HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD (IN HEAVEN)

    
We are running an Adventure Trip in the mountains for 19 families from Calvary Church of Clearwater, but I wanted to pay tribute to THE BEST DAD IN THE WORLD (who is now in Heaven). There are so many amazing things about my Dad that I could share. I've shared a little about his incredible journey of overcoming, but today I want to focus on another one of Dad's most definable traits >>> his heart to give! Dad was the most generous person I have ever known. He loved, loved, loved to give. If he found out you liked something or needed something then it would be at your doorstep the next day. Or he would just buy extra things to give gifts to people (tomatoes, pens, flashlights, Battery Daddy's, gift cards, money, fire trucks, fruits, vegetables... you name it and he would do his best to get it for you!). He always had a cooler full of drinks & snacks ready to give out everywhere he went. And it wasn't just things that he gave; he also gave his time & hard work. Dad loved to help people. Giving was never an obligation for my Dad... it was his DNA... it was his love language. He expressed his love for others by giving, giving, giving. As Carson and I are running this trip we are surrounded by things my Dad gave to help this ministry function... we are driving a truck he helped get donated to GTD. We are cooking on a huge griddle he donated to GTD. We are pulling a trailer that he paid to have the axles replaced as a donation to GTD. In fact, the entire ministry would not have ever started if he & Mom didn't give me a small addition on the back of their house so I could live there rent free while I built GTD. I'm sure he would have loved to use that addition for something else, but somehow I think he had even greater joy just giving it away. My Dad wasn't materialistic. He could have had a nicer house, a nicer van, nicer clothes, nicer everything... but his heartbeat was this: LIVE TO GIVE! LIVE TO GIVE! LIVE TO GIVE!! In his last year of life while he was in so much pain and misery he could have withdrawn and rightfully backed off from so much giving,  buy I actually watched him give even more and more. It was like his grand finale. After he sold his house we watched him give tens of thousands of dollars away to people... he didn't want to keep anything for himself, he just want to bless other people to brighten their day and lighten their load. About an hour before he passed away (the first time) he called me into his room and said, "Doug, I just want to make sure you and Traci are taken care of." Even in his last moments of life he was giving it all away. My Dad was a remarkable human being and an incredible example to me & my Sister. We count it as one of the highest honors of our lives to be "One of Jerry's kids" (a 1970's & 80's Jerry Lewis reference). Thank you Dad for every way you impacted, blessed, and changed my life through your selfless acts of giving. You are THE BEST DAD EVER!! Happy Father's Day in Heaven! I love you ❤️ 

 

 

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SUMMER ADVENTURE TRIP BOUND!

   
Carson & I are heading up to run the first Adventure Trip of the summer. Last year we began leaving 1 of the GTD trucks and 1 of our trailers at a storage facility in NC, and I'm loving this decision. The cost to store both is offset by the fuel and wear & tear of driving back-and-forth to Florida plus, according to State Farm, we are able to suspend our vehicle insurance to the absolute minimum while it isn't being driven which saves hundreds of dollars per year. The small town secure storage facility is also less expensive than storage facilities in bigger cities plus low crime rates makes it doubley secure. The truck & trailer are near an airport that flies Allegiant so I keep a set of clothes and necessities in the trailer which allows me to get a very inexpensive flight from Clearwater for around $45 each way as well as get in & out of the airport very quickly since I don't have to check any luggage. Having both pieces of equipment staged in NC also opens up the opportunity to do events year-round instead of only in the summer which has the potential of adding more income into GTD. Have I mentioned yet that the flight is only 90 minutes verses 13 hours of driving (plus an extra hour or two for flat tires lol) which saves a ton of wear & tear on our bodies. It also allows us to get up & back for quick weekend trips to recon new adventure locations or simply get to breathe some fresh mountain air. If all those benefits weren't enough it also reduces the amount of trucks & trailers in my yard. GTD has 3 trucks, 5 trailers, 1 40' shipping container, a pontoon boat, and 2 big racks holding about 20 kayaks... so my yard was getting a bit overwhelmed with equipment to put it lightly. Fuel alone for a round-trip to NC & back driving one of our gas gulping trucks is around $400 which adds up pretty fast over the course of a full summer. So all-in-all it's close to a breakeven monetary yearly cost, but the long-term wear & tear savings on the equipment and the body as well as the increased opportunities for running events outside of the summer months makes this decision feel like a wise investment. Anyways, we are NC, SC, & TN bound aaaaaaaaand I'm so happy to NOT have to haul the trailer up here & back for the first time in 29 years!! It feels like progress to me! We are looking forward to a God-awesome summer of adventures... thank you for your prayers & love! (This is also my first event since my surgery, and physically I'm feeling strong PTL!)

 

 

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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO LEGENDARY PARENTS! ...GTD TO USE GRANT TO START A CAREGIVING SUPPORT GROUP!

    
Today (June 5th) is our parent's wedding anniversary. Traci & I were blessed beyond measure to not just have great parents, but legendary parents!! Mom & Dad were the best of the best! Since they were human they weren't perfect of course, but they were exceptional. My Dad struggled for about 20 years with alcoholism, chain smoking, and some poor decisions. But he has one of the greatest comeback stories of all time. Even in the midst of his struggles he was the most amazing Dad... He served, loved, & gave like no one else I have ever met. And my Mom was a devoted wife & amazing mother who weathered the struggling years with a steadfast reliance on God. God used her long-suffering character & joyful fun-loving spirit to be the glue that held our family together during the hardest of times. Outside of Jesus there is no one I admire & respect more than my parents. My hierarchy of heroes is Jesus then Mom then Dad. We weren't perfect, but we genuinely loved each other more than I could ever express. We were all always there for each other through the thick and the thin. There was never any doubt that we were all greatly loved and cherished by each other. Even in our times of dysfunction I would wish our family dynamics upon everyone. Even in the worst of times it was full of potential for the best of times. In more recent years Mom & Dad had a hard and oftentimes painful grand finale of this thing called life. With a great supporting village of people around us Traci, Dave, Carson, Laurie, and I poured the past 5 years into caregiving of these incredible people. Mom had a 10+ year slow decline from Alzheimer's while Dad had problems with just about every major organ in his body. The journey for our parents was harsh, and caregiving was possibly just as harsh. I can honestly say it almost killed me. That isn't a commentary on the people we were caring for, but rather the process of caregiving. Its demands far outweighed our supply. And we had a fantastic group of friends & family that helped shoulder the load... and it still almost killed us. That blows my mind, especially since most caregivers are doing all the work by themselves. Did you know that most caregivers die before the person they are caring for dies?! The demands & personal neglect literally kill you. We know this from firsthand experience, and because of this we are going to make the adventures of caregiving part of our ministry's outreach. I'm happy to announce that a large portion of a grant GTD received from the great City of Pinellas Park (our Dad loved this great city!) will be used to create GTD's JAG (Jerry & Ann Garner) Caregiving Support Group to help aid, equip, encourage, comfort, & console those caring for loved ones. We greatly benefited from a Caregiving Support Group at First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks, and we want to take all that we have learned and help prepare and support others on the caregiving journey. More and more of our staff, volunteers, participants, family, & friends are embarking on this journey and we can help supply vital information and assistance to help them survive what may lie ahead. Our hope is that many on this journey will have a wonderful experience, but we want to be ready to help those who have a harsh challenging journey ahead. I'm still recovering from the past 5 years. I'm nowhere close to being healthy. Like a boxer KO'd in the final round I'm slowly shaking the cobwebs out of my head, and sitting up on the boxing ring floor looking around trying to make sense of what just happened. And while making sense of it all I'm also filled with a desire to help others navigate the heavy weight opponent they are about to face in a boxing ring with potentially brutal outcomes. There are a hundred things I would do differently (or I should say, do better) if I could do it all over again. The beauty of surviving failures is that you can turn those failures into education, better future decisions, & helpful insights for others. That what I aim to do. The hope is to build the support group in 2025, and open it up sometime in 2026 (GTD's 30th anniversary). I'm asking for people to pray that God would build this support group and that it would honor our parents. I know there are many people who have already traveled this journey that may want to be a part of building this support group as well as contributing ideas to its content. I look forward to working with anyone that wants to be involved. God bless. And HAPPY ANNIVERSARY IN HEAVEN MOM & DAD!!!! I love you, and I miss you!!!! Thank you for everything you did for me!!!

 

 

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IT'S BAAAAAAACK!! ...29 YEARS OF SLAMMED!!!

   
One of the most frequent questions I get is, "Are we doing SLAMMED again this summer?!" I'm happy to say, "Yes! We! Are!" Better late than never as the old adage goes.
 
What: SLAMMED Adventure Trip
When: July 16-20, 2025 (Wed-Sun)
Where: Benton, TN
Why: Focus! Freedom! Fun! Fellowship! Faith!
How (Much): $75pp (optional white water rafting for additional $60pp)

DETAILS:

Website: https://gtdbullhorn.blogspot.com/p/slammed-tn.html?m=1

Registration: https://gtdbullhorn.blogspot.com/p/registration-slammed-adventure-trip.html?m=1

OBERVIEW:
SLAMMED is GTD's original favorite. This is the Adventure Trip that started it all! SLAMMED is the first trip (and only trip) offered by GTD in 1996 and God used it to give birth to our full time year-round ministry today (ALL glory to God!).

Over the course of 5 days GTD slams you with several heart-pounding adrenaline-pumping adventures that will exhilarate you to the core! In our time together we will travel to Cherokee National Forest in eastern Tennessee to do activities that may include camping, rock climbing, rappelling, whitewater rafting, waterfall sliding, hiking, and/or cliff jumping. Now you see why we call it SLAMMED!

We will set up our base camp in an amazingly beautiful national forest and visit nearby waterfalls!!! We will chase after all of these adventures as we explore the majesty of God's creation. And that's not even the best part, we will also explore the majesty of God's presence through daily devotions, praise & worship, and nightly challenges from the Bible as we hang out around the camp fire.

SLAMMED will challenge you and potentially change your life as you grow closer to God, make new friends, encounter & overcome fears, and engage in some of the most outrageous adventures of your life! Instead of getting so busy that you feel crammed, take 5 days to jump start your life by getting SLAMMED!

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

 

 

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