A Tribute to Kyle...

I remember so vividly, the day Kyle was born. I was not one of those women who wanted to know the sex of my child before they were born. To me, part of the fun was the surprise of it. After 36 hours of labor (with no drugs...I was marrid to a Chiropractor), I heard the words I had been waiting to hear..."It's a boy!" What a thrill to my heart! I had wanted a son, especially as the eldest. I think because I had always wanted an older brother. I can remember taking him into my arms for the first time and staring into each others eyes! It was love at first sight...and we have been best buds ever since!

Kyle was an easy child. Very tender hearted and eager to please. He was very thoughtful and intellectual. Very curious. I remember playing "What's dat?" with him for HOURS. As we drove down the road or walked through a store or a park, he would ask me that question, repeatedly, and I would answer. He had a funny little habit of holding people's ears. "Hold you ear, Mommy," he would say. He liked to go to sleep that way.

From a very early age, it was apparent that he was going to be able to sing and sing well. He sang "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" in a talent contest at the age of 4, and cried when he came in second. We were a singing family, especially as we spent a lot of time in the vehicle travelling. We had all the Patch the Pirate tapes memorized!

Kyle is a perfectionist. In everything he does, it is kind of all or nothing. If it is not something he can do perfectly, he doesn't tend to do it at all. He was musical and played the piano and trumpet, but practice wasn't something he was fond of and those fell to the way side! He says he will never be one of these people who says they wish they would have practiced the piano when their Mom tried to make them! I think maybe he will, but he probably won't admit it to me!

He also had a flair for the dramatic. He did well in humorous interpretation and speech and had roles in several school plays. I'll never forget a choric speech he did in the 9th grade where he had the main speaking part in "A Man Without a Country".

Sports have always been really important to Kyle. He has always been involved in some sort of team, with Soccer, Football and Basketball being his favorites. He has a lot of natural ability, very agile and light on his feet. I can remember him doing all his required piano practice one year in order to earn his "trophy" at the end of the year. That was his ticket to play little-league football. He did that for 4 years, through the 8th grade, and we really enjoyed it.

He is also an intellectual. He was one of those students who could practically get straight A's, seldomly bringing home any books (of course he hated homework so much, he was motivated to get it done before he came home). We used to have long talks about current events, things he learned in History or the Old Testament. If Kyle hears it or reads it, he remembers it. He can read large books in a matter of hours and has read the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy dozens of times, the Chronicles of Narnia, the Left Behind Series and just about anything else he can get his hands on. If Kyle got in trouble at school....it was for reading in class.

Kyle has a good sense of humor and a mischevious side! He was always very well behaved, but tended to hang out with the honeriest kids in his class! I always figured he was living vicariously through them!

The thing I love the most about Kyle is his tender heart. He wants so much to please everyone. I wish that were an easy thing to do! The one thing that he has to come to a realization about is that if he is pleasing God, he will be pleasing everyone! God has gifted Kyle in so many ways...and yet, Kyle doubts his abilities. I think it is the perfectionist in him. I pray he can set that aside and become the man God created him to be.

I thank God for bringing me my "little guy" almost 19 years ago! How the time has flown. He's God's man and He is not through with him yet. I have missed him more than I can say over the last 2 years. I wasn't ready to quit "mothering" him, yet. Now my ministry to him is one of prayer, but I can't think of a better or more powerful one.




1 Samuel 1:27
27For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: