On our last retreat GTD introduced our newest addition - a 100 ft slip'n slide! I like to call her Giganti-Slide!! It was an absolute blast! I loved it as much as the kids did haha!! GTD is doing more & more family events so we are adding on activities that can include small children (or in this case - all ages). This is just one more way GTD got even better in 2022 =). Thank you generous supporters for making this possible!!!! GTD is making God-awesome memories & bonding families together one event & one activity at a time =)
We are hard at work on the prep for the home renovations. Dad assembled a cart to help us move lots and lots of stuff. Huge thanks to Dad, Carson, & Lauren for their hard work today! One more step forward!
If you want to help us make room for my Dad to permanently move over to my house let me know.
Lord willing, we will be working on this for the next 6 months. I will be releasing our weekly work schedule each week (hopefully on Sunday afternoon).
This week we will be working Mon-Sat 9a-5p with a few interruptions here & there. Text me if you have some time and want to help. Plenty of various projects for all levels of experience and inexperience as well as all ages :)
Ahhhhhhhh! This is the first chance I've had to work on our Annual Banquet. Our most important event of the year is only 2 weeks away!! We are going to need a miracle... good thing we know The Miracle Maker!
Join us in 2 weeks for a special night celebrating 26 years of ministry as we also prepare for our 27th year!! Glory to God!
My sincerest apologies to all of our amazing supporters for being so far behind on thank you's, distribution of Ministry Partner gifts (from last year!!), banquet invitations, phone calls, and more. You deserve better!! Thank you for the patience, grace, and faithfulness you have shown me & GTD as we navigate many family health challenges. This has been one of our greatest years of God-awesome events, and you share in the bountiful fruit because you share in the planting & watering of this ministry. God bless you! And all my love and respect!!
ANNUAL BANQUET:
Nov 29, 2022 (Tues Night)
6:30pm - 9:00pm
Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center
4951 78th Ave N, Pinellas Park, FL 33781
The most astonishing part of the journey over the past couple of years is that despite the personal exhaustion, setbacks, injuries, & heartbreaks - by the grace of God & all glory to God - we keep hobbling up to the plate like Kirk Gibson in the 1988 World Series and hitting game winning homeruns. It has been absolutely amazing... or God-awesome as I like to say. For 26 years we have run hundreds & hundreds of incredible events that have impacted thousands & thousands of people who still savor and talk about those events today (Thank You Jesus!), but somehow the past few years - despite the personal injuries & exhaustion - we are providing events at an even higher caliber and an even higher level of excellence than ever before. On paper, it shouldn't be. By all accounts we should be striking out to lose the game. But by the power of God - when I'm at my weakest - He keeps supplying the supernatural strength to limp up to the plate and hit game winning homeruns event after event after event. People are getting saved, people are rededicating their lives, people are being revived, people are being renewed, people are being encouraged, families are bonding, kids are making positive life decisions, fears are being overcome, life is being seized. I can't take any credit for how far the ball is flying off of the bat. That's all God! The only part I can relish in is knowing that I could have stayed on the bench, but I didn't. I could have let the injuries and exhaustion take me out of the game, but I didn't. I could have made the heartbreak an excuse to tell the Coach I can't play, but I didn't. Just like when I was 17 years old and broke my hand playing baseball in my senior year of high school I still showed up and practiced everyday, and every game I put my uniform on and tied my baseball glove on to the outside of my cast and I showed up ready to play. Back then the coach found ways to get me into the game as a pinch runner and even to pitch a few innings (I would catch the baseball on the outside of my mitt with both hands). After 4 weeks I ripped the cast off my arm and went back to playing fulltime to finish my senior season. I take that same attitude into running GTD events. Nothing is going to keep me from showing up to practice, suit up for game day, or to be ready to play the game. I may be in agony before the game and I may collapse after the game, but I'm going to play the game and help my team win. And what I'm finding is what I've always found >>> great things happen when you let God have whatever you've got - especially when all you've got is the least you've ever had. God will take the little that you have and turn it into something supernatural. God gets all the glory and you get the miraculous experience of a lifetime! Nothing compares to and no one can ever take away the inner elation that God gives you when He uses your hobbled body to hit a game winning homerun. Thank You Father that when we are at our weakest YOU are making your strength and power work perfectly! We are finishing up our 26th year of ministry - arguably our greatest year ever, and this "aging and worn down" player can't wait for our 27th year of ministry. Camps, retreats, adventure trips, and mission trips are already being scheduled for 2023. In fact, we are actually working on expanding GTD! I may need off-season surgery, but I'm eager and able to play high caliber ball. I'm exhausted, injured, and crushed aaaaaaaaand I'm washing my uniform getting ready for the next season and the next game! There are more game winning homeruns to hit! I'm already looking forward to our next event :)
I need a small army of help! Over the next few months we will be permanently moving Dad over into my house, and my house needs all types of renovations that I had to stop working on when our parents’ health issues got real bad 2 years ago. I've gutted much of my house (2 years ago I removed the drywall, removed the kitchen, tore up my flooring, etc... basically began the demo in order to renovate but stopped to help my parents). Last June we started planning to move Mom & Dad over here, but everything got backburnered when I had to leave to run our summer camps, I got sick for a month, and I had to run a mission trip in Costa Rica for 2 weeks. During this time we came to the crushing realization that bringing Mom back home was no longer an option (I still need to write a post about this). Dad hired a highly recommended Elder Attorney to help us wisely navigate all the heavy decisions. To our amazement we found (or rather God blessed us with) a PHENOMENAL long-term memory care facility called Seasons (in Belleair) that Mom LOVES and we LOVE! She has so much fun there, and the staff literally makes everyday a celebration. Thankfully Mom's Alzheimer’s makes her think she is just there for the day. It has been a very smooth transition and an instant improvement to Mom's daily quality of life. But Dad's health has been the newest front burner issue, especially after he injured his knee and hasn't been able to walk for 7 weeks. He has lost his independence to live by himself at his house. To our astonishment, He was completely open to the idea and is totally on-board with moving over here. He even wants to fund the portion of the house we renovate for him. So funding is the easy part. The hard work is relocating all of our adventure gear & equipment elsewhere into the garage & storage container in the back of the house, but needing to heavily insulate & add climate control to prevent the degradation of expensive gear... plus renovating bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchen, upstairs, landscaping, installing fencing, etc. The only non-negotiable for me is that I want to do the work. That may sound crazy to some who know how overwhelmed my Sister & I are, but the whole reason I bought this house was a lifelong dream of renovating my house. I don't care if it kills me, but I refuse to contract out anything that I'm capable of doing myself (not things like electrical, gas, hvac, etc). I'll take oversight, expert directions, and help doing the work, but I will be physically involved hammering, drilling, digging, crawling, lifting, placing, installing, and everything else that I'm capable of doing for the renovation. You would have to pry the hammer out of the hand of my cold dead body for me not to be completely involved LOL. Having said that, I could use a lot of help with all of the work. I literally need a small army of helpers with this endeavor that not only includes helping with renovations for Dad, but also renovations for GTD, and renovations for me personally. I already have some of the materials and tons of quality tools. I just need a lot of help. This is something I will be working on nearly every day from now until summer with an all-day emphasis on Wed, Fri, & Sat (except when we are running events or major holidays). Just reach out to me and let me know if you're interested in coming over for a day or for several days. I have a wonderful friend that wants no recognition that comes over every Wednesday for about 10-12 hours and helps me get tons of work done. We are the same age and I can't keep up with him. We have a lot of fun as we do the work. Most of the work significantly helps GTD which is an official non-profit organization so it qualifies for students and employees that are required to have a certain amount of annual volunteer hours.
On a personal note, you can pray for me and our family. We are so exhausted and at times overwhelmed. We seem to have a health crisis about every 2 weeks on top of the regular caregiving that takes place every day. This year has been especially challenging. The past 2 years were very challenging, but I had a lighter event schedule due to all the shutdowns from COVID. But now we are on the other side of the COVID shutdowns and our event schedule nearly doubled this year which has me running all over creation (literally). I'll rush from helping my parents to spend days preparing for an event then leave town to run the event for several days then rush home to clean-up from the event then rush to help my parents. While I'm away my sister carries the full load which is A LOT... then when I get home I rush to make up for the caregiving time that I missed while I was away. Glory to God, the events have been outstanding, but rushing from thing to thing means that I can't stay on top of anything - friendships, relationships, consistent prayer life, mail, emails, text messages, phone calls, deadlines, mowing the yard, buying groceries, taking care of the dogs, vehicle maintenance, laundry, workouts (haha, I wish!), sleep... I could list a hundred things here, but hopefully you get the point. And it's not like things stay in suspended animation if I don't address them. Quite the opposite. Things breakdown and degrade when they are not maintained which makes the repairs more expensive as well as more time & energy consuming. On my good days I roll with it and operate in faith & joy as I watch things implode. On my more typical days I try not to think about it and just try to survive the day. On my bad days I'm so frustrated, pissed off, and weary I can't even put it into words. I'm like Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. And that's the point. I'm exactly where God wants me to be. He wants to address the bad days. Like the "Again" scene in the movie Miracle (you can Google it) my Head Coach (God) wants to address the underdeveloped and immature parts of my character that give safe harbor to selfishness, self-centeredness, & self-absorption that reveals itself through inner frustration, inner anger, & inner weariness instead of operating in faith, peace, & joy. To address it He has to bring me face-to-face with it, and I have to get to the point that I'm willing to let it go. I'm not there yet. I'm too pissed off. In this one area I'm like Jonah setting sail for a different direction. God has called me to go to "Nineveh" which is a route and destination that I'm not on-board with so I've said forget that, I'm going to "Tarshish". I'm not exactly sure what my Nineveh is. I'm still processing it. But I think it has to do with me letting go of a lot of dreams, goals, & desires that I've been locked into since I was a kid (not trivial things, big things to me - things like building my Mom a mansion, being a great husband, and being a great dad, raising a family, pouring into my kids, walking my daughter down the aisle, playing catch with my son - tears flood my eyes as I type... I'm close to hitting the nail on the head). I don't want to let go of any of those dreams, but there are things bigger, better, & more important than my dreams - like God's Kingdom. Like the "Again" scene when the coach says, "The name on the front of the Jersey is a 'heck' of lot more important than the name on the back." I may have to let go of some or all of these lifelong dreams and that makes me angry... not angry at God, just angry. I'm like Jonah pouting, Saul kicking against the bricks, and Elijah sitting under the broom tree. But I know how the story ends. I will stop sailing towards Tarshish. I will stop kicking against the bricks. I will get up from sitting beneath the broom tree. I will eventually concede that "my" way is a colossal waste of time. I'm not there yet, but I'm on my way there, and even sharing this helps me take another step towards there. Sometimes I'm like how Winston Churchill described America, “You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they have tried everything else.” Nailed it. If you have read all of this then you deserve some type of award. That's sort of my self-absorbed update. Thank you for reading this and thank you in advance for praying. Life is a journey, and not all parts of it are sugar & spice and everything nice. Sometimes it's a process of letting go of the old and taking hold of the new. Sometimes that's a very hard process.
Thank you so much to the Kiwanis of Pinellas Park for sponsoring a table! This is the 13th year the Kiwanis has sponsored a table for GTD’s Annual Fundraiser Banquet. Your continued support over the years has been greatly appreciated. Thank you for all you do for our community and your support of GTD. We are very grateful. . [BRONZE TABLE SPONSOR]
***PHOTO*** IGNITE 2022
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Kiwanis of Pinellas Park conducts a variety of events, projects and fundraisers to help support initiatives that benefit the children of our community in conjunction with Kiwanis, a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world, one child and one community at a time since 1960. We meet for lunch every Thursday at noon and host a monthly social on the third Wednesday of each month. Everyone is welcome. We hope you will enjoy our hospitality and learn about our many service projects. No invitation is needed to attend a meeting.
The Kiwanis Club of Pinellas Park has been serving the community since 1960. We find that being a member of Kiwanis is one way we can help keep Pinellas Park one of the best places to live. Whether you’re raising a family or retired, The Kiwanis Club of Pinellas Park is a great way to stay active, give back to your community and make new contacts.
To learn more about the Kiwanis of Pinellas Park visit their websiteCLICK HERE
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To learn more about GTD, to attend the banquet, sponsor a table or make a donationCLICK HERE.
Thursday, November 10, 2022
HOFSTEAD FAMILY
Thank you Ministry Partners Josh and Julie Hofstead for your constant unwavering support of GTD. Your partnership in ministry has blessed us and countless others. We love you and appreciate you. Thank you for your table sponsorship! [BRONZE TABLE SPONSOR]
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[SWAMP THING 2022] - Josh Hofstead and Doug Garner***
To learn more about GTD, to attend the banquet, sponsor a table or make a donation CLICK HERE
Get ready to come celebrate with GTD on November 29th 2022 at the Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center of Pinellas Park at 6:30 p.m..
Whether you are new to GTD, a veteran of the ministry, or would like to learn more about us and what we do we hope you will join us for our biggest most important event of the year!
This is a night of celebration for all that God has accomplished in and through the ministry and his people...our Ministry Partners, Staff, Volunteers, and Participants! Come hear testimonies, see videos, enjoy an amazing dinner catered by Carrabbas and join the entire GTD family for what often feels like a big family reunion!
To R.S.V.P., Sponsor a Table, make a donation, or to learn more about GTD please CLICK HERE.
Thank you for you for your support and interest in GTD, we hope to see you there!
Keep my nephew and right hand man in your prayers... 2 weeks ago he got stung by a stingray in his calf and has been unable to walk since. Multiple trips to the doctor and ER yielded few answers. Yesterday afternoon he had an MRI and last night the Dr called and told him to get to the hospital stat because he has an infection. Carson will be undergoing surgery today to address the infection. My Sister said an infection control team will be working with him. You can follow Traci's Facebook page for regular updates. Praying for a quick & full recovery!! As you can see, Carson is in good spirits per usual :)
Today we transitioned Dad from "Hotel Vescovi" to "Doug's Shantytown". It's the inverse of a rags to riches story LOL. Traci, Dave, & Carson did a FANTASTIC JOB of taking care of Dad for the month of October. He loved it over there! Now he will be living with me and I'll be caring for him for the month of November. His neighbors Tom & Cindy were a huge help as usual. We brought over everything he needs including his new electric lift recliner that he purchased a few months ago. I put a little dog fence up to help keep my dogs away from him. His knee replacement surgery is tentatively scheduled for mid December. Please continue to lift him up in prayer as he presses on through another 6 weeks of not being able to walk (except with assistance during physical therapy). The good news is that the VA approved hygiene care 3 days per week (3 hours each visit) which also includes helping him with any other homecare needs (showers, shaving, changing linens, laundry, making lunch, etc) while they are here. That will help both him and me. This is on top of his Dr's orders for physical therapy & home health nurse visits. Dad also got a new wheelchair this past week. Small "steps" of progress week by week. Thank you for praying for him and for your encouragement! More updates to come =)
Our most important event of the year is only 1 month away! Join us for our Annual Banquet and help GTD raise 100k to launch this God-awesome ministry into our 27th year of operation!!
Catered by Carrabba's and full of great testimonials, fun festivities, and exciting highlight videos this event is always an unforgettable special occasion.
GREAT WAYS TO SUPPORT GTD:
1) Sponsor a table
2) Make a one-time donation
3) Become a monthly partner
4) Create a Donor Match Challenge
Make plans to join us on Nov 29th at 6:30pm at The Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center for a night of celebration and inspiration.
For more details, to sponsor a table, to make a donation, and/or to become a monthly partner CLICK HERE
It was one of our largest retreats ever, and it turned out phenomenally! We had all types of hurdles this month (short staffed, parents' health, personal exhaustion, unexpected rain that caused major delays, lost a driver which meant we couldn't take one of our trucks & one of our trailers with tons of gear to take up, last minute cancellations, & more hurdles). BUT, we had some amazing volunteers that stepped up like you couldn't believe including 1 volunteer (who wants no recognition) who put in over 60 hours last week to fill in the gaps, and another family that adopted this trip like a family service project, and my amazing sister who cared for our parents and her son to give me every minute possible to run around like a crazy man to prepare for this event. I knew it would turn out great because that's what God does on these events, but I also knew it was going to be an excruciating journey for me personally to get everything done... sort of like (in a very incomparable way) the example Jesus set by personally traveling the harsh road of the cross to make it to Golgotha for the great benefit of the many... the lesson there is that many times in leadership (and parenting) someone has to bear the brunt of the suffering (carrying the load of harsh, demanding, exhausting, excruciating, & stressful responsibilities) so that a great event can take place... whether it's preparing for a wedding, a Sunday church service, a Christmas play, a mission trip, a concert, a family reunion, or any big event there is usual one person who has to "take one for the team" so that the event takes place. There's no escaping it. It's the inescapable part of planning any group event. There are so many moving parts and so many things that can go wrong, and someone has to carry that load more than anyone else. It's a pressure cooker even if for Jesus. He sweat blood in agonizing prayer leading up to the greatest group event in the history of mankind - and He is Jesus! Or how about the Apostle Paul who said, "Besides everything else [beatings, persecution, dangers, hunger, no sleep, & much more], I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches." Leading anything is inherently stress inducing. I is just a man trying to plan God-awesome adventures. This was an excruciating week on top of a couple excruciating years, but still we press on. All that to say that our fantastic hard working volunteers, staff, and our amazing God took an agonizing journey of preparation and turned it into a phenomenal unforgettable weekend of celebration & joy. It was all worth it! All the "blood, sweat, and tears" was worth it! Families bonded together deeply. People grew closer to Jesus. Kids had some of the best days of their life without thinking they needed to take drugs, get drunk, have sex, or need technology. People made new friends. Some people told me it was a life changing weekend. And countless other moments of great value took place. Today we wake up very tired and somewhat worn out, but it's a good tired and a good worn out... the kind that comes with the great satisfaction of knowing God used every inch of the harsh journey for something of great value. We had a phenomenal retreat - ALL GLORY TO GOD and all kudos to all the hard workers! And thank you to all our supporters that make these events possible! More pics & vids to come including a 100 ft slip'n slide!!! And now there is no time to rest... right back to grind of life and this current journey. Back to work!
We are thrilled to announce that our Annual Banquet has a new venue at the Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center (practically right in our own backyard)! Our former venue no longer allows easy access to outside catering and there was no way that we were going to part ways with Carrabba's Italian Grill who we have partnered with for 15 years. We love that Chicken Marsala way too much!!
To make this switch we had to push back our Annual Banquet two weeks to Nov 29th (that falls on a Tuesday night).
I'm personally thrilled about the location of our new venue because I love the great city of Pinellas Park! I got saved at First Baptist of Pinellas Park. I went to Middle School in Pinellas Park. My Dad worked for 22 years for the City of Pinellas Park. My Sister lives in Pinellas Park. I've lived in Pinellas Park for 16 years. I bought my first home 4 years ago in Pinellas Park. And GTD is headquartered in Pinellas Park! Pinellas Park has been vital part of my life, my family's life, and the life of GTD. It's only fitting that we hold our most important event of the year in Pinellas Park! It's like everything has come full circle.
We hope you will join us at our fun, festive, & delicious Annual Banquet scheduled for Nov 29th at the Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center catered by Carrabba's as we celebrate 26 years of ministry and raise funds to run into our 27th year!!
We are on Day 17 of Dad not being able to walk. Please keep him in your prayers. During Hurricane Ian his power went out so he went outside to start his generator when he tripped over some sandbags and injured his already fragile knees. Since then his legs and feet ballooned up with swelling and he has been in severe pain. He is staying at my Sister's house and has been laying on a recliner for over 2 weeks. Moving him is a pretty big challenge so he uses a portable urinal to minimize trips to the bathroom (he is on lasix). We have taken him to the ER, to doctor's appointments, and to get a CT scan. His doctor thinks he will be able to get a knee replacement in the next 4 weeks. That's a short time in the surgery scheduling world, but an agonizingly long time in the enduring pain & immobility world. It's all complicated by his kidney disease and heart disease because he is so limited on the types of pain medicine he is able to take and some meds like a cortisone shot would actually cause a couple month delay for the surgery. On top of the current knee issues he still has his other health challenges that I just mentioned that still require regular doctor's appointments and daily attention. So except for going to the bathroom or doctor's appointments he stays in a very comfortable recliner at Traci & Dave's house all day & night. He probably averages 20 hours a day in the recliner and we all take turns caring for him (helping him eat, drink, take his meds, empty his urinals, scheduling doctors appointments, change his clothes, shave him, move him to his rolling walker, showers, etc, etc). Traci & Dave did an amazing job while Carson & I were in TN. Now we are back and have been able to help for the past week. Laurie is a big help as usual, and his neighbors Tom & Cindy continue to be incredibly helpful. Mom is in a fantastic longterm memory facility called Seasons that is taking great care of her, except she continues to fall out of her wheelchair every few days and sometimes it requires her to go to the ER. Seasons isn't a skilled nursing facility so nursing isn't their specialty, but they pour out tons of love, enthusiasm, and nonstop activities for the residents so Mom's mental & emotional needs are being well cared for. In fact, to our pleasant surprise she loves it there... especially since they give her ice cream almost daily haha. We went about 2 months when we didn't have a medical crisis, and it was a very welcome reprieve as my Sister and I hit rock bottom back around May. We are beyond exhausted much of the time. I was very surprised how resilient I was during that 2 month reprieve. I thought it would take me years to recover. To my surprise I was bouncing back to more of my normal self and energy level in a matter of days. I'm very thankful to God for that. The amount of things and correspondence that I'm way behind on is very discouraging. Thankfully, to God's glory, we are still able to run group adventures at a very high caliber. But then after each event is done the wheels usually fall off for the rest of my life responsibilities (except for those 2 glorious months of no crisis in Aug & Sept haha!). We pretty much stay in a constant race... running from urgent need to the next urgent need. Now we will have to fit taking care of our Dad's house into the equation. I'm at my Sister's house for a week taking care of Dad while Traci, Dave, & Carson have a rare and overly deserved family vacation. As I mentioned they carried the whole load while I was in TN for a week running an event. We are tag teaming this. Laurie has rotated over to my house to take care of the animals and house sit for me. And Dad's neighbors are keeping an eye on his house. A total team effort. The only very big thing falling through the cracks now is visits to our Mom. Anyways, there are many things that we greatly appreciate your prayers for. My sincerest apologies to people I'm way behind on with text messages, phone calls, etc, etc. We are currently on our next family adventure :)
Not many things illustrates FAITH and TOTAL COMMITMENT better than walking to the edge and rappelling down a 7-story drop on Starr Mountain! As I once learned, "A one word definition of faith is RISK." The "unseeable" part of trust will always require you to risk something in order to take a step of faith. Faith is the assurance of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). Thankfully our anchor in our faith (God) as well as in our rappel (a strong tree) are trustworthy. ...Plus it's just a whole lot of THRILL!! Our hats are off for the leaders & college students from Southeastern University (Countryside Christian Church satellite campus) who just went to the edge and took a big step of faith on our 5-day Adventure Trip in TN. We love you guys!!
Looks like we are on the fast "track" to a full day of adventure! Wake-up temps were in the low 40's. Everyone was packed up and in the vans by 7am. With backpacks full of gear, buckets full of lunch, hearts full of Jesus, & minds full of anticipation we pause for a group picture as we cross over the railroad tracks and begin our one mile hike up to our rock climbing & rappelling spot on Starr Mountain in Etowah, TN. We love this group from Southeastern University!! They literally "rocked" it all day long!
We are near the Ocoee River in Tennessee on a 5 day Adventure Trip with 20 college students (& their leaders) from Southeastern University. They attend a satellite campus at Countryside Christian Center in Clearwater. It's only Day 2 and we've already made a month's worth of God-awesome memories! This is a picture from our paddleboarding trek on Lake Ocoee surrounded by beautiful mountains as the fall leaves begin to change. This is the first ever GTD Adventure Trip in October in Tennessee, aaaaaaaaand we are loving the amazing weather!! We love this group! They are soooooo much fun!! Our morning devotions and nightly impact points have been very special and authentic. God is already at work! We look forward to all He has in store for us this week!!
Our bioluminescence trip last weekend was a blast! It was our 10th biolum trek in a month, and we were blessed with a fun group of people. Unfortunately there was a reverse storm surge in our area from Hurricane Ian which sucked much of the water out of Tampa Bay and eventually replaced it with cooler water which means there may be no more bioluminescent waters till next summer. We definitely soaked it up over the past month, and now we will transition to sunset paddles, full moon paddles, and dark paddles. Bring on the beautiful Florida autumn season!
Like so many, I'm so saddened to see the catastrophic devastation from Hurricane Ian. So many people lost everything. So many lives shattered. Immediate and unanticipated loss of this magnitude is shocking and sobering at the same time. It should especially be sobering for the county I live in. This is a screenshot of the official 11pm forecasted track of Hurricane Ian just 36 hours before it ravished the Ft Meyers area. The red dot is the location of my house. The surrounding area is where my immediate family lives, many of my friends live, and my ministry is based. The realization that Ian was forecasted to directly hit my community, my "business", my family, my house, and my life should have the same impact on me/us as a near death experience. I've had about 10 near death experiences in my lifetime, and each one made me better. The potential blessing of a near death experience is that it can subtly and profoundly open our eyes to the gift and fragility of life... that we aren't promised a tomorrow... that the wealth & security that we live in is only one storm away from being gone... that in very important ways we aren't as big and strong and indispensable as we think we are... that everyday is an undeserved, unmerited, perishable gift... that the only immovable storm-proof foundation to build our storm-vulnerable lives on is Jesus. Our area walked away virtually unscathed. But it could have been us. It was forecasted to be us. Jim Cantore was here! Pinellas County could have been annihilated. That should profoundly change me/us for the better. Like a near death experience it should change me/us in many good ways. In the days and weeks ahead we (GTD) plan(s) to be involved in the disaster relief efforts like we were in Biloxi, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina, and like we were in Polk County, Florida in 2004 after 3 hurricanes ripped of hundreds, if not thousands, of rooftops over a 6-week period. A lot of people need a lot of help. We are going to help, especially knowing that could have been us.
Dad had a rough day yesterday & today. Excruciating knee pain (from longterm bone-on-bone arthritis, old torn ligaments, & more) that he tweaked again while trying to start his generator when the power went out. He said his pain level was a 15 on a scale of 1-10. He was unable to walk and sometimes unable to move. Traci (my number 1 Sista) and I tag-teamed it today. I took him to the ER at the VA Hospital this morning (they ended up only accepting life threatening conditions and sending us over to their clinic), and Traci took him to the Morton Plant Hospital ER the rest of the day, afternoon, and evening. He is in an immobilizer soft cast taking some pretty heavy duty pain meds and is hopeful to get a knee replacement later this month that other medical conditions have caused him to have to delay it getting done for the past couple of years. He is feeling a little better tonight. Please keep him in your prayers :)
From ER to Ronald McDonald to Rays game to visiting Mom to Red Lobster to Ice Cream Cake it was a full and great birthday with family! Praising and thanking God for another year of life (even if it was a very rough year), and so thankful to friends and family that have lifted our family up in prayer, love, & encouragement over the past 2 years. God has graciously given us a couple months of stabilization and it has slowly (& at times quickly) breathed some fresh life into our dry bones. Aaaaaaaaand most importantly, our Mom is doing the best she's done in 2 years :) :) :)
Thank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes and walks down memory lane on Facebook, texts, etc! I'm officially 52 which is the reverse of how I really feel (25). Thank You Jesus!
*I was in the ER to ring in my birthday from 12.30a to 2.30a because a few hours earlier we took a group out on a bioluminescence paddling tour and I was belly flopping in the water to make some cool looking glowing splashes of blue glowing bioluminescence. It was a blast! But it was also low tide and we drifted to a spot with about 18 inches of water and I landed on a sting ray with my right calf. He stung my calf pretty good. So after we continued on with the trip and eventually brought all the gear back home and rinsed it off I went to the ER to be on the safe side because stingray stings are venomous and can lead to a pretty bad infection if any barbs broke off inside your body or if any bacteria from the bay got inside as well... plus my calf felt like it was going to explode. Thankfully the X-Ray was clear (no barbs) and soaking my leg in hot water brought immediate relief... and I got a 7 day prescription for an antibiotic which was the main thing I was there for. Needless to say I got many birthday wishes from the ER staff since they always ask your date of birth and I would say, "Actually it was 52 years ago today!" Haha! Ironically I got stung by a ray and 12 hours later we were attending a Rays baseball game LOL
Now onto to hurricane prep! Have a great week, and praying for the best for everyone as Hurricane Ian churns this way.
31 paddlers soak up the amazing glow of the bioluminescent waters of Tampa Bay! We had a blast last night with the young adult ministry of Calvary Chapel Fellowship as we YAK'd & SUP'd (...& swam... & water blaster war'd) in this fascinating underwater phenomenon called bioluminescence. Every movement in the water triggered what looks like a beautiful blue underwater torch that visually pleases the eye. It's so fascinating... you're eyes just can't get enough of this radioactive looking underwater glow. What an incredible local treasure to be able to experience with such a fun group in a Christ-centered atmosphere. Thank you Jesus! We love you CCF!
We are running another GLOW Bioluminescence Paddling Tour this Saturday night 7p-11p in the Safety Harbor area. With no moonlight this weekend it will be perfect biolum viewing conditions! Only a few weeks left before this amazing phenomenon fades until next year.
Usually when we get back from our summer trips I take a week to do as little as possible then transition to getting caught up on office work & relationships. The office work can really pile up while away for 2-3 months. I never look forward to those "piles" as I call them LOL. However, this year we returned to a wide open door of adventure opportunity right here in our own backyard - bioluminescent paddling tours! One of our top GTDers - Stacy Meunier - discovered this opportunity in July and really pushed for GTD to get involved... and I'm so glad he did! Wow, for so many different reasons, I love these trips! I get giddy like a little kid each time we do one! In fact, we ran 7 tours (big trips & small trips) in 12 days. People love this experience!! And so do I! On tour nights I'm usually getting to bed between 2-3am. But I'm a night owl so I don't mind that. These trips have opened up a huge door for GTD for night paddling trips (bioluminescence tours, full moon paddles, midnight paddles, sunset paddles, etc) and I'm ABSOLUTELY THRILLED about it!! In addition, I've been able to return back to spending quality time with my Mom & Dad since I got back. There have been a lot of family developments over the summer and I look forward to sharing those things in another post. And on top of all that I've had a great friend who has been setting aside 1 day a week to help me work on my house... we have gotten more done in 3 full work days then I've been able to get done in a year so that has been a huge blessing & help!! I've also had some hard deadlines for admin work that I've had to squeeze in along the way. It has been go, go, go since we got back a month ago. I'm tired, but it's a good tired that comes from nonstop satisfying hard work, but you have real progress & new developments from your efforts. Needless to say, my office piles have only gotten bigger since the vast majority of my work has been physical labor, but I'm chipping away at my admin work every few days. Chip, chip, chipping away on the office work as we run through this new door of opportunity God has opened wide for us! We have at least 3 more bioluminescent tours this week, and I can't wait for each one. We were blessed to put tours together for a public group, a singles group, a few awesome families, a dear friend from Costa Rica, and a few other great friends. It has been a great month of progress & new developments! Still behind on many things, but very optimistic about the potential that lies ahead. PTL!!
Spots will go fast so register asap to lock in your reservation!!
Check out all that we offer for this event on our website... including an optional hydro scooter ride thru the bioluminescent waters... if you're brave enough ;)
Unfortunately we have to postpone the free new SHABANG event that was originally scheduled for Sat Sept 24th. We've been so busy since returning back from our summer trips that we haven't had enough time to build the website, promote the event, or adequately prepare for all the different aspects involved. Thankfully most people have no idea what event I'm referring to because we had not fully promoted it yet. For those who did know about it and were planning on attending, I'm very sorry for the inconvenience. New date TBD.
I was blessed to attend the Life Celebration Service for my amazing Aunt Sue earlier this week in Richmond, VA. She went to be with the Lord just a few weeks before her 93rd birthday. She is THE BEST OF THE BEST! Her joy, her smile, her positivity, her zeal & zest for life, her unconditional love, her ability to see the best in everyone she met, and her unwavering commitment to Jesus is nothing less than legendary to me. It seems like whoever she met she could instantly see your full potential and instantly believed in you and immediately became your biggest fan. She couldn't see your failures or mistakes. She could only see who you were capable of becoming. Everyone needs a Sue Ward in their life! Along with her husband, my Uncle Joe (my Mom's brother who passed away from Alzheimer's about 10 years ago), they raised 6 fantastic boys - which is an amazing legacy & lifetime achievement by itself. In 1988, in my first week of college I tore my ACL the same day I made the cuts for the baseball team. I was devastated. My dream was shattered. It was the last time I ever played baseball. That same week I received a book in the mail from my Aunt & Uncle called "Holy Sweat" by Tim Hansel. It was about a Christian man in California who ran an adventure ministry. That book changed the trajectory of my life. I don't know if an adventure ministry would have ever been on my radar if they would have never sent that book AND if I hadn't blown out my knee to sideline me enough to stop being so physically active and actually sit down and read that book. From their perspective it may have been a kind, loving, & simple caring action to send that book, but it was one of the most significant moments of my life to receive that book. And that sums up Aunt Sue to me... she simply & authentically cared about people... she naturally gave to people her smile, her love, her belief, her emotional support, her infectious joy... it was just naturally who she is and what she does... but to be a recipient of such "simple" caring actions is so significant... it can be the "book in the mail" that changes a person's day, a person's week, a person's perspective, a person's life. I couldn't wait to see her at our family reunions, now I can't wait to see her in Heaven. God has probably already promoted her to head greeter in Heaven. Hers was a life well lived, and now she dances with Jesus... with an even greater joy than she oozed here on earth! You are one in a billion Aunt Sue! Thank you for a life well lived!
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