Senior Prom the Way it Should Be

This is Kayla and her friend Tyler.  They went to Kayla’s senior prom Friday night and we hosted a little get together with the other parents to take pictures at our house.  We did hors d’œuvres and sparkling grape juice for them.  Oh, and by the way, you won’t see any pictures of me with them in this post.  Have you ever had your picture taken with a prom girl who’s spent all day getting beautified?  Don’t do it…I warn you.  You look like the Loch Ness Monster next to them.  It’s not a flattering place to be.

I spent a little time learning a new photo editing program called G.I.M.P. last nite when I couldn’t sleep.  The above picture is done by working with layers and only colorizing the parts of the picture you want color on.  

What I really want to talk about right now though is Tyler.  Tyler and Kayla are courting.  Courting you say?  Didn’t that go out in the 50’s with June Cleever?  The answer is, no, it didn’t and is present right here in the year 2009.

My daughter Kayla went to church camp when she was 14 and decided to make a commitment to God not to date until she was 18.  Since then, she has witnessed many of her friends go through the normal drama and heartbreak of teenage dating.  She has seen friendships go by the wayside from dating relationships that only lasted a couple weeks or even days.  

She wanted to change all of that when she met Tyler.  They formed such a great friendship that was based on their mutual relationship with God.  Eventually, she decided that this relationship could be good and approached Tyler about taking it to a dating level.  He told her he needed to pray about it and talk to his youth pastor.  He came back the next day and told her he thought they should wait until May and her 18th birthday.  I love Tyler.  He’s wonderful isn’t he?  All the moms of daughters out there are nodding in agreement!

For Kayla’s senior prom, he wanted everything to be perfect.  He saved for 6 months to make it that way.  She was picked up in a limo, taken to one of our finest restaurants and treated like a princess.

He had a beautiful corsage for her.

 He even picked up the tab for the pictures taken and ordered a set for Kayla’s dad and one for us.

It’s caused me to ponder over what made this young man turn out the way that he did?  You rarely see girls honored in this way by a young man today and having a son myself, I am curious as to just what makes Tyler tick.

We spent some time with his parents Friday nite.  After the kids left for their big night, we sat around and ate the snacks they had left behind and talked.  I am convinced that Tyler was taught at an early age to respect women and to look for a woman who was Godly and righteous.  His parents are just those kind of people.  I know they don’t watch a lot of  television and they don’t even have the internet in their household.  I remember him telling me this when I first met him.  He wasn’t bothered at all by this.  He said his family did a lot of stuff together and especially outdoors. Some of you may criticize, but really, they are such a close family, it makes me wonder if they know something the rest of us don’t?

So I write this in honor of Tyler.  Thanks for treating our “little girl” like every parent dreams a young man will treat their daughter.  

Thanks to Tyler’s parents for bringing up such a wonderful young man.  You don’t hear of too many of those anymore….

But for those of you who are wondering if this kid is a real teenage boy?  I leave you with this…