did either of you good gophers look above ground to see what you were building under?

Papa Gopher: He did.

Luke Gopher: He did.

Mama Gopher: What if we were building our house under a dry stream or a river, and the water came flooding in on us?

Papa Gopher: Exactly what I was thinking. Okay everyone, let's go up and investigate. Whoa! Look at that tree! We could build under that.

Luke Gopher: Look at it, Papa. Where are the leaves?

Papa Gopher: There are no leaves, Papa.

Mama Gopher: It is spring and the tree has no leaves. What does that mean?

Luke Gopher: Papa, the tree is dead!

Papa Gopher: Good for you, Luke.

Luke Gopher: Thank you, Mama. What's that? It's fantastic! It's beautiful!

Mama Gopher: It looks like a palace of scrap wood.

Papa Gopher: It looks like the perfect place to build our burrow under. It will be protected from the rain!

Luke Gopher: And from anything stepping on top of our burrow and caving it in. This will be a very good foundation to build under. Hmm, some of that wood could panel the dining room walls!

Papa Chuck: Okay guys, what makes up a good foundation?

Goose: Something termites don't eat.

Stacy: What a good house is built on.

Papa Chuck: But what is a good foundation like?

Goose: Something that doesn't move!

Papa Chuck: Good for you, Goose.

Stacy: Something that can stand up to a storm.

Papa Chuck: Excellent! Spontaneous applause, everyone! Let's do a wave. It's going, going, going. Okay, Goose. She shoots, she scores. Goose! I'm done.

So, something solid, strong, something you can have confidence in, even faith.

CJ: You're not talking about the treehouse, 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 angry with us all the time. What would you do if you thought that was true?

Stacy: 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! Immensely! Incredibly! Infinitely!

Goose: We got it! I'm done.

Papa Chuck: If we believe that about God, then what would you do?

CJ: Pray to Him all the time because He loves me to talk to Him.

Papa Chuck: Absolutely!

Stacy: Go to church and serve Him because He smiles when we do. That's what Mama says.

Papa Chuck: Your mama is a very wise bear. You've got to have a solid foundation. Hey, what's this? Look, it's huge!

Goose: I've never seen a bigger rock.

Stacy: Something was built here before. Wow! Look at those posts stuck right in the stone. They're still in tight. Could we build our treehouse 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! Let's not build a treehouse. Let's build a fortress!

CJ: This is going to be great! Let's get some wood from the old treehouse.

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 could 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!

Stacy: I'm in!

Goose: Goose is in!

Papa Chuck: It'll take some time. I'm done. 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! Wild Mountain. Hey, there's the school!

Guest (Female): 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 treehouse that will stay up in a tree.

But your foundation must be strong or your creation won't last long,

Mmm, that explanation works for me.

So, hammer, hammer, knock, knock, knock,

Gonna build on solid rock.

Come on, spread the message down the block,

Gonna build on solid rock.

If you build on solid rock,

Yeah!

Okay, I'm done, I'm done.

So if your day is kind of tough,

Lean on the Lord, He is your rock, He'll lift you up.

'Cause 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,

Gonna build on solid rock.

Love the Lord and walk your talk,

Then you've built on solid rock.

Don't build on a gopher's condo,

Don't build on sinking sand.

Don't build on mashed potatoes,

You'll have a mess on your hand!

Don't build on a swampy river,

Don't build on a fluffy cloud.

Just build your life on Jesus,

He's the rock, say it out loud!

Hammer, hammer, knock, knock, knock,

Gonna build on solid rock.

Love the Lord and walk your talk,

Then you've built on solid rock.

Everybody hammer, hammer, knock, knock, knock,

Gonna build on solid rock.

Love the Lord and walk your talk,

Then you've built on solid rock!

CJ: No wonder they built a lookout post here. I can 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've got to go help!

Insight for Living: To order a copy of today's program, A Good Foundation, just log on to pawsandtales.org. A Good Foundation was written and directed by David Carl. Music by John Campbell and Solid Rock was written by Sandy Howell. Paws & Tales is an Insight for Living production and a proud member of the hiskids.net alliance.