Community, Stories of Grace | by Anne Johnson

“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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Walking through the book of Job and seeing the affliction and suffering he experienced, I’ve been reflecting on the story that God’s been orchestrating in my life. Like many, it has included several helpings of trials, pain, and suffering. There’s a sign in Swedish’s Cancer Institute office that says, “Cancer is a word, not a sentence.” Cancer is one of the major fears of our modern American culture and most people have been touched by it in some way or another, including me. I am two and a half years out from my diagnosis of cancer. Two years after my last chemo treatment and one and a half years out from my final radiation session. A friend asked “what do you think is the biggest thing you’ve learned through all this?” There are layers of what I’ve learned and, Lord willing, will continue to learn for years to come. But in the interim, I’ve learned about the Church and God’s power to move through it when we are willing to obey. When the Church keeps “fixing our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV), we are able to accomplish such grand things through Him who strengthens us.

I thought I knew what community was. I thought I grasped everything that God had to offer through His Church. After all, I was living in Christian community and had helped lead community groups. Service was one of my love languages and I’d always had a heart for social justice. But the riches of Christ are unsearchable (Ephesians 3:8). There is no end to the Alpha and the Omega. He is the beginning and the end, which is to say He is always (Revelation 21:6). It will take an eternity to try to understand what I thought I had on lockdown after little more than a decade of following Christ.

When I reflect on my cancer treatment, there is pain, both physical and emotional. There are moments that I hope never to experience again and pray no one else would have to endure. Make no mistake, it was not fun. But what comes into focus much more sharply is Love. Not the word love that we throw around when we talk about our favorite foods or movies. I am talking about Love that came incarnate through Christ. I am talking about the Love of a community that brought countless meals and shuffled children around. I am talking about the Love of a care package with all of the cancer essentials because friends cared enough to research what was best. I am talking about the Love of a 10 year old son who prayed every night that I would be healed from my cancer. I am talking about the Love of friends who changed a cross-country motorcycle trip they’d been planning for six years to better care for me and my family. I am talking about the Love of a community who asks how they can pray for you and actually prays with you in the moment. That is not the love we give to things of this earth. That is not the love that comes from human “kindness”, but the Love that is only possible through Christ Jesus our Lord.

I can only hope that I would be able to proclaim this great news had the cancer still been ravaging my body. I am healed in my body of a disease that threatened to take my life, but moreover I stand healed of the sin that threatened to take my soul, which is of immeasurably more worth and value. So my boast will not be in the healing of my body from cancer, but my boast will be in Christ who lives and reigns and invites me into eternal joy and life with him whether I die tomorrow or in 40 years. Like Job, my suffering helped me turn my eyes upward, fixing them on the Living God, and I’m praising Him all the more.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV

– Anne Johnson, DCC Member

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

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

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 . 

Community, City Life, Kids, 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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People have places and place yields meaning; it’s easy to forget. Rivers have beds, houses have foundations, kings have thrones, and planets have orbits. Adjust any of these places and you will find fundamental shifts in the meaning and expression of the object. People aren’t all that different. Christian people are called to be pilgrims, to seek, but even we have places along the way. Like Florida, for instance.  

Florida — sunny, humid, beautiful, and weird, was home to my wife and me for the first three decades of our lives. Like all good Florida kids we knew the smell of suntan lotion from the earliest of ages and could pick out the venomous snakes from the harmless varieties. Yes, the logs have eyes and are called alligators, not crocodiles. Florida had family and friends, thirty years’ worth. It was our place. And we left it for Seattle.

More specifically we left a four-bedroom home in a subdivision on a cul-de-sac with three kids in tow and moved to a two-bedroom condo in a downtown neighborhood. Then we added another kid. Suburban to urban, cicadas to cyclists, red to blue, known to unknown. Why? The driving impetus behind the cross-country relocation was a call to serve a young classical Christian school in the heart of the city. But that’s not the part of the story we want to emphasize. Rather, we want to tell you about living through this call, what we as a family have experienced, and how Jesus has continued to demonstrate His kindness.

When others discover our living situation, family of six residing in downtown Seattle, they tend to focus first on what must have been sacrificed. Our people back in Florida typically note the amenities we no longer possess: multiple vehicles, expansive square footage, expendable income, a yard. Progressive neighbors either don’t know how to process the parade of children perpetually accompanying us or openly marvel at our choice to plant roots down here where dogs outnumber kids 2:1. Conservative neighbors, likewise, question the wisdom of exposing children to the vanguard of cultural redefinition. It’s not surprising that a person’s first reaction is shaped by the difference in their position compared to our own. But our experience has not been dominated by missing pieces or dysfunction. In truth, we have known community, family unity, and purposefulness unlike any other time in our marriage.

Seattle became home for us largely through our Cornerstone Community. Members of the church community, people we had not yet even met, were here on day one helping us to unload our moving truck. These friends have told us to go out on dates and freely babysit our children, approach us with straight exhortations from Scripture, invite us to know their hopes and hurts, and have effectually knit us into this place. It’s common to head out on the sidewalk and spot someone we recognize or hear our names called out by a passerby. Our children see firsthand how other adults in seasons similar or dissimilar to their parents seek to follow and serve Jesus. We couldn’t imagine leading life here apart from our Cornerstone Community.

One of the most common perceived drawbacks about family urban living we have heard is the concern over too little space. Surprisingly, not least of which to us, are the gifts we have enjoyed as a result of proximity both in and outside the home. Within 950 square feet it’s tough to avoid one another. But this closeness means we have to live life among each other. Contentious problems are rarely left unresolved, challenges with the kids are discovered early; it’s hard to keep skeletons in your closet when you don’t have any closet space. The absurdly restorative message of the gospel must, therefore, be present often.

As we strive and struggle to follow Jesus and raise up our children in the instruction and admonition of the Lord we find that our home in the city demands purposefulness. This is not to say that living with purpose is solely relegated to urban life. However, culture, what people do with creation, is typically innovated in the city. As our family encounters developments both beautiful and ugly we are pushed again and again to send roots down deep into the Truth and Goodness of God. Divisions, disparity, images, stories, change, appearance all vie for a place to stand in our hearts and the souls of our children. And we have the amazing opportunity to seek His kingdom amongst our diverse neighbors! Shoot, do you know the parental training opportunities provided by a protest? The old Story proves fresh, resilient, and life-giving over and in the pulsations of the city.

God was good to us on the cul-de-sac and He’s been good to us in the city. I don’t think our story is all that exceptional or inspiring, but it is true. Make our story less peculiar. Consider planting roots, sticking around, and raising your kids here as well. The challenges are real, but our Father loves to give good gifts. His church is called to bear and bequeath the beauty of Jesus in every square inch of this world.

– Luke Davis, DCC Member

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

Community, 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 I became a foster parent two years ago, I anticipated changing relationships: a new relationship with a child, her family, social workers, and even changes in my own family relationships. What I did not expect was a dramatic change in my relationship with the church body.

As a single, childless adult, I was (or thought I should be!) pretty self-sufficient, more in a position to give than to receive. However, when I received my first foster placement, I was thrown into an uncomfortable position of neediness. I needed baby clothes, supplies, advice, prayer… I needed a door.

In order for my foster daughter to remain with me past infancy, I was required to install a partition door in my apartment. As a deer-in-the-headlights, sleep-deprived, carpentry-clueless, first-time single parent, I wasn’t going to pull this off on my own. I humbled myself, became vulnerable, and asked my church family for help. I was overwhelmed by the love I received. Two men gave up a Saturday with their families to construct a sliding door. Other people in the church, whom I knew only by name, brought a crib mattress, baby carriers, clothes, and a diaper bag.

In receiving these gifts, I was surprised to find that the greatest blessings were not the need met, but the deep bonds of affection that the love of these people called forth in me. As I opened myself to the love of the church, I experienced, in a new way, the love of Christ himself. In fact, I had been caught up in an out of control love spiral; as the love of Christ moved me to pour myself out in love for a child, I was filled to overflowing by the love of Christ through the love of the church.

This is the mysterious trinitarian love economy that Christ prayed we would experience in John 17:20-23: “…that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Isn’t it amazing that Jesus says our love for one another preaches the gospel to the world! Truly, our Father delights to bring marvels from mustard seeds, from a licensing requirement for a door, to unleash a deluge of love and proclaim his glory to the world.

– Adrienne Haass, DCC Member

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

Baptism, Discipleship, Stories of Grace | by Laura West

“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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Last Sunday I walked down to Myrtle Edwards Park, dipped my toes into the Sound, and reflected on dramatic marks of God’s grace in my life. 

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I grew up in a small, southern town where churches outnumbered grocery stores; where faith was assumed, yet the implications of a life marked by faith were murky. At best, I understood God to be some cross between a genie and a judge. I wanted a protected life, so over and over I asked for faith but never felt the blanket of warmth I imagined must signify security with God. Eventually I rejected the God who I felt had rejected me. 

As an adult, I was successful by all the world’s standards. I had done well in school, had multiple jobs with serious career potential, spent my money wisely, surrounded myself with friends, and looked happy. But the truth was that my life was filled with sin and desperation as I pieced together my identity with whatever others would give me. I decided that I needed to escape, to reinvent myself and start over. 

Completely out of my cautious character, I booked a spontaneous vacation to Seattle. Looking back, this was the first sign of God actively and physically pulling me to Him.  That week, I fell in love with this city and the promise of a new life.  

I imagined that my life in Seattle would be anything I wanted to create it to be. I didn’t imagine that my old scars would be so hard to hide. That the same haunting feeling of discontent could return so quickly. 

But God.

God had other plans for my reinvention. Against all odds, He drew me to a church where again I was confronted with a bitter desire for faith. I wanted to believe, but there were too many unanswered questions. Again and again, He stripped away my meager attempts at self-reinvention and slowly but surely did His great work in me. Jesus so sweetly rescued me, patiently pulling me along while I looked everywhere but at Him.  

I was drawn to Seattle with the promise of a new life – I had no idea that the promise that drew me here was one of eternal life. That my reinvention would be more than a new job in a new city, but a new identity as a daughter of the King.

Sunday marks six years since I walked into the cold, salty water of the Sound, declared my new identity in Christ, and was baptized looking at this city that I love so dearly. Every time I gaze out over those waters, I remember my own unlikely story of redemption and the incredible stories of so many others who have returned, shivering and alive, to that pebbly shore. 

Like me, they had moments of self-reflection and found themselves lacking. Like me, they saw dissatisfaction rippling through their lives. We all need reinvention beyond a new job, a new city, new clothes, or new hobbies. We need more than another attempt at escape. We need God to intervene and rescue us from our failed fresh starts – we need new life in Him. We need Jesus to make us new.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

On August 24th, I’d encourage you to join us at Myrtle Edwards Park to celebrate the beauty of summer and, Lord-willing, in the glory of the gospel in baptisms. I’ll be there chowing on hot dogs, enjoying the company of friends, and smiling into the sparkling waters of the Sound.

To God be the glory!  

Laura West, DCC Member

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

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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Like so many who live in Seattle, our stay here will not be permanent. I’m relocating my family back to California after living in the Emerald City for four years. This decision has been years in the making, and it is one that I have had to approach with prayer and careful consideration.

For whatever reason, our lives are marked by constant travel and transition. When Sarah (my wife) and I first met, she lived outside Chicago and I lived in southern California. She traveled the country for work and stayed in one place from just a few weeks to a few months before moving on. I was a young attorney working way too many hours each day. We dated long-distance and flew to meet in various places until we got married in California a year later. After only a few months I transitioned to my company’s new office across the country in Washington D.C. And then, only two years later, we moved back across the country to Seattle. Throughout these first six years of marriage, we’ve both traveled an average of 100,000 domestic air miles annually.

In Washington D.C. we became members of a remarkable church called Redeemer Church of Arlington. Even though we both came from lifelong faith backgrounds, it was the first time we joined a body of believers where passionate and theologically rigorous teaching was the main focus. In addition, meeting with small groups of believers in our neighborhood was a church priority and we jumped right in.  With this church Sarah took a public step of faith through baptism because she found a new understanding of scripture and a reorientation of her faith. We made lifelong friends who challenged us to work constantly on our theology and to live ordinary life with gospel intentionality.

When we landed in Seattle in 2013, I already had a short list of church bodies to check out, but nonetheless I was concerned about where we would land. Having come from such a life-changing body of believers in Washington D.C,. we were understandably nervous about finding another church body strong enough for us to continue strengthening our understanding of Scripture, and that would guide us in intentionally living life through robust faith in Jesus.

Downtown Cornerstone Church was the second stop we made, and it immediately felt like home even though it met in an AMC movie theatre downtown. The theologically rigorous teaching and passion for Jesus Christ even stepped up a notch from our past experiences. We eventually became members of the church and learned an incredible amount through the teaching of the pastors and the focused commitment to mentorship and creating solid disciples of Christ. In fact, we actually completed the membership process around the time we started discussing whether we needed to move back to California.

I’m sure you are wondering why this life story matters, and why this guy is so long-winded. The point of all of this is that we learned the importance of being present, wherever the Lord has us. Both Seattle and Washington DC are transitory places by nature, where you can expect to be for a handful of years before moving along. When you know life will likely take you elsewhere, there is a strong temptation to limit involvement in your local body of believers and keep people from getting close. We like to use the excuse that we are saving people’s emotions or making sure not to use up limited church resources, or whatever. Taking that track will rob you, and rob others, of remarkable things that the Lord will do. We recognized that it is imperative to be where you are, when you are there.

Life does not start at some point in the future; life is what you are living right now. Don’t use the excuse that you’ll commit to a place once you get married, or have children, or buy a condo, or reach a certain point of financial or career stability. Commit now to the place where the Lord has you living and dive right in. I remember several moments where we made specific decisions to be present and not keep the church at arm’s length even though another move was imminent, and that decision yielded unfathomable results. We made genuine and deep Christian friendships in both Washington D.C. and Seattle, participated in church leadership and mentoring (on both sides), contributed to the start of brand-new community groups, learned the depths of Scripture at a new and exciting level, experienced true discipleship through rigorous education programs and cohorts of believers, and truly became Christians that we think non-believers like and respect. Had we taken a seat in the back row at the church gathering and bided our time, we would have regressed instead of enjoying the riches of God’s kingdom. All of this is remarkable evidence of the Lord’s grace in continuing to mold us in His image regardless of the ways we try and limit His ability to work.

Be present where you are when you are there, dig into the people God has placed around you, and allow the Lord to work. Don’t hold back waiting for some unknown future time to join in, because you will choke out the things He has in store.

There is always some trepidation at moving to another city when you have advanced in your faith. Not all bodies of believers have the same vibe, and not all teaching is as rigorous or intentional as others. Yet God, in His wisdom, created and provided church families for us to connect with and belong to in meaningful and substantial ways even during transitory periods. What’s holding you back from digging in and trusting all that He has for you where you are right now?

Growing in Christ,

Jonathan Lamb, DCC Member

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

City Life, Service, 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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We’re playing Bingo, and the caller announces “B 4” into the microphone. I’m tempted to crack a lame joke and respond, “Before what?” But I resist.

It’s Friday afternoon and we’re at a session of Bingo at Bayview Retirement Community. Three gals in their twenties, two baby boys in their onesies, and a table of aging seniors with varying, but mostly limited, communication abilities—really, a table of adopted grandmothers for our sons. Oh, how they love our boys.

It started off pretty easy: two mamas with a sleeping baby in each stroller, helping seniors through the game of Bingo. Perhaps there was an occasional nursing session or a wheeling of the makeshift crib to calm the cries. But there was always a guarantee of adult conversation and the biggie: a reason to get out of the house.

As our babies grew, our Bingo play cards reduced from two, to one, to none. Our ability to help residents through the game followed a similar drop, though we are somehow able to improvise a tag team dance of kid-watch along with the help of the Activities Coordinator and a friend who joins us monthly. What started as a relaxing, adult-focused outing while our babies snoozed has morphed into a monthly rhythm that requires a determined and patient heart. I get out of my house to perform a workout of sorts that requires entertaining a curious toddler for two hours amidst Bingo calls, wheelchairs, and so many things he can’t touch. I am no longer just helping residents complete a game of Bingo, for the person sitting next to me actually has a complete Four Corner Cluster and we both forgot to call it.

But I’ve realized: the game is not the point.

When we enter the activity room on these Friday afternoons, the residents do not light up and smile because they think they might win a round of Bingo with our help. No, the game is not their joy; rather, seeing our boys is their joy (and sometimes they like hanging out with us, too). There is a lady who smiles, lips closed but eyes bright, every time she sees my son, Oliver. We always introduce ourselves. He waves, and she looks at him with adoration. After roughly eight visits, I was sitting at the table with Oliver in my lap. He had a toy and was seconds from squirming out of my hold and onto the floor to grab the microphone cord when from across the table she said it: “Oh, I know him!”

It was the first time I had heard her speak. She remembered us. She knew us.

God, could you work in her heart to know You, too? Could we aid in that introduction?

The hope was that this would be missional somehow. Since our community visits monthly, we ladies with weekday availability thought it would be helpful to also attend these Friday Bingo sessions. Another chance to get to know the residents, to deepen relationships, to be a help, and ultimately to share the love of Christ. While I’ve yet to navigate how to craft simple (and loud!) truth statements about God to seniors who have sadly lost much of their ability to hold a conversation, I hold out hope that something we are doing here is speaking of God’s love for them. I do know that we are helping to love and recognize a group of individuals often overlooked in our city. For God instructs us to love the widows and orphans, the vulnerable and down-trodden.

If an opportunity did arise where I could speak of Christ, perhaps the connections would be more quickly made. As they have seen us enter into their lives, they could see how Christ, the holy and eternal God, has entered into our human, mortal lives on earth. As we listen and play and assist, drawing near to them, perhaps they could know that God draws near to us. He is always present, ready to welcome and re-welcome sinners into His care.

So we continue with these Friday Bingo sessions at Bayview, two toddlers in tow. We have no idea what we’re doing, but we desire to love those that Christ has placed around us. We know God is continually shaping our hearts to love others more—especially those unlike us—and to depend on Him for all those awkward and inconvenient moments of service. Amazingly, he might use us to bring the good news of Christ to those in this nursing home. He may yet bring salvation to an old sinner.

It is not easy to love and serve the oppressed and the downtrodden. It can be hard, awkward, uncomfortable, and inconvenient. But there are so many groups of people in our city who need to experience the love of Christ. What would it look like for you to serve as He has served us? Who is in your life that may be overlooked or unloved, and how can you begin to look and love on them? May we be an encouragement to one another as we draw near, pray, assist, serve, and yes, play Bingo.

– Beth Boyd, DCC Member

Stories of Grace | by Sarah Ruiz

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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Arms raised, my offering held high.
“Lord, do with our son what you would like.”

Shortly after my husband and I found out we were pregnant, this image came to my mind. My heart embodied the distinct ‘Lion King’ pose at Pride Rock, dedicating our efforts and energy in shepherding our child to the Lord. We would love this child fiercely and hold this child loosely; his life would be used by the One who authored it before the foundations of the earth. We knew we couldn’t do this alone.

But, we had our tribe; our people who embrace us, messy and flawed, tired and aloof.

And that first Tuesday night back with our community, I saw it.
My arms were raised, offering my son to the first person that would hold him. Glad to share my gift, glad for the help. Glad to be reminded that I cannot do this alone.

On my own, I am easily distracted and, on occasion, overcome by worry. But, you see, even after Jesus had come, His people had found themselves in similar states of fear, confusion and isolation. Paul reminds the community of Thessalonians to lean on one another: encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.

They could not do it alone either.

We are quick to believe we can do it alone. Quick to rely on our own thinking, our own rules; mistaking ourselves for lord of our lives. Without a doubt, living life in community is broken. But the beauty of life in community points to the beauty of Him who created it. Jesus left perfect community in heaven to establish community with rebel sinners. He knew their need for Him. He knew perfect community could only exist through Him.

But, we are imperfect. We will fumble often and fail each other. However, our community is not sustained by our efforts. And so we raise our arms to the Sustainer urging, “Lord, do with our community what you would like.” Because, as Paul later rejoices: He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.

– Sarah Ruiz, DCC Member

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