Big Garrett

A few days ago we got an email from this guy:His name is Garrett. We actually call him Big Garrett to keep things easier around here.

Garrett has lived for most of the last two years in Santiago, Chile. His email said he would be passing through and wanted to know if he could stay with us for a couple of nights.

We first met Garrett about 2 years ago when he came with a team from Texas A&M University. They have a missions program called Aggies for Christ. They travel the world during their summer breaks to go and help different missions around the world. This group came and basically built a building at the chácara.

Like I said, he has lived in Santiago and he was using his gifts to help a church family there. He will now live in Rio for the next 6 months as he will again use his gifts to help another church family in any way he can.

We don't stop much in our day to day lives. We told Garrett to jump in wherever he wanted to as well as just stay home and chill when he needed to do that. We told him he could stay with us as long as he wanted. His two night stay turned into a 4 night stay. We were blessed by his time with us.

While he was here he was able to share in spiritual things with us. He was able to go to a church family celebration with us, he got to visit with some old friends from the chácara as well as make some new ones and he went with me one morning to an accountability group that I am blessed to be a part of. He also got to experience lots of Blume family activities. He went to little Garrett's soccer practice, visited Anderson's school, ate churrasco (Brasilian bar-b-que), ate pasteis (a family favorite....like a fried pie filled with whatever you want), experienced Anderson's non-stop questions and got to be a part of Carys's "live in the moment" world. He also got to spend some quality time watching Kung Fu Panda and Sponge Bob with Anderson and Carys. Even if it meant watching them upside down while being a human pillow. And if you live in this house and you are a visitor, you have to mix it up with our kids. They wouldn't have it any other way.He was even blessed to have Thanksgiving in April. Benay and Bronwyn found some real orange sweet potatoes and couldn't wait to make turkey and dressing with it. (Typical sweet potatoes here are white and don't have quite the same taste.) When you never have something (peanut butter, sweet potatoes, etc) and then you find it.......you celebrate. Big Garrett happened to be here when they decided to make it and so he enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal with us.We even were able to have some adult time conversations about family, God's kingdom and ministry.

We were blessed by his visit. We don't think we scared him off with our big familyness or our sleeping hours. He hung right in there with us and became a part of our family for a few days.

I always like to hear what people think about what they see here as far as this ministry. I asked Garrett if he wanted to share anything about his time here and here is what he sent:

It's my third time in Porto Alegre, I'm here a few days past my original plans, and I'm trying to purchase a plane ticket online to get to Rio, my future home for six months. I was already a bit shocked by just how early this family wakes up and Kevin asks "Do you want to go to a prayer meeting at 7:00 in the morning? We can go by the airport afterwards." Do I really want to go? Better yet, do I really want to wake up at 6:30 a.m.? No, not really. But I do anyway and I accompany Kevin to the crack-of-dawn (it really wasn't that early) gathering of guys. I was moved by the church family's frankness and realness at the celebration on Sunday and it didn't stop there. We walk in and the guys just start sharing, no façades, no pretexts, straight up opening themselves up to each other with nothing held back.

This church is church. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says to, "…encourage one another and build each other up…" And that's what I see. I see people from all backgrounds and histories coming together, loving each other, and building each other up. One can't not be encouraged by it. I hope that wherever we are we drop our pretenses and just get real with one another.

Oh, and the Blumes serve up some incredible food as well!

I ask that you please pray for Garrett. After Rio he isn't sure where God is leading him. Please pray for him to have God's peace and direction in whatever that next step may be. Whatever it is and wherever he goes we know he will do great things for the kingdom.

(you can check out his blog here)