Sunday morning we drove about 1.5 hours to a little church in Florida Blanca. The church is about 2 years old now and we had not yet had the chance to visit with them until this weekend and we were very excited to see the work there. When we arrived, the pastor's wife met us at the gate and gathered up Jonah and Rachel for their kids class out in the backyard while the rest of us filed into the "house" for morning worship.
The song service was sweet...we sang old hymns to the accompaniment of a single guitar and the crowing of a neighboring rooster! There is something just awesome about that to me. Shortly after, Pastor Efren began his message. He would use the scripture from Ezekial 36:26 "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." and would proceed to teach to us how we can have a change of heart through God.
I would say that about 90% of the service was spoken in Tagalog, so I was getting bits and pieces here and there...there were even a few times I was a little impressed with my self over what I as actually understanding. Except at this moment: at the beginning of the message, Ptr. Efren repeated the word "heart" many times for emphasis and each time the word "Puso" was used. As I was listening to that word being spoken over and over, I became a little confused {pride always comes before a fall!}...I turned to Paul and asked him, "I thought that puso was the word for cat...isn't it?" To which Paul looked at me, holding back his laughter and explained to me that "cat is pusA...pusO is the word for heart"!
Service went well and we drove another 45 mins to San Fernando where we could get some lunch and groceries, etc and let me tell you, Paul did not stop talking about God changing my "cat" all day! While laughing quite frequently, he reminded me that he had the obligation to share that story the next time he preaches! I am so glad to offer up myself as message illustrations for my husband...as long as God gets the glory, right!?!
So in the humor of it all, I would like to share a few thoughts that have been lost in this most recent translation:
"Honey, I love you with all my cat"
"Deep in the cat of Texas"
"I will hide God's word in my cat..."
"Search me O God, and know my cat"
"Love the Lord your God with all your cat"
"Let thine cat keep thy commandments"
And my favorite of the day: Taken from Proverbs 20:9
"Who can say, I have made my cat clean...?"
I am happy to laugh...in the midst of confusion I have found clarity! That is one word I will remember forever and so the first time I ask someone if they are saved in Tagalog, I can be confident that I will not ask them if they have Jesus in their cat...and that is a good thing!
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