2024 IS OFF TO A VERY GOOD START... 2 MONTHS IN & IT'S ALL "THUMBS UP" PTL!!

   
February flew by... even with an extra day! (Happy Leap Year everyone! We have so many joyous things to leap for! ...which is a far cry from a year ago or even 5 years ago) There are many small & big steps of progress, especially in February, that I haven't had a chance to post about yet, but I'm going to do my best to post about them over the next few days & weeks. God is restoring the years that the locust hath eaten (Joel 2:25)! The TAKEback ATTACK has been going strong, and I look forward to sharing about the progress. There are still many mountains ahead, but not a problem if I have faith as small/big as a mustard seed... in faith I go from being crushed by mountains to moving mountains... in that moment I become a "Mtn Dude"... and Mtn Dude's stop seeing mountains as an oppression and start seeing them as another opportunity to watch God supernaturally work! On a journey from surviving to THRiVING... More to share 😀 

 

 

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Just checked Dad into the ER...

 

Just checked Dad into the ER with chest pain & shortness of breath. Blood pressure is 214/74... they are assessing him now.

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Update: ER was pretty empty... he checked all the boxes and they took him right back... he saw the ER Dr, EKG, X-Ray... they will be admitting him and giving him dialysis here... they got his BP down and after a few hours were able to get his chest pain to subside... in typical Dad fashion, he was starting to feel a little better and started giving everyone who helped him one of his "Tomato Man" writing pens (the pens writes great & everyone loves them LOL!)... he will be in dialysis for a few hours and they are waiting for a room to open up with all the heart monitor equipment in it... thank you all for your love & prayers!! I'll update as new info develops. 

 

Last Update: Dad was discharged late this afternoon and Traci brought him back home. Other than the super high blood pressure, chest pain, & difficulty breathing and a slight elevation of troponin levels all his tests came back negative for a heart attack, etc. His heart Dr is having him come in for a stress test and assessment... I told him living with me is a daily stress test LOL! Soooooo, thankfully it all looks like a "false alarm" for which we are immensely grateful and praise God... and so proud of him for telling us about his symptoms, especially knowing he hates going to the hospital and he doesn't want to "inconvenience" us. Thank you all for all the love, prayers, & support... it touches Dad's heart very deeply as well as all of us!!

 

 

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Happy Valentine's Day to the LOVE of my life >>> JESUS!!!

 

On the day that's all about love this goes out to the One who abounds in LOVE... the One who overflows with LOVE... the One who is LOVE... the One who doesn't stop loving, won't stop loving, can't stop loving... Happy Valentine's Day to the LOVE of my life >>> JESUS!!! I wouldn't know the true meaning of LOVE without Him!

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13

 

 

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Super Bowl Sunday w/ The Fam =)

  

We enjoyed a family feast last night watching the Super Bowl! Traci & Dad grilled out steaks, and made all kinds of delicious sides... we had a great time eating and watching the game together 😀 

 

 

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SUNSET IN THE EVERGLADES!

  
Although our 2nd day of Swamp Thing was overcast and full of rain that wasn't the case for our 1st day. Day 1 was perfect! The deep blue sky that we hiked beneath eventually gave way to a beautiful orange sunset. Check out this drone shot taken by Andrew Pieper a few hundred feet above our campsite of an amazing swampy sunset! Beauty in the swamp!

 

 

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SUPER BOWL PARTY CANCELLED AT MY PLACE!!

  
It looks like I bit off a little more than I could chew this week by trying to add the Super Bowl to the line-up so I'm going to pull the plug on it. We have a pretty big clean-up from our swamp hike and last movie nite as well as a bunch of other responsibilities & deadlines due this week so I won't be able to put the necessary prep into the Super Bowl party... and since the Bucs aren't in it who really cares about the Super Bowl now anyways (haha, just kidding!). I'm looking forward to plenty more fun times at BIRDDOG CINEMA in the months ahead! Go Bucs!!

 

 

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15 BRAVE SOULS TAKE ON THE SWAMPS OF THE EVERGLADES... AND SURVIVE!

  
Just hours after our Groundhog Day Pizza & Movie Nite we departed for our annual weekend adventure backpacking 8 miles in the swamps of the Everglades. It's an event we call Swamp Thing, and it's the MOST UNPOPULAR EVENT we offer at GTD. Even still, it does appeal to those suck-it-up adventurers who love to do unique & challenging types of quests. This year 15 brave souls took on the swamps of the Everglades (including 3 youth)... and we all survived to tell about it! (Praise the Lord!)

Here are a few of our group pictures! More pics from this epic adventure coming tomorrow 😀

Going The Distance Adventure Ministry
God-awesome Adventures Since 1996!

 

Dad had another successful surgery...

  

Dad had another successful surgery today (the 2nd of 3 surgeries related to dialysis). He is back home recovering. Big thanks to Carson for picking him up at 4:15am this morning to take him to his scheduled 5am "check-in" at the hospital!! Crazy early!! Thumbs up from the Tomato Man!

  

  

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YOU KNOW WHAT FEB 2nd MEANS!!

  

Happy Groundhog Day!! Best holiday ever added to the calendar!!

 

 

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RECORD SHATTERING FUNDS RAISED!!! ...$127,552 RAISED!!! ...THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH!!!

   
I cannot even begin to put into words how humbled and blown away we are by the overwhelming support we have received from our AMAZING Ministry Partners & Donors during our Annual Banquet fundraising season. The funds raised were not only record breaking - they were RECORD SHATTERING in RECORD TIME! For the first time in our history we completed our goal of raising $100,000 IN ONLY 1 MONTH!! And to top it off, the funds continued to pour in over the past 2 months. Our official funds raised Oct 1 - Jan 31 is $127,552! THAT’S ASTOUNDING!!! Our previous record was $109,652 two years ago. All I can say is GLORY TO GOD, THANK YOU JESUS, AAAAAAAND THANK YOU GENEROUS DONORS!!!!! You have launched us into our 28th year of ministry!! For my fellow nerds out there, this is the breakdown of the funds raised: 130 wonderful people contributed / $74,086 was received in one-time donations / $53,466 ($4455.50 per month x 12 months) is pledged for 2024. Any way you break it down it’s simply jaw dropping for us to experience! In addition, we had a fabulous time at our Annual Banquet, and loved, loved, loved seeing so many of you! From the bottom of our hearts - THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! God bless you dear friends!! You have impacted us more than you may ever know until we get to Heaven!

 

 

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