God's Great Outdoors

Adam Erikson: In our world, you have a hard time finding much of any kind of hope to carry a person through hard times. There are a lot of false hopes anywhere we look, things that look good on the surface, but when times get hard and we try to rest on these false hopes, the things we’re resting on crash under the pressure. What we find in the end is that there is only one true hope that can be counted on when the hardest of times come down on us.

On today’s program, we’ll meet a man and his wife that have dealt with a terrible challenge for over 30 years and where he found a hope that has held him up through the worst of times in his life. In James 1:2, it says, "Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials." It doesn't say "if" you encounter various trials, but "when."

There’s a saying that says we’re either just coming out of a trial, in the middle of a trial, or about ready to enter a trial. So when we're facing a trial, we must find a way to find hope through that trial. Let's join our host now and his guests as they talk about hope in the worst of life’s circumstances. Let's listen and learn about overcoming these trials with true hope. So come along now on the rough trail to adventure in God's great outdoors.

Dean Hulce: Welcome to God's Great Outdoors on the trail to adventure. We are in Northwest Ontario, Poplar Lake at Rushing Wind camps, and we're having a great time. One of our guests today has some history, a long history here at Rushing Wind, and someone, it's their first time. Mary and Don Schotz, I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you, and you guys share a testimony that I think everybody needs to hear. Good to have you guys first of all.

Mary Schotz: Thank you.

Don Schotz: Good to be here.

Dean Hulce: Don, you’ve been here many times actually.

Don Schotz: Yes, about five times. It’s been 20 years.

Dean Hulce: Has it changed at all?

Don Schotz: Yeah, there are new buildings, new habits, and new staff. A lot of new guests. I recognize a few of them.

Dean Hulce: Well, we’re having a great time. You guys just got in yesterday, and we’re having a good time. The worship service this morning was amazing. It was probably one of the best I've been to, and I've been here eight different weeks over the last few years. That was probably one of the best, if not the best, times of sharing.

We’re going to get on with your story because it's something that we all need to hear. We're going to start way back at how this started. Don, first of all, I’ve got to say that because a lot of people give me a bad time, but you’re probably a Packer fan because you grew up in the Green Bay area, about 100 miles from where I live now. As a Packer fan, you hate not to put that out there.

Don Schotz: I'm a Packer fan married to a Viking fan.

Dean Hulce: Well, we'll let her stay here anyhow. Don, why don't you share how this whole story started?

Don Schotz: Back in '93, I went on an elk hunting trip out in Colorado with my brother and his friends. A guy brought along an ATV with no brakes, and I took it out to go to my stand one night. I went down a hill and hit a tree. My brother and his friends found me at nine o'clock that night, unconscious.

Mary Schotz: I fill in sometimes. That’s why we’re all here. They took him on a flatbed truck, and his brother Steve kept him warm because it was chilly. They met the ambulance halfway to the hospital. Don was in a coma at that point, so he doesn’t know, but here he’s got his composure back, so we’ll let Don speak again.

Don Schotz: I went to a small hospital, and then they took me to Grand Junction where they did surgery. Then over the next while, they flew me to Wisconsin, where I was from. I was at the Marshfield hospital when I came out of my coma.

Dean Hulce: How long were you in a coma?

Don Schotz: Five weeks.

Dean Hulce: That’s a big empty space. Sometimes they say they can hear you, sometimes they can’t. Do you remember anything during that time at all?

Don Schotz: The one memory I have is like when you have a dream and you’re not sure if it’s real or not. I just remember hunting or leaving the camp and riding the ATV, but that was it.

Dean Hulce: I guided in Colorado for many, many, many years. Whereabouts in Colorado were you hunting?

Don Schotz: The nearest sizable hospital was Grand Junction. That’s the extent of what I can tell you.

Dean Hulce: We’ll move forward because before we move forward, let’s take a break so we don't have to stop again once we get going with what God's done since that time because '93, that's a long time ago. Adam, our producer, will come on and share with our listeners who it is that currently makes this program possible and how others can come alongside us if they wish to do that. We’ll be right back on God's Great Outdoors.

Adam Erikson: For the last 26 years, God's Great Outdoors trail to adventure has been broadcast to win men and women, boys and girls to Jesus Christ. This is only possible by the generosity of our listeners. Thank you to all who have supported us in the past. God has blessed us because of you, and we pray that you feel His blessings as well.

Additional underwriting support has been provided by Matthews Archery, the leader in the archery industry; Mission Archery, with revolutionary crossbow technology; Three Rivers Archery, supplying everything you need to make your own traditional archery equipment; Hunter Safety Systems, saving lives is what we do; and Conviction Game Calls. At Conviction, we don't separate work from our faith. We believe that our faith should be evident in every aspect of our lives, and the outdoors is one of the best places to share that.

God's Great Outdoors has produced many ministry tools, including tracts, DVDs, and books to help you reach others for Jesus Christ. You can access these items, other God's Great Outdoors items, and so much more at our website, godsgreatoutdoors.org. That's godsgreatoutdoors.org.

Dean Hulce: Welcome back to God's Great Outdoors on the trail to adventure. Again, we're in Northwest Ontario, and we're with Don and Mary Schotz. We enjoyed visiting with you guys the last day. We’re looking forward to a week ahead, but as we mentioned, all we've gotten so far is how the accident happened. Since that time, life has been full of challenges, to say the least. Don, why don't you fill us in on how life has gone and where you're at now?

Don Schotz: The first thing that happened is I lost my job. I went back to school for computer programming, but that didn't pan out. I ended up back in bookkeeping for a nursing home because I was a CPA. Another challenge was my wife left, but God brought me a new wife, and we're happily married and enjoying it. Then in 2025, God told me it was time to write a book.

Mary Schotz: To tell the story.

Don Schotz: Tell my story about what happened, and things just fell into place. I spent two months writing, and it’s published on Amazon. It's just been amazing what God is doing with the book.

Dean Hulce: I want to go back a little bit because I was amazed in reading the book. It was hard to tell the extent of your physical struggles. Reading about shoveling gravel and fixing your driveway, and then I see you, you’re physically challenged to get around. But I’m pretty amazed at how God was able to keep you going because a lot of people would have just quit, physically quit and stopped and said, "I'm done."

Some would put an end to their life. But when I read the things you've been able to accomplish in your personal life, it’s pretty amazing to me actually. Especially when you’re talking about the hills of Winona, Minnesota, because I've been in the hills there and you guys living on the side of a hill. Mary, maybe you can speak to some of how the book has changed people's lives.

Mary Schotz: A year ago right now, Don was writing the book. We had no clue what the book was going to do. Don just said that he wanted to write this inspirational book to help people. When it came out August 1st on Amazon, by mid-September we were asked at church if Don would talk about his book. Don said yes. Well, that was just the beginning.

We speak about the book all the time now. This is our ministry. We live in Florida, and we just go around in Florida, and now we are here in Canada. So now we're going to be international speakers. And here we are on the radio. God has just moved, and Don and I just hear the Holy Spirit speak, and we both go, "Yep, this is where we need to go today, and this is what we need to say at this time." That’s how it goes.

Dean Hulce: Tell us about how it went when you shared it at your church because I think it was a bigger and greater response than you anticipated.

Don Schotz: It's just been people coming up to us and telling us they couldn't put the book down. They read it three or four times, and they keep getting inspired every time they read it.

Dean Hulce: I read the book, and I told you I don't do a lot of reading because I do a lot of writing. One of the things I saw in it is that you didn't allow the hardships to stop you. In our speaking now, I've narrowed it down to five points. One is always be thankful for what you do have. One is keep the faith; God has a plan. God's not surprised by what happened. Always look to the future. In the short term, God has a plan. In the long term, we have eternity to look forward to.

Mary Schotz: And then your other point is don't fret over the small things, the little things in life. Don't let it get you down, and don't worry about it.

Dean Hulce: You reiterate that actually in almost every chapter. We still know that you went through a hardship; you knew God had a plan. I think most of us, as we get older, look back and we can see why things happened. And now as people are getting back to you, as they approach you and say this touched me or this really spoke to me, you'll think back and think, "Now we see why God did that."

We say "why" so often. No matter where you're at, you hear "Why would God do that?" Well, God doesn't do those things, but He allows them to happen. When He allows them to happen, we have a choice to either accept it and move forward knowing He's got a plan, which your book reiterates over and over and over again, which is good. With what you've been through, it's exactly what people need to hear. We either have that ability to accept that and say God's got a plan, I'm going to move forward, or we can just say, "Poor me," and quit. So many people do that, but I appreciate what you're doing.

Mary Schotz: When we first started selling books, Don and I lived in a small community, it’s a 55-plus community in Florida, so we've sold it to almost all of our neighbors. Right at the beginning, Don had sold a couple of books, and I went to a meeting without him. This lady comes up to me, she held me so tight I could hardly breathe. She was whispering in my ear, "Don's book has just changed my life. I've got hope. I can do this no matter what, because Don can do it." It was just amazing.

Just before our trip here to Canada, we sold it to another lady actually in our park. She purchased it around 3:00 in the afternoon, and at 6:30 that same evening she calls and says, "I'm halfway through your book, but I had to call to tell you it's already changing my life. You've given me so much hope. Your book is terrific." She went on and on.

Don Schotz: In my case, it took 32 years for God to reveal His plan. But now we know His plan. Now we see where He wants us to be. He's using us as encouragement to His followers and hopefully His non-followers too. It's just amazing when you know you're where God wants you.

Dean Hulce: That’s true of all Christians if we're aware. We've got to have our eyes open. We've got to be praying and asking God to show us. He has shown you, and it's a great way for you to share with many people that you could never get in front of any other way. Before we get too far, give us the name of the book, how they find it, and how they contact you guys.

Don Schotz: The book is called "Finding Hope Through the Struggles" by Donald Schotz. It's on Amazon. S-C-H-O-T-T. If you get the ebook, you can be reading it in five minutes.

Dean Hulce: Finding hope is really what people are going to get out of the book. They’re going to read the struggles from year to year to year. The hardest thing for me as I read it was moving away and not being able to be back doing the hunting and the other things you love to do with your family. I could tell in the book the difficulty of that. Have you been back at all to hunt since you moved?

Don Schotz: No, I haven't been back to hunt, but God has filled our freezer. We have friends from Minnesota who come down here every winter, and they've been bringing us venison. Plus we met a friend who lives near us, and he said, "I go back to Ohio and hunt every November. I'll bring you some venison." So God supplies even in that.

Dean Hulce: Well, we supply a venison to a lot of people as well. I used to love to, when we got a deer, bring them to the widows whose husbands used to hunt and they liked venison. So we would butcher the deer and package them and pass them on. So people are doing the same thing for you guys today. Any other stories that you guys really want to share or things that have touched you guys through all this?

Don Schotz: We've had people help along the way. I talk a lot in my book about my brother Steve and his assistance in all those years of hunting. I hunted in a disabled state for 30 years, but Steve was there to help me through that all. And on the job front, God provided. I never again had another high-paying job, but He got me on disability when I needed it, and He gave me jobs where I met lots of people. As you read it, you'll see the difficulty from chapter to chapter and how God, in every one of those chapters, shows the hope of the future.

Dean Hulce: I've taken a lot of people with special needs hunting. I hope that if I get to that point someday, somebody will do that for me. What a special thing for your brother to do that and get to share that together.

Don Schotz: I really enjoyed my time hunting with my son. He was four when the accident happened, but he grew into hunting age. One humorous story, we went hunting by my brother's house on a doe-only weekend. Brent says at one of our lunches, "What would happen if I shot a buck by accident?" And I chimed in and said, "Well, we hang it in the garage and butcher it real quick and put it in the freezer." Steve says, "Not in my garage."

Dean Hulce: As a young boy, I shot at a deer that I was sure was a buck, and I went to pull the trigger. But then right away my mind goes to, "Now, was it really a buck?" And it was, but there was that second of doubt in there. I thought, "How am I going to tell my dad this if I was wrong?" I wasn't wrong, but it was just that moment of doubt. I understand how that kind of thing can happen.

You guys are hoping to get some fish. Did you get out in a boat yesterday?

Don Schotz: We're really not going to be fishing. We're just here for the fun of being here and relaxation and doing our speaking here, bringing hope to people. That’s our whole mission in life is bringing hope to people. We’re just enjoying being in camp and the cooking. It’s a beautiful place.

Dean Hulce: There are so many people that have lost hope, and your book speaks to that. The hope that we have, and the hope that we have not only in this life but a hope that we have for eternity. There are so many people that don't have any clue when they leave this earth what's going to happen. I even hear people say, "I want to be with my friends in hell because they're going to hell." I think, "Man, what a hopeless hopelessness because we have no hope without Christ." That comes out in the book, and I really appreciate that. Anything else that you want to share?

Don Schotz: Just I'd like to say another crutch to lean on is spending time in the Bible and memorizing verses. I don't remember things very well, so I have a notebook I keep meaningful Bible verses written down in, and I go over them as I need to. You can get strength and hope from the Bible verses.

Mary Schotz: And being together with other Christians and going to church to fellowship with others is very important. To pray with your significant other, your spouse, whoever, too, on a daily basis. Don and I pray together every single day. It makes it just a powerful—it's going to be a good day now because we spent the time with the Lord and we spent time together.

Dean Hulce: Well, listen, we're out of time on the radio portion. We may pick this up with the podcast here. Thank you for joining me on the radio. It's been great to have you, and again, we want to let people know the book name and where to find it.

Mary Schotz: It's "Finding Hope Through the Struggles." It's on Amazon, and you have to put in Donald Schotz.

Dean Hulce: Probably if they put in the whole thing "Finding Hope Through the Struggles," it’ll find it for them. Well, thank you for joining us. If you have no hope right now, if you're losing hope, even if you don't, even if you know Christ and you’ve got that hope, you're going to be facing things. We’re either coming up on a storm, we're in a storm, or we’ve just been through a storm. Everybody needs to hear about how we can keep our hope. Thank you for joining us every week on God's Great Outdoors as we head down the trail to adventure.

Adam Erikson: What a great story of how God carried one of His children when there were times that he struggled to carry himself. Many would just lay down and quit, but God brings hope to those that have no hope in a world that is full of false hope. In Psalm 27:14, we read about waiting on God and having true hope through Him. It says, "Wait with hope for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart be courageous. Yes, wait with hope for the Lord."

What is it that you're facing today that creates in you a need for hope? Trust the Lord for the hope that will get you through any trial you might be facing. Not only does faith in God bring us hope, it also brings an amazing amount of peace as we go through life facing one obstacle after another. When you face upcoming trials, put your hope in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

If you enjoyed today's program and would like to hear the extended podcast version, you can find it by looking for Dean Hulce or Trail to Adventure wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. This program is provided by and can be contacted at God's Great Outdoors, PO Box 414, Powers, Michigan 49874, or on the website godsgreatoutdoors.org. For our host Dean Hulce, this is Adam Erikson. Please join us here in God's Great Outdoors every week as we head out on the trail to adventure.