Word Time Experiments

Today was day 2 of my project of trying to wean the OCs and JETTs out of gen-ups and Heaven's libraries onto some meatier subjects. Today we read (or tried to read) "Worldly or Free!"
After about 10 minutes of trudging through spiritual concepts in Japanese, I took a little poll. "Who has any idea what we're reading about?" One person "did". At least the other three had the humility to say "Uh...not so much."
Okay. One of those General Patton-style quick changes of planses. I whipped the guitar out of the corner of the room and pulled out my songbook. Let's have a little heducation time!! No more singing the same 5 Japanese hymns over and over during communion!! We're going to learn a real English song (or TRY to learn a real English song)!!
Quite a hefty challenge. "Diamond of Dust" is too high a hurdle? No problemo, how about "Put Your Trust In Him"? I understand, yes, there are quite a few words in that one. How about "It's Bubbling"? Too fast, quite right. How about we just have a little DISCUSSION time then?
Awkward silence.
Swiftly, Florence pulls out the cleverest filler of all, a Link in English and the same Link in Japanese. Find an inspiring testimony, quick, so that we can discuss it. Oh perfect, here's one from Esther W.W. about witnessing with songs! That's something I can discuss. Eagerly we read the testimony. The kids look a little uplifted. Good, good!
Now they start asking me their questions. "Furorensu, how many songs do you know?" (Goodness gracious, who knows?) "What was the first Family song ever?" (Wow. Good question.)
So I crack open my computer and try to find something that I think may be one of the very oldest. I find an original recording of Aaron singing "Shouting Jesus," some hippies singing "You Gotta Be A Baby," and some Frenchies singing a very frantic "My Love is Love." "My Love is Love," ("私の愛は愛...？") made for some very interesting discussion on the topic of how it only takes one short inspired sentence (in this case, one that is quite questionable as far as actual "sense-making"), repeated over and over, to be a powerful witness to people.
Just for fun, I play "The Lamb" for the sweet kids and offer them a literal translation after every verse. We take various stabs as to the meaning of the song, and come up with a lot of interesting hypotheses. (Who really knows what that song means?) Yuji says soberly, "Hm, it seems quite easy to write a witnessing song."
WOW! Yes it is! All you really need is the Spirit, and that's something you can't drive into your song with a any amount of effort and a pair of pliers. It's just a matter of opening one eyelid and asking the Lord to fill your song, and writing down a little sentence like "My love is love." (Or, not being too much of an OLD BOTTLE to stop writing when the first thing that comes to your head is "I saw a lamb on the road, it was dancing...") And...maybe not being too much of a fuss-pot to finish your song with "Repeat as led."
So maybe tomorrow I will try to read some more meaty Word, and when the kids all start looking bleary-eyed and clueless, we will write a witnessing song.

Acronyms of Praise

I sit in my small house, with the kids yelling like Indians in the next room, with my feet folded underneath me, a bowl of yakisoba on my table next to my laptop, my bed quite nicely made and a little neglected since I haven't slept in it for the last two days. It beckons sweetly to me. Ah, faithful bed!! We must get reacquainted, you and I.
Steve, I'm so happy that we get to witness with music, like...actually. You know how it's such a dream to have a music ministry that has cut past all of those initial hazy ideas that you had about what sort of music you would play, or what kind of retarded image you would have, and has finally managed to make it down to the nitty gritty hardcore kind of songs that you know in the pit of your stomach, and that make sense in your small brain? Hooray for witnessing with music!! PTL and other praiseful acronyms!
I hope to sleep well this evening. (Florence says as she skips off to her manager duties.)

Mexicans

Mexican word of the day: WATER
My vieja gets mad and I don't even know water problem is!

Mexican word of the day: BRIEF
My homie farted gacho, bad, and I couldn't brief.

Mexican word of the day: MUSHROOM
Orale vato, when all my familia gets in the car, there's not mushroom.

Mexican word of the day: CHICKEN
My vieja wanted me to go to the store, but chicken go by herself.

Mexican word of the day: LIVER and CHEESE
Some vato tried to sweet talk my ruca. I told him, orale loco liver alone, cheese mine!

Mexican word of the day: JULY
Ju tol me ju were goin to the store and July to me! Julyer!

Mexican word of the day: WAFER
I wanted to go with my mom to the flea market pero she didn't wafer me!

Mexican word of the day: HERPES
I had some cake to share with my wife, this is my piece, this is herpes.
Sent to me by my sweet sister.

Misunderstandings

Recently I was sitting around with a group of people, and someone asks me, "What does it say in that part of the song after Steve says 'Payment, who cares about the money...'?"
And, obviously, the line goes "The rent, you can always live with somebody." (Whether or not that is a clever line is DEFINITELY up for grabs. I can even tell you what silly ninny came up with it.)
And they all started laughing and go. "Oh, haha, I thought it was 'Florence, she can always live with somebody'."
Like...dude. What a far more hilarious line!! Steve why didn't you think of that?
This definitely takes the cake. This is better than "I still savor the taste of sauce on my tongue."

A small treat

Remember those solo dance parts in YMCA? Where you desperately try to shun all forethought and break out into the first sort of dance-ish thing that comes to you? Behold, the moves that lurk beneath the surface:

Oh Wow

Excitement.