Talk About Pop Music-- American Authors
"Oo-oo-oo--oo This is gonna be the best day of my li-i-ife..."
We love this song! Catchy, clean, fun! Dance party in the car while Daddy drives!
One day after hearing it for probably the 50th time, Sweet Pea asked, "WHY is it gonna be the best day of his life?"
I said quickly, so as to not disrupt the happy bouncing of our car sing-along, "Good question. Listen to the whole song, and see if you can answer that at the end."
When the song ended, I turned down the volume and asked the 3 in the backseat, "So, what do you think?"
Big sister jumped in immediately: "They were up late. So late that the sun came up." Then from the side of her mouth, "Probably college students--because they are awake when everyone else is sleeping," said the daughter of 2 college ministers.
Sweet Pea dug for deeper meaning: "All the possibilities...what does 'no limits' mean?" (She didn't even attempt to pronounce 'epiphanies').
I explained, "Limits are like borders or boundaries. (Even Bubba knows this concept--"play within the boundaries!"). So this guy singing doesn't have anything holding him in. And he has many possibilities. How could this make him have "the best day" of his life?"
The girls gave me a look like, "How should I know?"
"Well, how do you think he is feeling? Happy? sad? excited? hopeful? afraid...?"
They answered in a chorus, "Happy! Excited! Hopeful!"
I asked, "What does hopeful mean?"
"I don't know."
"Sure you do--I hope that the restaurant has food that I like. I hope it has crayons. I hope______"
"That I get a puppy!"
"Right! What does hope mean?"
"It means that you want something to happen but you're not sure if it's going to happen."
"Yes," I said, "And it implies something good. If you were expecting something bad, that word would be 'dread.' But hope is good. It makes people happy, and unfortunately, lots of people are without hope."
"Why?"
"Well, they may feel like they don't have lots of possibilities--like the song says. They may feel like they can't change certain things in their life. But WE have a hope that never fails. Do you know what I'm talking about?"
One of them sweetly said, "Jesus!" They all smiled.
I nodded, "Yes! But there's a difference. You said hope is about something that you aren't sure is going to happen, but Hope in God is sure!" I quoted, "Faith is confidence in what we hope for, assurance of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1
I prodded, "So no matter what kind of day we're having--the BEST day or the worst day, do we always have something to be thankful for?" They nodded, and I continued, "So is that some insight on why God tells us not to complain? (bringing in a conversation from earlier that day, and answering a question they had asked). There are lots of reasons why God asks us to not complain, this is just one of them."
Precious convicted little eyes looked at me.
[I love that I can sometimes SEE on their faces how the Holy Spirit changes their hearts. As a parent, I could manipulate/shame/guilt them, and I try never to do that (although sometime my mouth flies off quickly). As a parent, I can teach information. But only God convicts. Only He turns knowledge to wisdom, and only He renews the heart. More things for which to be thankful!]
I love our car dances and the conversations they spark!
We love this song! Catchy, clean, fun! Dance party in the car while Daddy drives!
One day after hearing it for probably the 50th time, Sweet Pea asked, "WHY is it gonna be the best day of his life?"
I said quickly, so as to not disrupt the happy bouncing of our car sing-along, "Good question. Listen to the whole song, and see if you can answer that at the end."
When the song ended, I turned down the volume and asked the 3 in the backseat, "So, what do you think?"
Big sister jumped in immediately: "They were up late. So late that the sun came up." Then from the side of her mouth, "Probably college students--because they are awake when everyone else is sleeping," said the daughter of 2 college ministers.
Sweet Pea dug for deeper meaning: "All the possibilities...what does 'no limits' mean?" (She didn't even attempt to pronounce 'epiphanies').
I explained, "Limits are like borders or boundaries. (Even Bubba knows this concept--"play within the boundaries!"). So this guy singing doesn't have anything holding him in. And he has many possibilities. How could this make him have "the best day" of his life?"
The girls gave me a look like, "How should I know?"
"Well, how do you think he is feeling? Happy? sad? excited? hopeful? afraid...?"
They answered in a chorus, "Happy! Excited! Hopeful!"
I asked, "What does hopeful mean?"
"I don't know."
"Sure you do--I hope that the restaurant has food that I like. I hope it has crayons. I hope______"
"That I get a puppy!"
"Right! What does hope mean?"
"It means that you want something to happen but you're not sure if it's going to happen."
"Yes," I said, "And it implies something good. If you were expecting something bad, that word would be 'dread.' But hope is good. It makes people happy, and unfortunately, lots of people are without hope."
"Why?"
"Well, they may feel like they don't have lots of possibilities--like the song says. They may feel like they can't change certain things in their life. But WE have a hope that never fails. Do you know what I'm talking about?"
One of them sweetly said, "Jesus!" They all smiled.
I nodded, "Yes! But there's a difference. You said hope is about something that you aren't sure is going to happen, but Hope in God is sure!" I quoted, "Faith is confidence in what we hope for, assurance of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1
I prodded, "So no matter what kind of day we're having--the BEST day or the worst day, do we always have something to be thankful for?" They nodded, and I continued, "So is that some insight on why God tells us not to complain? (bringing in a conversation from earlier that day, and answering a question they had asked). There are lots of reasons why God asks us to not complain, this is just one of them."
Precious convicted little eyes looked at me.
[I love that I can sometimes SEE on their faces how the Holy Spirit changes their hearts. As a parent, I could manipulate/shame/guilt them, and I try never to do that (although sometime my mouth flies off quickly). As a parent, I can teach information. But only God convicts. Only He turns knowledge to wisdom, and only He renews the heart. More things for which to be thankful!]
I love our car dances and the conversations they spark!
