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About 6 weeks ago the Yates family was volunteering for a family work day for GTD. During lunch they asked me what my biggest need was. Without hesitation I told them how the past few years of intense caregiving had put me years behind on everything in my life, work, health, finances, etc and my biggest need was an admin person who could walk into the mess and help start reorganizing everything like (or better than) it used to be... someone who could have the same kind of mindset and heart as a mission team that showed up to someone's previously organized house that had just been hit by an F5 tornado that sent everything in every direction... someone who could patiently gather all the scattered paperwork, building materials, and structural supports and start sorting, categorizing, and rebuilding everything from scratch. I'm beyond thankful for the years and time I've been able to participate in (and am still participating in) the caregiving of my parents along with my Sister, Laurie, friends, & family. And at the same time, all those years of caregiving has nearly wiped out any & every healthy thing in my life (and my Sister's life too). It's not a complaint - it's an honest status report. I'm forever grateful for the opportunity to be here for my parents like they've always been there for me & Traci. And at the same time, we have barely survived the nonstop demands of prolonged caregiving. Last year GTD hired an admin person, but unfortunately about a month later she had to move out-of-state to help take care of her parents. Now, a year after losing that admin person, the Yates family asked a caring and thoughtful question, "What is your biggest need?" I said we need an admin person. The next day God placed Jan on Stacey's heart and the ball was rolling... a couple weeks later we officially hired Jan as our new part-time Administrator. For the past month Jan has compassionately walked among the rubble scattered throughout my life and work and has eagerly jumped in to start piecing it all back together - without any knowledge of anything GTD (she is starting from scratch with our ministry). GTD is right in the middle of our busy summer season and she has been steady & understanding as we navigate running multiple events out-of-state while learning more about how GTD functions. One of her first questions was, "What's the most important priority I can start with?" Without hesitation my answer was that we need to love-on and pour-out our sincere appreciation for our Ministry Partners & supporters. They have stuck with us through the thick and the thin and we couldn't do what we are doing without God working through these generous souls... and all my heart wants to do is say, "THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! GOD IS USING YOU TO SUSTAIN THIS MINISTRY AND ETERNALLY IMPACT A LOT OF LIVES!!!" Sooooooo we are thrilled to introduce you to GTD's new Administrator - Jan!! As I said last year when we announced the hiring of Kari, I say again - In the notorious words of John McClane in Die Hard, "Welcome to the party, Pal!" Our hope is that over the next 12 months GTD will be back thriving in all things administratively and organizationally... which will lead to healthy things in all things GTD! Welcome to the party Jan!
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