Danielle in Baton Rouge

The past several months of transitioning to full time work with SportQuest have been full of spiritual warfare and what I am beginning to recognize as a time in the "wilderness." In the wilderness, there has been rejection, loss, and heartache; but the Lord keeps His promises. He has been very present, walking with me and reminding me both who He is and who I am. Scripture has a lot to say about the wilderness. The Israelites were in the wilderness for a long time before entering the promised land. John the Baptist carried out his entire ministry in the wilderness (or in prison). Jesus entered the wilderness before calling His disciples and beginning His work. In Romans 8:18-30 (I've shortened it here, but go read it ALL!), the Apostle Paul, who suffered greatly for the Gospel, writes: "Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later...For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right...

I've officially dived into support raising. I haven't received a paycheck since the end of May, and I won't start receiving funds from SportQuest until I've met my support raising goals. So I'm in the gap. I've leapt from the relative financial security of full time teaching, into a season of support raising and team building. I'm sending letters, making calls, and setting up face to face meetings with as many people as possible to share the vision the Lord has given me for sports ministry in Baton Rouge and to lay out financial goals that I have set to be able to pursue this vision. This current season requires me to live day to day without knowing where funds to cover basic expenses will come from. I suppose it's like doing the trust fall with Jesus. By "trust fall" I mean that thing most of us have done in some kind of team building exercise or at a summer camp where we stand on a platform and fall backwards into the arms of our teammates....