Community, Foster Care, Service, Stories of Grace | by Anne Johnson

“Take up the cause of the fatherless.” Isaiah 1:17 (NIV)

November 12th was Orphan Sunday, a day when the Church stands up for the orphan. November is also National Adoption Month. As of July 2017, there were 1,460 children in foster care in King County, and about 8,800 children in foster care across the state of Washington (more statistics here). Our church family hopes to rally around these children and the families directly supporting them, bringing and being Christ to them in their isolation, fear, and uncertainty.

Caleb and Leah Gross, members of Downtown Cornerstone, have experienced first hand the joy, heartache, difficulty, and miracle of welcoming foster children into their home. Leah was familiar with foster care and adoption through her previous church and had a strong desire to be involved after seeing the great need for homes and foster parents. When they got married, Caleb was still getting used to the idea of foster care.

The Grosses reached out to us as we had gone through the process to become licensed and had been fostering for a short time. We shared our story of how God grew our desire to foster parent and our experiences with the fostering process. We met with Caleb and Leah a number of times over the course of several months. They helped care for our kiddos in foster care and brought us meals during transitions. It was remarkable to watch their hearts grow for children stuck in the foster system and become increasingly confident in God’s sovereignty and goodness for their life.

The Grosses became licensed through the state with relatively few hiccups and have since welcomed two kids into their home. When things got difficult, as they inevitably do, we met together, we encouraged one another, we cried together. We left that place more confident in the call to which Christ has called us.

“Is this the most comfortable or most convenient life? No. But if we’re followers of Christ, comfort isn’t the point at all. Rather joining in the work of bringing redemption and hope to the brokenness and darkness. In the meantime we are sanctified and are touched with new awareness of God’s love for us, His heart of mercy, and His compassion towards us. He is our good Father. If we get the honor of being a father or mother to those without, why wouldn’t we?”

Their story continues. The day in and day out of caring for children, going to appointments, attending court dates and bio-family visits, checking in with social workers, etc. We are here to support one another, spur one another on, and remind each other what Christ has done for us and the life for which He saved us.

DCC ENGAGEMENT

DCC has been engaging with the foster care system for a number of years. During the 2014 and 2016 Advent seasons, we ran clothing drives for the foster youth in King County. We collected over 1,000 pieces of clothing! These clothes were distributed to kids in need of comfort and necessities. Learn about opportunities to help support foster families this season here.

• The Capitol Hill North Community supports a ‘Fostering Together’ support group by providing childcare and dinner every month to the foster families who attend.
• The Foster Support Faith Alliance (FSFA) is a ministry of Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. The FSFA connects local churches wanting to engage the foster care system with the agencies and foster families in need of volunteer service. I have the opportunity to represent DCC as well as facilitate the local chapter of FSFA. We partner with the King West Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) office which is less than a mile away from our church building. We’ve partnered with the office in numerous ways to support foster families, bio families, and social workers.
• On September 30th, DCC hosted a Caregiver’s Evening Out event. Foster, adoptive and kinship care parents were able to enjoy an evening to themselves while we cared for their children. Thirty-five volunteers welcomed 40 children from 18 families, prepared dinner, played games, made crafts and tangibly loved these families involved in foster care. We were also able to provide goodie bags for all the parents. For various reasons, many of these families don’t have opportunities like these to take time for themselves. The families were so grateful and appreciative for the special night we helped facilitate for them!

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

“I could never do that”, “I want to but would get too attached”, “They are so lucky to have you”. Many people don’t understand who can or can’t become a foster parent or the multitude of other ways you can support the fostering community.

We are holding a Foster Care Info Session & Viewing on November 19th at 1pm and will share specific ways to get involved. We’ll also watch the ReMoved films to give insight into foster care and will have time for discussion and questions.

If you are interested in attending or would like to find out more about foster care opportunities, please contact Ben and Anne at .

For His glory,

Anne & Ben Johnson
DCC members & foster parents

Discipleship, Event

Earlier this month, 130 men within DCC set aside a weekend to reset their affections on Christ and grow in fellowship together at Island Lake Camp in Poulsbo, WA. Jesus was made much of, prayers were answered, and men left encouraged and renewed! Here’s just one of the many stories from the weekend.

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As we settled into our seats and pulled out our bibles, the fatigue of the day became apparent. Men quietly greeted each other as the smell of coffee filled the room. After a busy week, the thought of lessons and activities was as daunting as it was exciting. For me, the week leading up to Man Camp had been particularly taxing. I felt tired, stretched thin, and distant from God. 

As the first session began and we dove into God’s word, a simple but powerful theme began to take center stage: Endurance.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God..” – Hebrews 12:1-2. 

Man Camp itself was divided into four sessions, breaking down Hebrews 12:1-3. The first session discussed what endurance is and why we need it. We reflected on the “great cloud of witnesses”- ordinary men who trusted deeply in God – and how their trust and dependence on God offers us strength, encouragement, and a new perspective to trust God in difficult circumstances. Session two highlighted the weight and sin that clings so closely to our souls, why it clings so closely, and how we can, by God’s grace, start to lay it aside. In the third session, we learned what it takes to run the race with endurance and how we can tell if we are running the race well. Finally, in the last session, we evaluated what our hearts are truly pursing, remembering the Lord and his sacrifice for us, and refocusing our hearts, minds, and souls on who Jesus is, what He has done for us, and how He is worthy of the central affections of our hearts. 

Looking back, I can clearly see that the Lord was beginning to reveal a gospel disconnect in my life. While I didn’t realize it at the time, I had started to place my trust, joy, and satisfaction in my doings rather than in my Savior. This subtle change happened over a series of months and had left me feeling spiritually dry, focused on my sin and failures, and overall a bit weary in pursuing God. 

It was during the last session that I was reminded of the encouragement from the author of Hebrews to set my attention on Jesus as my deepest joy and greatest treasure. I had spent so much of my energy trying to fix my mistakes and shortcomings and subtly win God’s approval that I had forgotten who my Jesus is. He is the one who is appointed as the heir of all things and it is through Him that all things were created in this world (Heb 1:2). He is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of His nature. He is the one who upholds the universe by the word of His power. He is the one who made purification for our sins. (Heb 1:3) It is Him who everything is subject to, and nothing is outside of His control. (Heb 2:8) It is Him who is founder of our salvation. (Heb 2:10) It is Him who is our great high priest who has passed through the heavens. (Heb 4:14) He is our sure and steadfast anchor of our souls. (Heb 6:19) He is perfect forever. (Heb. 7:28) It is Him who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places. (Heb. 8:1-2) and it is Him who deeply loves me and draws me near with his grace and mercy.

It is only by looking towards Jesus that we can run this race. It starts with Him, it continues with Him, and it will end with Him. It is not done by pulling up our boot straps and simply manning up. It is done only through His grace and His strength. We add nothing, we only faithfully pursue Him. 

I know that in this day and age, it can be hard to take a step away from all the priorities we have for a weekend getaway. I know that events like this can seem a burden, but that is far from the truth. We all need time to get away and truly reflect and recalibrate our hearts on our gracious God. I have consistently seen the Lord move in mine and others lives during this time, and I am confident He will continue this good work in the years to come. 

Love you all,

Kyle Stewart, DCC Member

City Life, Stories of Grace

“The Stories of Grace series is intended to capture snapshots of God’s grace and glory amidst our every day lives. They are real stories of real people who have seen the fingerprints of God amidst the ordinary—God’s favorite canvas. Each story is personal, unique and, often, unfinished. Through it all we get glimpses of God’s steadfast love, sufficient grace, and ongoing presence with his people.”

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When you move from one city to another, they call you a “transplant”. As if it’s easy to just lift and reset into new soil. In truth, it’s pretty complicated and messy even when you’re dealing with actual plants; root systems struggle to establish themselves and the plant will sometimes experience a bit of shock right at first. You certainly wouldn’t expect them to yield any abundant fruit or blooms just after being transplanted.

But I didn’t know this when I was new to Seattle. I had just lifted my roots from Northwest Arkansas with all its rolling, bluegrassy hills and had transplanted to the land of gray skies and glaciers. It was all very exciting and I expected to transfer all my “thriving” from one home to the next.

Come to find out, I didn’t transfer so effortlessly. All the things that I wanted to love—neighbors and church and even the landscape around me—werestill foreign. My heart ached for the sense of belonging that came from having years of deep roots in a place. Seattle life was strange and unfamiliar and I felt dissonant in any attempt to recreate what had worked in Arkansas.

But God—there’s not a place we can go where He is not watching us, loving us, and desiring to work all things together for our good and His glory. I prayed for a friend and a ministry, and He began working it all out.

It began with blackberries, which is funny in hindsight because blackberries are the poster-child for a fierce and fast-moving root system. But I didn’t know that then. I just knew that I felt a close-to-spiritual peace when I was in the neighboring vacant backyard, feasting on wild blackberries with my 4 year old. The yard belonged to an English woman that had recently moved into a local nursing home and I had gained permission from her nephew to forage.

And then one day, a little idea sprang into my head: what if I took some blackberries to the old woman? She would adore tasting the fruits from her old backyard, and it would give me something to do. So we arrived one day with high hopes, a bouquet of flowers, and blackberries. Hopes were immediately dashed when the blackberries were scorned, the flowers were unappreciated, and she seemed almost annoyed at the breach of her privacy. But something inside me refused to be scared off and when I offered to return the following week, she accepted.

That was four years ago. It didn’t take long for the woman’s demeanor to change, and her stories and personality captivated me. Maybe it took her some time to decide that she liked me, or maybe she finally realized we weren’t going anywhere and she could drop her defenses. Since then I have had two baby boys who have basically become like royalty if you saw the way they are adored and swooned over by every grandmother in the building.

Hindsight has also shown me that this old English woman wasn’t just a lonely widow that needed someone to take her on as a service project. She was my very first friend in Seattle when I had none. She is my oldest friend here, you could say.

The answer to my prayers was unexpected. My early roots here reached down in a way I never could have guessed or designed myself. The whole thing showed me that God enjoys working things out in ways that astonish us. He is so good and He wants us to thrive! His wisdom, kindness, creativity, even His humor are waiting to be tested if we would surrender even the smallest details and let Him cultivate our lives to His glory and our ultimate delight.

– Britney Baer, DCC Member

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If you are a member with DCC and have a story of grace to share please email .