FYI Administrative trivia first: I’ll be using my ehurst909@gmail.com for this blog. The jehurst@gmail.com account is for the bikepacking stuff.
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I’m walking riding by faith. Unless I’m totally deluded, this business of biking and camping and sharing my adventures is the mission I’ve long believed was my last great adventure in life. This is frankly not at all what I was expecting, but now that it stands in front of me, I embrace it wholly. I’m not looking for anything else; I know my divine mission.
Naturally this will require changes in the pattern of what I post on the two blogs. Also, note that I now have a Facebook account solely to publicize what I’m doing with bikepacking. Sure, it’s nice to keep in touch with family that way, but my interactions on Facebook will be focused on biking and camping in Oklahoma. I’m supposed to promote the idea of exploring my state, and this is how I do that. Of course, that’s the purpose most folks will see, and that’s good enough.
I’m not going to get lost in Facebook chatter about politics and other social commentary. I’ll still post my own thoughts on such things on my blogs, but I won’t even link any of that on Facebook, only the posts about bikepacking. I’ll refrain from “liking” anything that I can’t use to support that public mission. You folks will know why I’m doing this, and I’ll share with you the prophetic contemplations from those long rides, but I won’t promote that on Facebook.
Now that I know what my public persona is supposed to be, that will naturally affect the focus of my contemplations while out on those long rides. Where I stand will affect what I see. I’ll probably write a lot less about what would be ideal in the events around us, and more about how to avoid being fooled by what does happen, and what the liars say about it.
A few years ago I held the bright hope that we could avoid an apocalypse. I’m still sure we did, but only by a hair’s breadth. Things did not go as they should have and could have, so the window of blessing has closed. I sense in my spirit that a few key folks out there simply turned away from the call of God. God showed us how bad it could have been, and folks fled from it. However, we dodged one apocalypse only to blunder into another, in that sense. We will still experience some very bad times.
But crazy as it may seem, my new mission is not ignoring the tribulation. It’s simply how God intends to use me during that tribulation. Frankly, I’m not seeing the whole picture. All I know is that bikepacking around the state is how God intends to use me for His glory. I must do this. I’ll push ahead with whatever resources God provides, and trust Him for all the needs I still see coming, and those I don’t even see. It’s not a question of justifying donations for something that will appear to many as frivolous. It’s a question of inviting folks to participate in something that blesses them. Don’t give unless the Lord moves you.
Here are some mission equipment items you can pray about with me: (1) camping gear, (2) a better bike, and (3) a tablet with a SIM card (cellphone connection) for navigation and snapshot use. Most of Oklahoma has functional cellphone coverage, but a cellphone display simply isn’t big enough for navigation in the open countryside. A good tablet would have far better battery life, too. I’m inclined to look at iPads, even though they are expensive.
Regular sponsorship would be nice, but I’m not asking for a “glamping” lifestyle. It would be nice to sleep in motels and eat in cafes all the way, but that simply isn’t possible. There are whole counties with maybe two ratty convenience stores, and a great many towns with nothing at all. And that kind of isolation is exactly where some of the best natural beauty can be found. Also, keep in mind that there are some areas I’ll never see if I have to ride all the way out there on a bike. I will need to tote the bike out to some areas and ride around after I get there.
Side note: I will be actively seeking chances to chat with folks who live out in the countryside. We shall see what God does with that, but it can make for fascinating stories.
The readers of this blog will be my prayer support team. If you aren’t praying with me, no amount of money from anybody would be of any use. A major question for me is the publicity angle. I don’t have a clear vision yet of what that should be, but I know that this mission isn’t just for the blessing of a faithful few. There is something about this that needs to get a much wider attention. I tend to believe this should show up in the news at some point, for whatever reason — God alone knows. This is His show.
