Any day at Goats On The Roof is a GREAT DAY, but when it's combined with stuffed pancakes, inner tubing, volleyball, swimming, and Biblical lessons from Titus 1... well that's a whole other level of greatness! Praising God for a fantastic youth group and wonderful volunteers =)
2 days after leaving with the middle school youth group Jairus Hodges, the youth pastor from Calvary Chapel Fellowship, turned right around and drove back up 600 miles with 19 people from the high school youth group for another GTD Adventure Trip! This guy is amazing!! As he likes to say, "Keep it REAL! Keep it ZEAL!" We are honored and blessed to host back to back camps for CCF!! Can't wait for what lies ahead! And we are so thankful for a great group of hard working volunteers!!
Yesterday we embarked on one of our favorite aqua adventures to Turtleback Falls & Rainbow Falls for waterfall sliding and cliff jumping... the kids LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT!!
Yesterday we took 60 people rock climbing during a beautiful sunshiny day. It was awesome! Then our camp was hit with severe thunderstorms and torrential downpours... canopies and tents blown down so it was off to the laundromat to dry sleeping bags and clothes while the kids went to the movies to see The Incredibles 2. The day started at 5am and ended around 2am. And that my friends is the nature of outdoor adventures... full of unknowns and rolling with whatever comes our way. It's a beautiful mess that builds lifelong bonds and unforgettable memories in a very short amount of time. Praising God for an unforgettable day of God-awesome memories and protection. Bring on the next day of adventures!!
Having a blast with the middle school youth group from Calvary Chapel Fellowship of St Petersburg, FL!
MEGA thanks to our dear friends Russ & April Phillips, owners of Goats On The Roof, for opening up their phenomenal establishment for after hours homemade ice cream and fire pit praise, worship, & message. They are absolutely amazing!! We love you guys!!
It has been a great and full day! More details to follow!
It takes a lot of food to feed 65 campers! Kicking off our summer Adventure Trips tonight!! Looking forward to a God-awesome season of camps!! (And beyond grateful for a great team of volunteers!!)
Honored, blessed, and thrilled to be kicking off 22 years of summer adventure camps 1 week from today!! Let the countdown begin!
23rd ANNUAL SLAMMED ADVENTURE TRIP!!!
GTD goes BOGO for SLAMMED!!!
It's always been our goal to make our public trips as affordable as possible for our participants and we are finally in a position to do that for our flagship event - The SLAMMED Adventure Trip. This year we will be going to one of our most beloved destinations, Tellico Plains, TN to do some of our favorite adventures like rock climbing, rapelling, cliff jumping, bridge jumping, waterfall sliding, and optional white water rafting on the Ocoee River (additional $40/person).
And most importantly we will be connecting with our Creator each day with morning devotions and nightly Bible based challenges called Impact Points.
This will all be held at a private group campsite in the middle of God's amazing playground!!
Now you see why we call it SLAMMED!
EVENT: SLAMMED Adventure Trip
DATE: July 11-15 (Wed-Sun)
LOCATION: Tellico Plains, TN
COST: $199 ($99.50 each with our BOGO deal!) plus optional rafting ($40/person)
*Transportation not included
For more details or to register online click on this link:
http://gtdbullhorn.blogspot.com/p/slammed-tn.html?m=1
COME PLAY WITH US!
One of my best friends wanted to upgrade me from a sleeping cot and surprised me with a new 8" green tea memory foam bed & frame. What a fantastic & thoughtful house warming gift to return home too!! Thank you dear friend!! Sweet dreams everybody!
House Renovation Cost: NEW BED = $0 (gift)... I'm so grateful!!
*I'm posting about this house renovation journey and associated costs partly because this specific journey is one of the current callings in my life and I want God to receive all the glory as I attempt to walk in obedience, wisdom, & discipline... and partly because I'm the director of a non-profit ministry and I believe that fact alone requires a certain amount of public transparency even if it's a personal expense. I like being transparent about everything, especially expenses, great deals, gifts, etc... and I also want to share about this journey partly because, to me, it's fun and interesting and I hope it is to those who read it.
We safely returned back to Florida late last night from our ARK ENCOUNTER Trip in KY/ OH / IN, but not before spending one last full day enjoying the rental home and touring the Newport Aquarium adjacent to the Ohio River. Good times =)
The last 2 days were filled with learning more about God's amazing creation, today was about enjoying that creation... what we like to call God's playground. We spent the day at Versailles State Park in Indiana. Kayaking. Swimming. Sliding. Jumping. Walking. Snacking. Relaxing. The weather was perfect. The day was perfect. Thanks God! And now we are preparing for another campfire =)
Today we toured the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY. It was filled with quality exhibit after quality exhibit that made a plausible and exceptional argument for a universe created by an all powerful God and impacted by the catastrophic effects of a global flood. While I respect and appreciate the value of museums I'm not typically a museum kind of guy, but I found this experience to be fascinating start to finish. I wholeheartedly recommend believers and skeptics to check it out. Time well spent!
Massive! Impressive! Incredible! Educational! Quality workmanship! Our day at the full size replica of Noah's Ark in Kentucky was nothing less than impressive from start to finish. I walk away with several inspiring impressions including a greater respect and appreciation for Noah and his family's obedience & dedication to their calling while encountering ridicule from their peers.... and the exact same respect & appreciation for Ken Ham as a modern day Noah dedicated to his calling to build an Ark in the face of similar ridicule and belittling. Overcomers overcome!
Yesterday morning we flew out from Clearwater, FL had brunch and toured around Cincinnati, OH stayed overnight in Erlanger, KY and drove to our rental home in Madison, IN. Tomorrow we visit The ARK Encounter in Williamstown, KY. We had so much interest in this trip, but in the end we had only 1 taker... so we converted it into a recon trip to do a dry run for next year's trip and collect promo videos & pictures, on the ground experience, and more detailed information about this great destination. We've already gleaned a lot of good info. And the deal on the rental house was better than getting hotel rooms. So stay tuned for the daily reports of our newest adventure... The ARK ENCOUNTER!! Can't wait to see the big boat tomorrow =)
