Christopher Estrada

Christopher was abandoned by his mother in a parking lot at age three. The Police picked him up and took him to a group home, where he spent a year-- until the day our friends Roger and Christine walked through the doors of the group home, laid eyes on Christopher and decided to bring him home.

From the very beginning, they wanted Christopher to be their son. And after enduring a gruelling three-year battle with his birth mother, prayers and tears and fears of losing him forever, the courts finally decided to terminate her parental rights and let Roger and Christine adopt Christopher.

And what a day it was! A swarm of us--family, friends, life group--packed ourselves into the small courtroom to watch the event. The room buzzed. The five or six clerks and attorneys seemed to sense our excitement, as they, too, were all smiles. It felt less like a courtroom, and more like an LDR hospital waiting room, as if we were waiting for him to be born. But rather than a Dr. in scrubs delivering the baby, it was a Judge in a black robe who would legally hand the child over into their arms.

Christopher sat in the front row with Roger and Christine, his little legs sticking straight out in front of him. He wore a tan corduroy blazer, new brown shoes, and his hair was freshly cut and spiked. As we all arrived at the courthouse that morning, he would run to greet each one, announcing to the rest of us, "Look, there's more people coming! Hurry, it's starting soon!" It was his big day, and everybody knew it.

The hearing lasted only about ten minutes. The judge asked Christopher his name and then asked, "Do you want to be adopted today?" Shaking his head up and down quickly, Christopher answered "Yes!" The judge chuckled and said, "Okay!" And then he turned to Roger and Christine and asked them, "Do you understand that adopting Christopher entitles him to every right and privilege of a biological child, including your inheritance?" They answered Yes. And it struck me, this is for real. There is a cost involved. Love costs something. Love gives and risks hurt, no matter what. Adoption is a permanent, legal transaction, no turning back.

That was pretty much it for the hearing. The judge pronounced him Christopher Estrada, and we all erupted in claps and cheers. Followed by a half hour of hugging, crying, picture taking, and then a celebration at Downtown Disney's Rain Forest Cafe.

A few days later, at lifegoup, Christine told me that Christopher had been acting up a lot that day for no apparent reason. Roger asked him what was going on, and he answered, "I want a spanking, Daddy. Will you spank me?" It seems that while he was living with them, they had told him that legally they couldn't spank him, not until he was their child.

So Roger spanked him.

And Christopher cried.

And then they held each other, father and son.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. God bless you, Roger and Christine for your
investment in this little boy's life. And welcome home Christopher Estrada.