Father's Day--Barranco--Internacional

Mom,

Alright, the day started out like this: In the morning, me, Garrett, Givanto, and Bronwyn made cards for Dad.

And then we went to barranco and had THE best meat EVER!

And of course, we went to the Inter game and won 2x1! It was Giovanto's first soccer game... he is so lucky!

Dad stuff:

I loved my cards. We loved the food at Barranco! And we had a great time at the game. Giovanni did great at his first game.

We played terrible. Ponte Preta scored first and it looked like we would never score. After halftime we scored and Anderson (I know it's hard to believe) went CRAZY!! All he could say was, "WE ARE SO GOING TO WIN NOW!!!" Always Captain Optimistic!! I love that about him.

Anyway, we had 30 minutes to get our second goal. Every time we made a good play he would repeat his "fact" phrase...."WE ARE SO GOING TO WIN NOW!!"

After a quite a few chances and not scoring, having just 4 minutes left in the game and with the weather getting windy, threatening rain and colder B and I made the decision to leave. Anderson wasn't happy but he didn't complain too much other than to let me know that it would be my fault if we scored and he didn't get to see it. I was very confident it wasn't going to happen so I said, "Okay."

We had just left the stadium and the crowd around us went bananas with a guy screaming "FEITO" right behind B's ear. She said she almost peed herself because he scared her so bad.

We scored in the 2nd minute of stoppage time.

You think Anderson gave it to me all the way to the car?

Remind you of another game from 1998? Just like that game. You had faith, I didn't and today Anderson had faith and I didn't. Glad I was wrong on both games.

The boys loved being together. This is Gi about 5 minutes after we got there. He was enthralled by the singing and started clapping on his own.



This is the boys enjoying a little dance time in the second half.



After Barranco Gi konked on the couch.

When he woke up I gave him a shower before the game and then combed his hair. I didn't even really look at it but Anderson quickly informed me that Gi looked like a total nerd.

Why? Here's why.

I think he was right. He looked so different. Like a nerd.

During the game Gi looked at me and said, "When is mom coming home?" I said, "In 17 days."
His response? "No, that's too long. What about 2 days? That sounds better!"

Are you sensing a theme?

After Ponte Preta scored he looked at me and said, "Happy Father's Day!" I think he heard their fans cheering and thought it was a good time to say that.

Gi had the camera throughout the day. I know you like his work. Here are some pics from his world.

After I read books to the boys before they went to bed I thanked them for a great Father's Day. Anderson said, "We always try to do our best for you.....especially on this day!"

Gi's prayer was: "Dear God, thank you for Carys and Mom coming home and I want to play xbox kinect tomorrow. Amen"

As I laid down with them to go to bed, while getting my webbing cleaned :), I just smiled as I thought about our fun day and I thanked God for all of our kids.

Thank you too for blessing me with each one of them!

Today

Mom,

Today we went to Sogipa AGAIN and then we went to the pista and jumped in the sand and played soccer. It was so much fun.

And i got to spend some time with my family.

And as you know...Brazil lost in the gold medal match against Mexico. I don't want to talk about it.

And Bronwyn told us that when you were on the phone with her, and Brazil scored, you said all hail Brazil!! Awkward!!!

Gi's Blog:
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Couple of dad side notes:

Forgot to mention that when the boys raced at the pista yesterday they raced to some traffic cones. When they got to the cones Anderson touched it as fast as he could and then ran back to B. Gi? He had to pick it up in the air every time before he decided to run back. Every time! It was funny. Thought you'd like to see it. 

Also, at one point today Giovanni sat next to me on the couch and repeated this phrase, "Sheesh! When is mom going to come home." He shot that out about 5 times in a row.

I finally answered with, "In 18 days."

He said, "I don't like that. What about 5 days? That's much better."

He and I feel the same way.

Sogipa

Mom,

Today I went to school.

Bronwyn fixed us lunch and it was good. Chicken strips!

Then we went to  sogipa and the first thing we did was go to the pista [running track] and I beat Bronwyn by like 2 or 3 seconds.

We took some pictures.

And then we went to the small playground and see, i met a american from california. And at the small playground i saw his Brazilian cousin, Luigi.                

And then we went to the REALLY BIG playground and Giovanni saw his teacher Ariani and I saw my friend from the first grade which was two years ago.

We took a family picture.

And then a "men" picture.

And then we went home and Bronwyn made us pizza for family night.

Here is Givantos  blog:
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Dad side note: 

Here was the awesome temperature today.

   And I wanted to show you a picture of this lady walking by Giovanni. 

She was walking laps while we were having our Olimpicick day. She heard us speaking English and one time, as she walked by, she looked at me and said, "O pequininho já fala ingles?" Bronwyn and I smiled and said, "Sim." 

Thought you would like that little story. 

Junior Blogger

Anderson was sad that his mom got on a plane yesterday to go to the states for three weeks so he and my girlfriend made a promise to do a blog for each other every day until she gets home.

So for the next three weeks we will tag team the blog for our girls in the states.

So enjoy girlfriend, Ansley, Carys (Bronwyn is living it for the next week) and the rest of you who decide to follow Anderson's story telling!

Here you go:

Today was a very olimpicick day. I don't know if olimpicick is a word...Anyway,USA won a gold medal in womens soccer,USA also ran a race AND...they eventually... got in last place. BOO!

Bronwyn made taco's for lunch. They were awesome!

Garrett won his soccer game 2x1.

I went to soccer class and did a assist. Happy day!

Brazil plays in the finals in mens soccer against Mexico.

Some added input from Gi:
poiuytreeqhkdkohghiufucguuhuhgnijnnj cgjokgvkklhc,pgkokookmilfgkgllp,mlvpln.lvhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhkohkokhokgkogiioijijhuhhuyuuy7yu8yuj ghjgokbhhgkhgkokkkkkkhjmmmmmmmmjjjjjjkkkkkkkhhhhhgeeeeeeeeeeeej  bvbvnjjnvknn    m v m m nhjuhugfjhbfhnfgjgjjubgngjnbjjnjjjffyv7svj6hnn jvgbhbh udrbhsrbhsbhzhv x hfhd

Quigs also made us promise to add things he's told Bronwyn and myself over the last day and made us write down. He literally is looking over my shoulder right now making sure I type EVERYTHING he told us to say. He's only asked me if I'm done 25 times so far. He really wanted to "do a blog too."

He's been crazy wild today (and not necessarily in a good way). Bronwyn's been a HUGE help in dealing with the extra energy. I think it's a combo of you being gone and his missing school the last 2 days with his fever. He's all better so he's going back to school tomorrow to burn off some of his wild energy. 

Here are his quotes:

"I love tackle it and I love Cars 2 and the Aggies love Cars 2 too. And I love the Aggies and they're so beautiful."

"I play games and you're so beautiful. But just mom. He's SO beautiful!"

"And I live in a castle. I love bibles and stories and books. And I love lunch and there's only one Disney."

"Dear my friends, You're mad. And I love mom and dad. And you're not fair kids. And you're mad."

"Dear kids, you're mad and I love Disney World and I go to sleep all the time and you're mad at me every day. No. Yes. No. Yes."

And my 3 favorites: 
"Dear mom and dad. You're (mom) so beautiful too. But not you (dad) too!"

"You're gonna squeeze your buns and give a kiss on the lips and be an uncle too!"

Gi: "When is mom gonna come back and Carys gonna come back?"
Me: "In about 3 weeks."
Gi: "Cool! I like that number!"

Garrett and I came home from his soccer game (he played great) and we were met with this:

Puzzle piece heaven. Can you see the actual Cars on the puzzles? Heaven.....pure heaven!

Right before I posted this Givanto made me take his picture to "put it on the blog."

Like I said, he's crazy today.

Airport Day

We just got back from the airport.

We dropped off my girlfriend and Carys to catch their flight to the states. There they will take Ansley and Bronwyn to college.

I hate being away from my girlfriend for even one day but I am thankful to God for allowing her and Carys to be with Ansley and get her settled in to begin her new college life.  Our girls will return home three weeks from today.

The goodbye wasn't easy. Anderson cried a bunch and it brought my girlfriend to the edge of tears as well. It always kills my girlfriend to leave her kids, especially the little ones, but I know that after she got on the plane she got excited about traveling with Carys, seeing family in the states and being with Ansley over the next couple of weeks.

Thirty minutes after their flight took off Stephen's flight left. Stephen is Bronwyn's boyfriend and he was with us for close to three weeks.

Then about two hours later the Aggies group left.

Two of the girls from the Aggies and Stephen stayed with us so in a matter of a few hours today we went from a house of ten people to a house of five.

Five minutes after we left the airport Giovanni said, "Sheesh! When is mom coming home?"

I understand the feeling. We miss our family already.

We would appreciate your prayers for all the travelers.

Bragging

I read over and over in the Bible about humility. God loves it. He hates pride and boastfulness.

But would you allow me to be boastful for a bit?

I'd like to brag on God's family.

I doubt there are any new readers to this blog but if you find yourself here today for the first time let me share something about our church family.

We are a house church family. We've been a house church family since the end of 2006. We moved to Brasil with a team and a mindset of, to be honest, planting an American type church. Buy/rent a building, buy stuff to fill the building and make everything centered around the building.

Nothing wrong with that at all if it wins souls for Christ. It just didn't work for our team or this city. The Holy Spirit united us to close the building and begin house churches throughout the city.

Five and a half years later I wouldn't change it for anything.

Is it hard? Yes.

Is it frustrating? Yes.

Is it awesome? Yes.

Does it make you want to pull your hair out at times? Yes.

Can it be overwhelming and super tiring? Yes.

Does it also give you the biggest Holy Spirit energy boost you could ever imagine? Yes.

You see being a house church family is like being a real family.

In your family do you fight at times? Sure.

Share harsh words? Sure.

Ask for forgiveness? Sure.

Laugh till you cry? Sure.

Reach out if someone is hurting? Sure.

And, if you are a follower of Christ, do you go to a family member if you see sin? That is a tough one but it's what you are called to do.

We try, sometimes failing, to do all those things as a house church family.

It is not easy. In fact, it's the hardest thing we've ever done but it's so very worth it.

House church is family and it takes work to be a real family and not some social club. Just showing up one day a week, getting a warm fuzzy from being around other people like you and then going on with your lives.

We aren't interested in a life like that. God didn't call us here to have a life like that. He didn't call any Christian to live like that. He calls us to be much more than a social club.

House church, we've found, helps us to walk as closely to Acts 2: 43-47 as possible.

We aren't perfect but we strive to live out Acts and God shares with us brief glimpses of heaven.

Like two Sundays ago.

We have a sister in Christ who has a medical need. She has to have some tests done. The problem is that she doesn't have insurance and her tests were going to be around R$1000 ($500 U.S.).

There was no way for her to pay for them.

In the past she would not have shared much about her tests even though they are super important tests. She would have kept that to herself. Last week she asked for prayers for her tests.

The great thing about house church is that we have no costs. We don't pay rent. We don't pay preachers. We don't pay utilities. We can meet wherever. Since 2006 we've met in apartments, houses, parks, garages, next to waterfalls, other cities, businesses, anywhere. If someone wants to meet we go to them. The church is, as it should be, mobile. We go to where there is need. It's been very cool.

Because we have no expenses our tithe can go immediately to those who have an immediate need. We have no committees or leadership chain we have to go through to see if it's okay to use the tithe for a certain thing.

We ask when we meet if anyone has a need or knows of a need that someone they know has and then we bless that need on the same day. I love that!

Anyway, after our sister asked for prayers for her tests my girlfriend shared the financial need of doing those tests. She didn't share the cost. Just the need.

We had our house church present as well as the Aggies. Everyone went crazy with the tithe.

I know the Aggies shared from their hearts and they gave in a big way. I like this group and I've seen them bless people over and over since they've been here. I know they blessed our sister in a big way last Sunday with what they gave.

Our sister received about 75% of what she needed to cover the costs of her testing and we gave everything to her. She had no idea any of this was going to happen when she came to our apartment and a few hours later she was leaving with almost the entire cost of the testing covered.

She called the next day to tell us someone else had blessed her with the rest. God is so cool!

I finally want to share about one of the younger members of our church family. One that has one of the biggest and coolest hearts for God that I've ever seen.

It's our son Anderson.

I'm biased I know but he has always been a warrior for God. Willing to do anything for Him. He has a very big heart.

When he heard what the tithe was for last week he went to his room and cleaned out his wallet. Every penny came out and went to his sister.

This was money that grandparents had given to him for his birthday. He had used some of it to buy new soccer shoes and was saving the rest for something in the future.

Instead of waiting for the next cool thing to buy he listened to the Spirit and blessed his sister who had an immediate need.

He never shared what he did. He didn't do it for show. He quietly and humbly gave everything to his sister who had a need. He shared everything he had. Everything. Acts 2:44.

Yesterday he asked if our sister had done her biopsy yet? He then wanted to make sure it was called biopsy. His sister has been on his heart all week.

There are times that God just specifically blesses my girlfriend and myself. I mean He blesses us all the time but there seems to be times that He opens that window a little bit more and gives us a taste of heaven here on earth.

He did that last week with our sister, our church family here in POA, our church family from College Station, Texas and through an eight year old Spirit led boy who allowed us to see someone giving, literally, everything they owned and doing it with a huge smile.

God's family is cool and we need to share that coolness with this world.

Olympics

When I was a kid I remember the Olympics being a big deal. As I got older I don't remember caring as much. Don't know why but I've lost interest in watching them. I'll watch them if they are on but I don't stay glued to the T.V. or necessarily go looking for them.

My girlfriend and our kids still enjoy watching them. Especially the kids. When the Olympics are on T.V. they want to watch them. And they do. All sports and all channels. Especially when the Brasilian and American teams or individuals are competing.

Today I went to pick up Giovanni from school and he was excited. Really excited.

He told me that he watched Brasil, they won and they did karate. He then did some karate moves for me to show what he had seen.

I didn't know what he was talking about. Until I got home and saw this on facebook.

 It's Giovanni, his teacher, Ariane, and some of his buds from school.

They left class to go watch Mayra Aguiar go for the gold in Judo in the Olympics. Giovanni's school is part of a club and that club is where Mayra trains so everyone at the club got around T.V.'s today to watch her. Complete with Brasilian flags and screaming.

Giovanni got most of it right. It was Brasil. It was Judo instead of Karate. Mayra lost the gold but won the bronze. And it's already all over the news.

In the past Brasil hasn't won many medals. That's changing as Brasil grows. You will continue to see our athletes more and more on the world stage. We are getting tough in swimming, judo, basketball, sailing and other sports and we've been super tough for years in volleyball and, of course, soccer.

Because they haven't won many overall medals in the past they really celebrate every chance. Like today. Win, lose or draw they celebrate the competition. That's the way it's supposed to be.

I'm glad our Brasilian son got to participate and, who knows, maybe next week he'll get to meet Mayra at his school. That would be cool.

Paulo Renato

This is our brother Paulo Renato.

If you've been a follower of this blog for a while or if you get our monthly newsletter you already know about this brother.

Our love for him is very deep.

We've known him for almost 10 years.

He is a recovering alcoholic. He isn't shy about admitting that. He was sober for a few years. Last year he started drinking again. He did a good job of hiding it.

He was questioned about it for a few months. Different individuals at different times. He denied his drinking every time.

After a loving, confrontation from a group of his brothers and sisters in Christ he finally admitted his drinking and agreed to go back to the drug and alcohol rehab place that our church family works with.

He got out this past January and realized he needs some structure in his life to help him stay sober.

We suggested getting plugged into an Alcoholics Anonymous group. He excitedly agreed and found one that meets in a Catholic church in his neighborhood.

This past Sunday he worshipped with us in our house. He is a part of another house church family but he wanted to be with the Aggies.

As he was leaving he pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to me. He told me it was something he got from his A.A. meeting last week and he translated it into English.

He allowed me to scan it. Here's what it said:

Wow! Pure awesomeness.

My girlfriend almost cried when she read it.

He prayed during our worship time on Sunday. He thanked God for the love that he feels from his family in Christ. How he knows, really knows, that he is loved. I can't tell you how much that touched me because he's struggled at times with knowing and accepting the unconditional love of his Christian family.

We are really learning to be a family. It's hard but it's awesome.

I'm able to share all this because Paulo allowed me to do so. It's one of the things that I love about the men that leave the rehab center. They aren't shy about sharing their stories.

After Paulo shared his note with me I asked if I could scan it and share his story on our blog, ask people to pray for him and show everyone a picture of him.

He very excitedly agreed.

Go back up and look at the smile on our brothers face. It's priceless. It's as big as it is because he knew we were going to ask you to pray for him.

That's what family does. That's what family is.

Pray for Paulo.

AFC

These are the Aggies for Christ.

This is the 4th group we've had here from Texas A&M since 2007. We've loved every group so far. These guys are no exception. They are fun, funny and hard workers.

They got here last week and they've already been a big blessing to us, our church family and our other missionary friends and their families.

We'll probably share more about them later but for now we would appreciate your prayers for these guys as they spend another nine days with us.

That they will be safe and that God will open up big doors for them to minister to lots of people while they are here.

Lavish Grace-Max Lucado

Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Worry is falling short on faith.  Impatience is falling short on kindness.  The critical spirit falls short on love.

So, how often do you sin, hmm… in an hour?  For the sake of discussion, let’s say ten times an hour.  Ten sins an hour, times sixteen waking hours, times 365 days a year, times the average life span of 74 years.  I’m rounding the total off to 4,300,000 sins per person!  How do you plan to pay God for your 4.3 million sin increments?  You’re swimming in an ocean of debt.

But God pardons the zillion sins of selfish humanity.  He forgives sixty million sin-filled days.  He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where He always wanted us to be.  And He did it by the grace of Jesus Christ.

Next Stop........Texas

We just put Ans on a plane headed to Memphis.

Why?

She's off to college. She's going to the same college that Bronwyn attends in Texas.

First she will spend a few days with grandparents.

This big group went to the airport to tell her bye (Apologies for the quality.....I think our camera has seen better days).

We, as is our goodbye custom, got in a circle to pray for the traveler. Giovanni said the pray this time and it was awesome. With no prompting he prayed for Ansley and the airport. I loved that.

I love that our family doesn't get all weepy when it's time to say goodbye. We don't  have anything against weepy and from time to time someone will cry but it isn't like a death cry. We are honestly happy for what's coming for the person.

Would it be cool to always have everyone live on the same street or the same apartment building? Sure.

But at the same time I would always feel like our kids would be missing out on something that God has planned for them. We don't want to hinder anything that God tells them to do or where He tells them to go.

So we release. And it's been so cool.

Bronwyn has already traveled alone to Africa. Ansley lived for 5 months by herself in Ecuador. They've had world views and traveled the world since they were pre-teens.  I never had that or even  understood that until I was almost thirty.

I like that our kids see the world as God's creation and are open to wherever He sends them. I like that they are ready for the challenges that come from stepping out of their comfort zone.

Ansley is, once again, stepping out of her comfort zone and it gets easier every time. When she left for Ecuador she freaked out. Then she gradually began to turn things over to God as she realized that me and my girlfriend would not be able to come visit her. She was alone and only had God to rely on. And she relied on Him. Leaned on Him. Learned to covet time with Him. And she grew spiritually like you can't believe.

That's why she stepped on the plane today with no freaking out, no crying and no doubts. She knows God has directed this next step and she's ready. I love that.

So we ask that you pray for her safety today, tonight, tomorrow and, as she eventually, in about 3 weeks, ends up in Texas.

The leaving home is part of life. Knowing that your kids are ready to leave and are ready for that next step and are following God is the best feeling for a parent.

We know all these things and, better yet, Ansley knows them and feels the Spirit leading her as well.

Very cool.

She'll even miss this.

Why? I don't know.

Late Birthday Gift

I posted yesterday that it was my dad's birthday.

This past February he really liked something that Carys did for my girlfriend on her birthday.

He liked it so much he asked Carys to do the same for his birthday. And even though he wouldn't be able to enjoy it he told her to make sure her family took care of it after she made it.

What was it?

This......

It's a tropical picture made entirely of fruit, except for the blue M & M's on the right side. That's a new, but not surprising twist, for Carys.

By the way Pops, the exclamation point is another special touch just for you. It's an apple fritter and a doughnut.

Would you expect anything else from her?

Birthday Boy

If you've noticed or even care, we haven't been blogging much here lately. Honestly, when everyone is here we don't blog as much as when they are at college. But today I felt the need to blog.

Today is my dad's birthday. We call him Pops.

I couldn't have a better dad than my dad. He are some things that I love about him:

-He taught me how to treat my wife by how he treats my mom. He has always shown me what Christ's love for the church looks like by the way he loves my mom. He has always been the best role model of what a Christian husband and father looks like.

-He taught me and my sister about character. That your word is your bond. That even if someone cheats you you still treat that person the way Jesus would. My dad is a man of character.

-He doesn't take himself too seriously. He laughs easily at himself. That's a great quality today.

-He knows everything that goes on in our kids lives which isn't easy from 5,000 miles away. He calls and talks to our kids frequently. He laughs with them on the phone, jokes with them and calls them on important days. (He and my mom call on every birthday that we have and sing Happy Birthday as loud as they can....the kids love it. They just called him and returned the favor as loud as they could. I know he loved it!) Just the other day I heard him cracking our 15 year old son up on the phone. Just being goofy with our kids. They love that and so do I.

-He prays regularly for our family and our ministry. Every Tuesday morning he meets with some men. He's been doing that for many years. What do they do? Pray. For lots of things. One thing I know they pray about is our family and our Brasilian family and friends. They are prayer warriors for us and my dad is on the front lines in that spiritual battle.

-I have never in my life heard anybody say anything negative about my dad. Not in business. Not around his friends. Not when he's been a shepherd for different church family. That's pretty amazing in this day and age but, honestly, I'm used to it.

-He's a memory maker. I can't count the number of special family things he did with us growing up as well as just "guy trips" to see ball games.  It's something I've always tried to do with our kids.

-He's not afraid to admit when he's wrong. He has no problems apologizing when he goofs.

-He's not afraid to cry. He's not some macho, non-caring, non-sentimental ogre. When God touches his heart and he feels like crying. He cries. I like that.

-He's one of, if not the, wisest persons I know. I'm almost 50 and I still call him frequently for advice and Godly wisdom. I did it last night and God used him to calm my spirit about different things that are going on in our lives.

-Most importantly he's shown me how to love the Lord, how to not grow stagnant in my faith and to keep pushing myself with studying, stretching and growing my faith. He's an incredible example.

But it's not just me that thinks a lot of him. I asked people around our house today to share the first thing that popped into their minds when they thought of Pops.

-Giovanni: "Happy Birthday!"

-Anderson: "He always gives me doughnuts in the morning."

-Carys: "He's AWESOME!! He's funny. He's really nice to everybody. He's always doing something fun with us when we go there."

-Garrett: "I love him a lot. I like to be with him. I love spending time with him."

-Ansley: "I think he's super funny. I like it when he speaks in a British accent. And I love it that he doesn't really worry about anything. He trusts that God is in control."

-Bronwyn: "I love how he always has time to spend with us when we visit them. He always makes time for us."

-Benay: "He's always up for doing something fun."

We even asked Bronwyn's boyfriend Stephen (who's been with my dad 1-2 times) what he thought of Pops. Here's what he said: "I love how fun he is and how he's always up to playing games with us. I loved it when I visited them and he played cards with us. That's pretty special."

I shared nothing about what I wrote above with my family before I asked them about Pops and yet all the answers are pretty close. From a 3 year old to people in their upper 40's.  We all agree that Pops is a fun, funny, memory making man of God.

Here's to you Pops on your special day.

Thanks for being the spiritual leader of the Blume family. We are blessed.

We love you. Happy Birthday.

Travel Time

It's about to get wild around here with lots of travelers and we would appreciate your prayers for safe travels.

Today Stephen, Bronwyn's boyfriend, comes for a visit.

Tomorrow Garrett goes, by bus, with his soccer team to the interior of our state for a soccer championship. He will stay for a week unless his team gets put out early.

Tuesday the next Aggies for Christ group will come to POA to work with us. If I'm not mistaken this will be the 4th group from Texas A&M that will visit with us. They are always awesome and work hard. We'll have fun with these guys and they'll do lots of good stuff for God's family here.

On Thursday Ansley will leave to go to the states to begin her college journey.

On Friday Bronwyn, Stephen and two more ACU students will take a mini vacation to the amazon. They'll come back next Wednesday.

On the 8th of August my girlfriend and Carys will fly to the states to take Ansley and Bronwyn to college.

The Aggies and Stephen will both leave around that time as well.

Bronwyn goes back to college on the 16th of August.

And finally my girlfriend and Carys will return home on the 29th of August.

Lots of good stuff going on and lots of people traveling.

We would appreciate it if you would remember all these people and all their travel plans.

Thank you!

More music......for Pops

We love living in Brasil. We love it for many reasons. One reason is the grocery stores.

What? I know. Let me explain.

As you know we have a big family. Grocery store food portions here are small. We buy our milk and juice by the liter. Our family burns through milk and juice. Pretty much everything we buy comes in a smaller portion than what Americans are used to.

So my girlfriend and I visit the grocery store.........a lot. Like almost every day. Literally. Usually quick trips but almost daily.

Why do I like going so much? The music. The grocery stores play the best music. And it goes through all decades and countries.

We've heard French music, Brasilian music, Spanish music, Italian music and American music from the 1930's through today. Cover bands, original bands, everything. Every visit is a different style of music. It makes it fun. I've been next to people singing along, smiling, to Italian songs as we picked out our fruit together.  I think that's so cool!

Living in Brasil has gotten us accustomed to being ready for all kinds of stuff that might come on the radio.

Like last night.

Garrett and I were coming home from his soccer practice. We were flipping through the stations looking for something good to listen to. He stopped us when he heard a song. We both loved it and I told him that my dad (Pops to our kids) would LOVE it.

You see my dad was/is a big Doobie Brothers fan. When I was growing up I can remember us taking trips and listening to them and the Eagles. My dad popping the steering wheel and waggling his finger to the beat.

I can even remember being a senior in high school and my dad coming to talk to my class. I can't remember what the talk was about but he used one of my Foreigner albums in his talk. My friends thought he was super cool because he knew of a rock band that they liked.

So Pops, the song we heard last night is an Italian group called Neri Per Caso with guest Mario Biondi singing one of your favorites. This may be your new favorite version. It's pretty cool.

You'll be happy to know that as we listened Garrett and I (he started it) were doing our best Pops impression. As we sat locked up in rush hour traffic I think we gave people some good going home conversation material. We had a great time and were wishing we could be listening to it with you in the car. Hopefully we can do that soon.

Until then, here's your new favorite song:



Short side note: I showed Anderson this video and he loved it. I explained the Doobie Brothers to him and he wanted to see them so we watched them sing this song at the 1980 Grammy Awards. Our conversation after:

Anderson: "So they actually showed stuff in color in 1980."

Me: "They actually did. Can you believe that?"

Anderson: "Not really."

24

Camp Roots

We just put these three goobers on a plane going to São Paulo state.

Why?

They are going to hang out with some of our most all time favorite missionaries buds (Mark and Ali) and be a part of Camp Roots.

What is Camp Roots? Check out this short video that our friends made to learn more.


If you helped with the fundraising that Bronwyn did to get her and her sisters to São Paulo this week we can't thank you enough. We know their lives will be blessed and they will bless others.

We would appreciate all of your prayers for their safety over the next 8 days and that they will touch many lives for Jesus.

We know one little boy who is already looking forward to them getting home.

Make that two. Anderson cried when they left.

Andy Griffith

The Blume house is a little sad today with the loss of one of our favorites yesterday......Andy Griffith.  But we are pretty sure everyone in heaven is enjoying some laughs and songs right now.

Enjoy one of the best songs ever from maybe the best tv show ever.

"God can militarily take over anything. It's just not who He is. He's a lover. The greatest conquests come through romance. "

Bill Johnson

"For the Lord your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With His love, He will calm all your fears. He will exult over you by singing a happy song."

Zephaniah 3:17

"If the devil would have realized the result of the crucifixion of Jesus, the devil would have tried to kill everyone who was trying to kill Jesus."

Graham Cooke

"When God has us worship Him it's not because He's an egotist in need of our affirmation. It's because love always chooses the best and you always become like the one you worship. And there is nothing that He could want better for you than for you to be like Him."

Bill Johnson

Making disciples is not an easy process.  It is trying.  It is messy.  It is slow, tedious, even painful at times.  It is all these things because it is relational.  Jesus has not given us an effortless step-by-step formula for impacting nations for his glory.  He has given us people, and he has said, “Live for them.  Love them, serve them, and lead them.  Lead them to follow me, and lead them to lead others to follow me.  In the process you will multiply the gospel to the ends of the earth." 

David Platt from his book Radical