About

Garrett Martin

As a young boy raised on a small hog farm in Northern Indiana, Garrett was known as the “hyper one”. He had a mind that ran at a speed that would make ten shots of Espresso jealous. There are suspicious rumors of a strawberry blonde boy who tossed a hymn book over his head into the next pew behind him during the church service. Other rumors include an unusual amount of father and son bathroom retreats during weekly church services and other antics that have no grounds for belief.

As the strawberry blonde hair faded to brown, Garrett’s interest in going below the surface was demonstrated in his willingness to sacrifice a good ballgame in order to be present during adult conversations. Especially when Grandfather Martin was sharing his most recent theological or philosophical discovery. This young mind’s propensity to go below the surface caused him difficulties when he was faced with the inconsistencies that are often portrayed in a religious culture. He often found himself asking questions that seemed to threaten the status quo around him. These unanswered questions became discouraging and drove him to gain more knowledge of the Holy.

As Garrett moved into his teen years he found a great love in reading books of all types, yet rarely made the honor roll in his high school class. Knowledge became the young man’s source of life as he struggled to find the God he loved and desired to know. But knowledge does not bring life to the human heart and soon this young man was seeking life in pseudo-loves. Moral failure and anger began to characterize his inner life while Garrett carefully maintained the polished exterior of a religious hypocrite. Garrett developed a natural interest in psychology and counseling as he tried to understand the brokenness of his inner life.

At age 20, Garrett married his blue eyed, blonde haired, high school sweet heart. The next thirteen years brought four children and a deeply fractured marriage. At age 33, this once energetic mind was broken and hopeless turning to high levels of caffeine just to make it through the day. He became disenchanted with life and God, he lived daily with the torture of seeing the brokenness he had created in the eyes of his children and wife.

In November of 2009 Garrett lost all hope. He crawled into a strange church building almost an hour from his home. A place where he was not known, a place where he could die in silence. Those who saw him come, later told stories of never having seen eyes so haunted and hopeless. Unbeknownst to him he had crawled into a room of grace. Grace, it seems, brings the dying back to life.

In February of 2010 Garrett and his gentle companion found themselves at a God ordained appointment in a office at Grace Haven Ministries. It was in that office that the Son of the Creator met Garrett and fulfilled his deepest desire; to know his Savior in a deeply personal way. The next eleven years were years of sanctifying recovery. As Garrett’s heart healed, the eyes of his wife and children brightened. A new day had come. Soon the great Heart Healer called Garrett out from a family business into the world of the brokenhearted, commissioning him to shepherd the wounded and the dying.

As his energetic mind returned, Garrett found himself enjoying the deeper things of life once again; this time as a way to worship the Creator rather than as a source of life. This blog is the catalyst of that renewed energy. Garrett has moved beyond throwing songbooks in his moments of boredom into a new realm of throwing around ideas about God and what He wants from us. As these ideas percolate through the filter of God’s word and prayer, the resulting brew will be shared here in friendship and grace.

Welcome to “The Brew”