“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Galatians 4:4-7
Just after my 56th birthday, I found out I had been adopted! After watching a powerful episode of “Long Lost Family,” I remembered that I had been told once as a teenager that I was adopted, but didn’t believe it because I had my official Washington state-issued birth certificate, which told me Gailard and Sylvia Crockroft were my parents. How could that be wrong? Yet over the years I wondered, and now I just had to know.
I went to the internet and found a link that sent chills up and down my spine. It said “Order your Original Birth Certificate,” pre-adoption. Completely stunned, I placed the order. Two weeks later it came, and I stared at it like a deer in headlights. It told me my real mother’s name was Mary Johnson. How would I ever find her? Why couldn’t she have a weird name, like Mary … Crockroft? No father was named, and I had no first or middle name. I found out who I really was: Baby Boy Johnson.
I searched for my mom, and with the help of the Salvation Army, found her, alive and well in Boise! When I called her, Mom told me my name was Sean Paul, and that my dad’s name was Jack Kaper. I found him, too!
A few weeks later I flew to Boise and the three of us got together for the first time. It was absolutely cathartic, or “epic” as the kids would say. For more on this story, see the video “at age 56, Guy finds out he’s adopted” on the Love INC Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/loveincjuneau/videos/1158220410962688/
The last two years have been an incredible joy and a blessing as I have gotten to know my birth parents, who were only 16 when I was born. They couldn’t keep me, so I was adopted by a loving family who chose me to be a part of their family. Jesus told His followers “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you…” (John 15:16). Luke 19:10 says Jesus came “…to seek and to save that which was lost.”
I have seen pictures of my adoptive parents holding me as a baby and their faces are positively glowing with their unconditional love for me. This is just a tiny reflection of the unfathomable, unconditional love of God.
In Biblical theology, adoption is the admission of a believer into the family of God. I Peter 2:9 says God “called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Being adopted into God’s family and becoming a part of the universal Church, the Body of Christ, brings a special spiritual connection that cannot be had elsewhere.
It is this spiritual bond that allows Christians from various denominations and backgrounds to work together to help others in Christ’s name. This is what Love INC, Love in the Name of Christ, is all about. While we Christians will always have our differences, as my former Pastor Johnny Jackson said, we need to “major on the majors and minor on the minors.”
This cooperative spirit allows us to work together to provide practical help to our neighbors in need and hopefully make a positive spiritual impact in their lives. Paul spoke of this Christian unity in his letter to the believers in Galatia:
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:26-29
Thank you Juneau, for helping us help others.
• Guy Crockroft is executive director of Love INC Juneau. “Living & Growing” is a weekly column written by different authors and submitted by local clergy and spiritual leaders.
