Tyler

Our 17 year old son Tyler got some awesome news Monday...
but first I want to give you a sense of who he is so you will know just how surprised we continue to be at hearing such news...

Tyler is our 3rd born, our brown-eyed baby, our little guy that played and pretended years after his friends moved on to pretending they were grown up.
In fact, Tyler pretended he was James Bond the entire summer leading up to first grade... which means he wore a three-piece bonded-knit suit & tie in 100+ temps all summer long! So, on the first day of school when he insisted on wearing that suit (& tie) to school, I tried to talk him out of it... thinking he'd be teased. But Tyler has always been his own unique self. So, when he got off the bus hours later... I asked how the kids liked his 'Bond' suit... he just shrugged his shoulders and said some laughed, but he was ok with that. So he wore the suit again for 'picture day' a couple weeks later.

Then he went through the 'sniper' years... dressing in all black 'sniper' clothes from head to toe and and climbing on our roof with his toy guns and 'spying'. Our neighbors would often call asking us if we knew we had a 'sniper' on our roof. Nothing surprised us with Tyler. Or so we thought...

Over the years I would ask Tyler if he wanted to learn to play guitar like his Dad and brother Shawn, but he'd calmly decline, telling me he was going to be a singer. Well, I knew he could sing, but he was the quiet one in our family. I couldn't imagine him confident enough to sing in front of lots of people.
Well, last year he got in the top choir at his high school... and we watched the tranformation begin.
This year, his senior year, he has exploded into this confident young man who is coming into his own... singing solos, learning piano, acting, dancing, drawing, painting, designing the choir t-shirts, the list goes on... and it's only Oct.!
We are soooo proud of all his accomplishments!

So get this... on Saturday he auditions for All-State Jazz Choir... and found out on Monday that he got 2nd-chair Tenor!!! He is the first from his high school to ever make All-State Choir! His choir teacher is... well, jazzed to say the least!!!
And so are we! Our little Tyler is becoming all that the Lord has designed him to be! First of all, TALL! He's 6' 4"!
He's tender hearted and humble and honest... and a sensitive young man with deep convictions. He gave me permission to share this with you. While everyone else was ordering class rings, Tyler wanted a 'purity ring' instead. And what do you suppose my first thought was.... what if he gets teased. (remind you of another story?) But not our Tyler, he's just so REAL! I am amazed when he tells me what he says to teachers and fellow-students when they ask him about the ring... he tells them that he is not having sex before marriage. And you know what, if some laugh, he is ok with that. That's just Tyler living out his faith.

Sorry if this is long and kinda all about digging Tyler. But we are just so grateful and truly unable to take much of the credit... other than providing an atmosphere where he could be real, and loved and accepted for who he is! And in all honesty, it was not anything WE did, but rather Christ in Tyler that is making the difference. You gotta love that! And we DO!