Our Friday Hang Out

For the first year and a half that we lived here, we lived in an apartment in another part of town. One of the really cool things about that apartment was that it was close to a street market that sold fresh fruits, vegetables and other things every Thursday. They literally closed down a small street so the vendors could come in and sell their products. It was just two blocks from our apartment and we loved it. When we moved to where we live now we lost our neighborhood market.

That was until three weeks ago.

Garrett goes to soccer school on Monday and Friday afternoons. We recently noticed another street market close to his school that sets up for business on Fridays.

In just a matter of minutes this:

Becomes this:

And this:

Becomes this:

Like I said, they have fruits.......

.........vegetables.........

......and meat, cheese, bread, cereal, nuts, fresh pasta, etc.

The first time we went was the day Ansley returned from the states. Benay was very happy to find another little market. Only Benay, Bronwyn and myself went as the other kids stayed in the car thinking it would be boring. The next week Benay couldn't go and she asked Garrett and I to go and get whatever we thought we needed. This changed things in Garrett's mind. Whatever was the key word for him. Now he makes the shopping list with his dad and he loves it.

He's not afraid to mix it up with some older guys for some oranges.

Or muscle out a lady for some potatoes when needed.

He literally can't wait until the next Friday to go and get some more stuff. It's really turned out to be a great father-son time together. It's also morphed into "Friday night guys make supper for the rest of the family" night. We are making supper from things we buy at the market. It's pretty funny because you couldn't have two more inept men in the kitchen, but the girls in our family have allowed it (along with prayers for health) and it's turning out to be a fun family tradition.

Two Years

Two years ago on this date Bronwyn and I went to the greatest and most fun sporting event that I've ever been to.....and that's saying a lot. It was the finals of the Libertadores and we won. It was cold, wet, started at 10:00 at night (post for another day) and was incredible.

Here we were. This photo was taken by our semi.....okay....mostly inebriated fellow fan. We thought he did a good job considering his condition.

Only the best soccer teams from South American countries are invited to play. Before 2006 it had been 13 years since our favorite team had played in this tournament.

Bronwyn and I have to thank my dad for making this possible. He has always understood that special sporting events make for lifetime memories. He took me to a couple of Final Fours (I had the privilege of seeing Michael Jordan hit his game winning shot for North Carolina), Sugar Bowls (Tennessee beating the snot out of the Miami Hurricanes), Tennessee football games in Knoxville, a guy's only trip driving from Tennessee to Chicago to see my Cubbies play, trip to see the Yankees.......you get the picture. Obviously from me being able to list all these things the trips meant a great deal to me.

My parents visited us in early 2006 and we had the privilege of taking my dad to see our team play a game in the Libertadores. He liked it and we kept him informed of how our team was doing during the year. When he found out that Internacional was one game away from being the champs he knew Bronwyn and I had to go. The day before the game he put some money in our bank account that was only to be used to buy tickets. He put in exactly what we needed and Bronwyn and I were able to be a part of an incredible game.


Like I said, my dad really gets the "lifetime memories" thing between dads and their kids. This time he made one for his son and granddaughter. Thanks, Pop.

Video usually doesn't do things justice but here are some tastes of what Bronwyn and I were blessed with.

This is what it was like 20 minutes before the game. The stadium was completely filled 2 hours before the start. I know this video is blurry but it gives an idea of the atmosphere.



Bronwyn going bonkers after our first goal.


Just after the final whistle.



As I finish this post I realize probably no one (outside of my dad) cares about the game. That's okay, this post can be just for him. I know Bronwyn and I won't ever forget that night.

Getting Closer

Hard to believe but we only have 3-4 more weeks of this pregnancy.

We had our 5th baby ultrasound today and got to see the little guy (we might just name him "Little Guy") one last time before he arrives. Everything, praise God, looks good. He already weighs 6.6 lbs. and is 19 inches long. Here he is:
Is it just me or does his head look like the alien guys on the last Indiana Jones movie?

Father's Day-House Church Style

Sunday was Father's Day in Brasil. The thing we love about house church is that you can adapt it to any situation and have no red tape or "chain of command" that you have to go through before you change something. In house church our worship time has naturally and spontaneously changed, when needed, into a bible study, a prayer meeting, a time of annointing and even a hospital. You can also change everything to be focused on a special day.

Last Sunday the focus of house church was on fathers. It was a really special day. The day started off with the kids helping Benay make cinammon rolls.

When everyone arrived for house church, the dads were asked to sit at a table. Ansley then led a prayer for the food and for the dads and then the kids/wives served their dads breakfast.

Everyone enjoyed the time of fellowship over breakfast.

We then had our worship time together. Each dad was asked to pick a favorite song to sing.During the last song two of the kids served the Lord's Supper to everyone.

Then each child read specific scripture for their dads.

This was followed up by Benay saying a specific prayer for each dad while their kids laid hands on them. I can't express how strongly the Spirit moved through and led her prayer. When she finished, 3 people were crying.

And that was it. A simple, perfect time of worship together. It meant a lot to every dad. We were blessed.
Here are the dads that were there and their families:

This is Silvio. His daughter couldn't come so we lent him one.

This is Grace with her mom (Ivoli) and dad (Carlos). Benay started crying during her prayer when she began to pray and thank God for Carlos. Carlos has never been to a house church worship before. He is a good man and we believe that one day this entire family will be Christ followers.

This is Garigran, his wife Gabriela and their two boys Aaron and Arthur. Moema and her son Kjeld. Kjeld's dad, Roberto, continues to be in his mission training program in another city.

And then this good looking family was there as well. All the dads were blessed on our special day and I know God was glorified by our time together.

Prostitution

Two days a week I take Garrett to his soccer school which is about a 20-25 minute drive from our house. Every day we go to practice we drive by a prostitute that sits at the same place (a nice part of the city in front of a very nice hotel). We've even seen her in the middle of accepting a client and going with him to a park next to where she sits by this main street. The photo below isn't of the two women we saw. We actually took it off the internet just to give an example of the daylight openness with which prostitutes are free to work in this country.

Yesterday as we went to class we passed by a police blitz. A blitz is when the police set up a road block and randomly stop cars to make sure people have their proper car documents. They literally block off the street to stop cars and then one policeman stands further back with a shot gun in case anyone tries to blow past it. I confess it kind of wigged me out a little bit the first time I saw all the guns. But it's a normal thing to us now. Here's a picture of a blitz to give you an idea of what it looks like.

Not 50 feet behind the last policeman were two (the one we always see and another) prostitutes on the same street. It hit me how sad that was. That you could get a ticket or your car impounded for not having the proper documents on the same block as someone openly selling their body for sex.

Prostitution is not illegal in Brasil. So, it's not uncommon to see prostitutes on the streets looking for business day and night in our city. We've literally seen a city block with around 15 women on it propositioning men (some even walking with women) during the day. Don't get me wrong, it's not on every corner. There are some spots in the city that are working spots for these women and transvestite men. A Brasilian friend and I passed by a street like this one time (close to his house) and we passed by an attractive young woman on my friend's street. I remarked that it's very sad that anyone would sell their bodies like that, and to see a young, pretty woman doing it just killed me. He said, "Uh, that's a guy."

It still is a pretty incredible site to see. I know that growing up in the United States you don't see much of that. Most people don't ever see that. At least I didn't before I moved here. The first time I ever encountered anything like that was on a trip that my dad and I took to New York City right before my wedding day. We went to see the Yankees play and on the way back to our hotel on a late night a prostitute propositioned my dad. He quickly refused and she, seeing my dad meant business, moved on to the baby face 21 year old kid behind him. I politely refused and as she continued her propositioning she grabbed my hand. At that time in my life I wasn't really into seeking the lost and being the light to the world. I didn't really live the "every conversation has eternal consequences" mindset that I try to have now. What did I do? I freaked out. Went back to our hotel and washed my hand at least 10 times. Just like Christ right? Hardly.

I share this to emphasize that we love Brasil. We love living here and love the people. It really has become our home. But, there are still times when we see some big differences between our birth country and our adopted country. Doesn't make one better or worse than the other, but you are either blind or choosing not to see to claim you don't see the differences.

Like prostitution. We (Americans) kid ourselves if we think it isn't a problem in the states. Oh sure, you can grow up in a place and never see it but you can watch the news or read the paper almost weekly and see another undercover police operation to break up a prostitution ring.

Here, like I said, it's not against the law. It's still something I haven't gotten used to.

I know God loves all people and wants all people to come to Him. This prostitution thing has always been a hard thing for me to comes to terms with. I've never been around any of it and just don't see how someone could sell their body for money. I'm also learning how hard living in this world is for many people living in a third world country. It's easy to be sheltered from that in the states. It's harder here. Brasil is a third world country. It's also a country of great contrasts. Our city (according to a recent story in a newspaper) is the most expensive city in which to live in all of Brasil. You can see lots of very expensive cars on the road as well as new apartment buildings being built on every street. But, when these expensive cars stop at a light they are approached by the many homeless in our city. Right beside some of these new, fancy apartments there are shanty towns.

Please pray for us, our network of house churches and all of our Christian brothers and sisters that we know here in the city to be the light to this world and to cross our comfort zones and reach the people that are in bad places. The ones that know they are in bad places and the ones that may be so far down that they don't even realize it anymore. It is hard to know what to do or where to start. We need prayers for wisdom and then courage to act.

Paging Dr. Blume

Carys was recently on her winter vacation. Typically the last two weeks of July are school holidays for our kids. During that recent break Benay had a doctor's appointment with Claudia and Carys asked if she could go too. She was dying to hear the baby's (still not named) heartbeat.
Imagine how thrilled Carys was when Claudia asked her to be the "special" assistant. One thing we love about Brasil is the amount of time our doctors spend with us. There is also never a thing as inconveniencing your doctor. You can ask as many questions as you want, talk and even bring your 9 year old daughter to an appointment and your typical Brasilian doctor (from our experience) will welcome these things with open arms. This is especially true with Claudia. Like we've said before, she is more friend than doctor.

Carys was thrilled to actually be the one who allowed all of us to hear her little brother's heartbeat.

I don't know if Carys or Claudia enjoyed the visit more.

Puritan Prayer

This is a Puritan prayer titled "Man a Nothing."

If comes from a book I'm reading by Chuck Swindoll titled "So, You Want to be Like Christ?"

The chapter deals with surrender and releasing our grip. Swindoll says this prayer is written anonymously because the words belong to anyone honest enough to claim them.

When thou wouldst guide me I control myself,
When thou wouldst be sovereign I rule myself,
When thou wouldst take care of me I suffice myself,
When I should depend on thy providings I supply myself,
When I should submit to thy providence I follow my will,
When I should study, love, honour, trust thee, I serve myself;
I fault and correct thy laws to suit myself
Instead of thee I look to man's approbation,
and am by nature an idolater.

Lord, it is my chief design to bring my heart back to thee.
Convince me that I cannot be my own god, or make myself happy,
nor my own Christ to restore my joy,
nor my own Spirit to teach, guide, rule me.

Help me to see that grace does this by providential affliction,
for when my credit is god thou dost cast me lower,
when riches are my idol thou dost wing them away,
when pleasure is my all thou dost turn it into bitterness.

Take away my roving eye, curious ear, greedy appetite, lustful heart;
Show me that none of these things
can heal a wounded conscience,
or support a tottering frame,
or uphold a departing spirit.

Then take me to the cross and leave me there.

God at Work

If you need a pick me up or are in need of a reminder of God's power in our world today then you need to check out Matt's recent blog and then go to Mark and Ali's blog.

You will be blessed.

Pork Ribs

One of my Christmas presents from Benay was a daily devotional book for men. I read yesterday's devo to her and we agreed it didn't just apply to men. It's a great analogy that applies to women as well and so we've added the parenthesis below. Here is the devo and prayer from the book:

In a sense, our male (female) minds are like marinated pork ribs: They take on the character of whatever we soak them in. Only after going through the fire, however, does our true flavor come out.

So how does God's man (woman) "marinate" his mind in the precepts of the Lord? The Bible gives us the principle of meditation, as we read in Psalm 119:23: "Your servant will mediate on your decrees."

Lord, I want to take on the character of Christ, to live my life in selfless love. Teach me as I saturate my mind with Your Word and Your decrees.

Serious Business

Sometimes you just have to get on the computer and play soccer. It takes lots of concentration.Sometimes you miss the shot.Sometimes you make a goal and get to celebrate with your brother. But no matter what, it's enough fun to put a smile on your face.

Getting Close

Only (more or less) 5 more weeks until we get to hold our new son/little brother.

Isn't she cute?

Every Man, God's Man

Satan's most clever ruse--that he doesn't even exist!--has never been more successful than it is today.

Modern man says, "The devil? You can't be serious!" And in our misguided attempts to "blend in," we've allowed that thinking to turn God's battle-hardened fighting men into lazy, half-hearted souls whose spiritual commitment has as much backbone as a jellyfish.

In these situations, it's best to go to the source, and that source--God's Word--teaches that to believe in a personal God is to believe in a personal devil. Jesus Christ sure believed in him. The Son of Man identified Satan as the "father of lies" and as a thief whose mission it is to "steal, kill, and destroy" (John 8:44 and 10:10).

Why prepare yourself for temptation when you believe that no one will tempt you?

She Made It

We went to the airport yesterday to pick up Ansley:But not before nature girl Carys had to pick up and play with a roly-poly bug (she had never seen one before)..... .....and, of course, show it to her little brother. Ansley's flight was about 10 minutes late. So, some of us waited with family............while others waited in the middle of their happy friends. Ansley even had a fan club waiting for her. After 6 weeks apart, we were very anxious to finally get to hug our daughter/sister.Bronwyn even talked a security guard into letting her go and help Ansley with her bags. She got the first hug. Then it was Anderson's turn. Here's what it looks like when a 9 year old sees her sister for the first time in over 6 weeks:


She had a great trip. We are happy to have her back. Thank you for the prayers for her safety!

By the way, Garrett couldn't make it to the airport. He had soccer practice (this is the soccer capital of the world). He did promise to score a goal in Ansley's honor. After picking her up from the airport we went to his practice, and 10 minutes after we arrived he scored, looked at Ansley, and smiled. We all have different ways of welcoming her home and saying "I love you".

Getting Ready for Ansley

We aren't any different than any other family that has kids. We have incredible kids who also, from time to time, have serious sibling "spats" as well. It's part of being in a family. It happens. It drives us crazy at times but we know that they love each other very much.

How do we know this? Times like these:

Yesterday they spontaneously made lots of "Welcome Home" posters for their sister. They put them all up this morning to get ready for Ansley's arrival.

Even Anderson got in on the act (both on the poster and on his face).His poster says "Gradulations Ansley".

I discovered how much they missed each other yesterday when Garrett was looking at the calender. Like any big family, it's easy to have a couple of kids that like to pick on each other. Ansley and Garrett like to "mix it up" a little bit. They know each other's buttons to push and they push them. Anyway, yesterday Garrett noticed that today was the 1st of August and he said, "Tomorrow Ansley is coming home"? I said yes and he joyfully said, "YEAH!"

Like I said, we are blessed to have kids that really love each other.