Have you ever been hiking at night? If the woods are dense enough, almost no moonlight or starlight penetrates the thick canvas of the forest roof. When you turn your headlamp on, the immediate area in front of you lights up, and everything else is draped in blackness. You can see clearly for maybe thirty feet, then after that it tapers quickly back into pitch black. There’s a certain amount of faith that you have to walk in when you are night hiking. You have to trust that the trail will take you where it is supposed to go. You have to have faith that the trail itself is safe, even if it runs alongside a step cliff or next to a rushing river. You trust that the noises you hear are really just big squirrels and not hungry bears looking for tasty, out of shape and slightly plump, stray hikers. So you hike in faith, knowing for sure only what lies 30 feet in front of you and hoping that you’ll reach your campsite before Roscoe the Mountain Man jumps from the shadows to demonstrate to you his deep knowledge of the movie “Deliverance.” It really is exciting. Believe me. Try it sometime. Well, I am on a night hike of sorts right now, figuratively speaking. All of us that have entered into this amazing adventure that is following Christ are on night hikes. Our destination is certain: the Kingdom of God. Our trail is firm: the Path of Righteousness and the Way of the Cross. Our light, The Holy Spirit, illuminates all that we need to know in order to navigate through the world that is shrouded in the darkness of sin. The path that I am currently on is not one that I ever thought that I would take. It is a crazy trail that already has seen miracles, struggles, leaps of faith, and mighty acts of God. And we're only at the beginning. My hiking companions are my wife Brandie, and my three sons, Sam, Jack and Luke. It is a journey that we would love to share with all of you, if you want to read along.

Monday, August 30, 2010

New design, new direction for Night Time Hike

As you may have noticed, I have taken about two weeks off from the blog. Now that God has clearly illuminated the next step in the path and we are working directly towards an Anglican Church plant in Gainesville, GA, I wanted to rethink the direction of the blog. For the past few months, the Night Time Hike has served as an update about the personal lives of the Fitzgeralds, a place to write out thoughts, express insights that God has given me, and give updates about to progress of our plans. In short, this has been a catch all place for whatever I wanted to write about on that particular night. This has been fun and I hope that all of you have enjoyed a peek into my life and my mind.

It is time now though for a change in Night Time Hike. I think that it is time for me to begin work as the pastor of this fledgling church. And while I cannot actually be present in Gainesville on a permanent basis until next summer, I can share the words and insights that God has given me right here. I can use this to blog to continue to report on the progress of the church, to update everyone on upcoming meetings (we will meet once a month in Gainesville until we launch next summer), and a place to ask help, prayers, and support. The plan is that I will be writing and posting updates on Mondays. Periodically, if I feel that there is something really pertinent (or just really funny), I will post when the mood hits.

Can I ask for your help? First, above all, pray. Pray that the Holy Spirit begins the work, first and foremost, in preparing the hearts of the people in Gainesville. Pray that God brings to this church the right people for the right jobs. And pray that I am able to handle all of this while finishing school, being an assistant swim coach at Asbury University, teaching art one day a week at a private school, and being the husband and father that God has called me to be.

Secondly, can I ask that you spread the word? Tell other people about this blog and about the mission of this new Church in Gainseville. I would love for word to spread all around about the work that God is going to do there. The more people that know, the more prayers will go up. I truly would love to have global prayer coverage. I know right now I have people faithfully praying in Michigan, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, and here in Kentucky. How cool would it be to know that we had prayers in all fifty states and around the world being focused on Gainesville, GA?

You may have also noticed that the design of the blog has changed. I am experimenting around, so it may change a little until I get it right. I will be adding gadgets, videos, and a few other things as well. Hopefully it will end up looking polished and professional. Kinda the opposite of me on most days.

One last thought: When I served on staff with Young Life, I heard another staff person excitedly speak about the new area he had been assigned to and said with complete confidence, “God’s gonna blow this place UP, man!” With your help, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, that is exactly what God can do with this church to Gainesville, GA. God’s gonna blow this place UP!

Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. Kelly Efurd LawsonAugust 30, 2010 at 2:32 PM

    Sounds great, Joey. Thanks for the update. We'll keep praying!

    K,B, & E

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)