“We Serve a Remarkable God”

I want to share a personal email I received last week from Tim Goeglein, our vice president of external relations. Tim helps spread the word about what Focus does in and around our nation’s capital. I’ll share some thoughts after the email.

When you were last in Washington, I took you to Anacostia — the most disadvantaged part of our city.

I wanted you to go there because, so often, the image projected to our nation and the world about Washington is the power, glitz, schmooze part of it. That is, the things that are ephemeral and don’t last.

I was keen that you absorb the kind of tough neighborhood that most Americans don’t know associate with Washington.

When we visited the AIDS clinic, and heard those stories of family disintegration, it broke our hearts.

I read a profile story today about a boy who grew up in that very neighborhood, which I am sharing with you below. He lived in 22 places as a boy; he was abandoned by his mother; the man he thought was his father wasn’t, and later died; and a foster mother once told him he would never amount to anything.

Yet by God’s depthless grace, his life is turning around, and this summer, he became an intern in the Senate.

We serve a remarkable God, and He never abandons even those who begin their lives in such social chaos. Soli Deo gloria.

What an inspiring story! How true the insight Tim offers in his email – our God, full of grace, never abandons us. He never forgets those the world sees as lowly.

Consider, also, this: The young man profiled, Thomas McRae, was shuffled around in the foster care system until he was finally adopted at age 15. The article shares how, after years of neglect, at last, Thomas had the experience of living with two loving foster families back-to-back.

“I wanted that sort of love like nothing else,” he said.

As an older child, however, his chances of adoption were growing slimmer by the day. Thankfully, his best friend’s mom adopted him a few years before Thomas aged out of the system, and now his life has flourished. He has a future now. He is loved.

This is the hand of God, who showers His grace on us and provides a loving home. May the Lord bless these families who sacrifice for the sake of others.

If you are interested in adopting a child from the foster care system, I encourage you to learn about our Wait No More program at www.icareaboutorphans.org. Our next Wait No More event will take place at Saddleback Church on Saturday, Sept. 14 in Lake Forest, Calif. You can learn more about this free event, and register for it, online at this link.