as much as our intellectual presumptions lead to pretty little plans,
life presumes to deviate our planned passages.
the resulting journeys of joy and pain through obstacles of
pride, prejudice, love, and avarice lead ever onwards to an unseen end.
The ability to follow the paved path of gold we walk
depending upon our ability to find friends with similar aspirations.
Together realizing, but altogether never realizing, the originally presumed purposes.
The end achieved through the means of the different lots life dealt.
The Omniscient hand ever pushing us to push ourselves
to find our respective selves and 

Hurricanes in our Hearts

I dont write a lot down on paper and so a lot of thoughts and feelings I have shared with family and friends have either become part of their memories or have disappeared forever.  When I got home from Miami I didnt have any clue what I wanted to talk to people about, however as I sat on the stand and was a few minutes from taking the pulpit I realized what everything was all about, "Hurricanes in our Hearts".  I experienced Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Wilma while in Miami.  Both hurricanes were category 3s when they hit us.  The winds were upwards of 100 mph and the force was incredible.  Hurricanes are the most beautifully destructive thing I have ever experienced.  There really is something freakily beautiful in natures destructive power.  After a hurricane everything is left devastated.  The initial destruction is not what you worry about, its the after effects.  The lack of clean, drinkable tap water.  The lack of power for weeks or months.  The lack of a warm shower.  Having to clear and help friends and neighbors clear all the fallen trees, mend the broken fences, and mend their hearts and souls.  Really hurricanes are all about the last part. Hurricanes are a battle of heart, soul, and will.  The only way to get through it is by loving each other and loving Christ.  Trials in life will be our hurricanes.  Trials can leave us without power, with debris, and brokenness.  As we seek to lift ourselves up we must first do the unthinkable, turn and start lifting everyone else up.  It is easy to think, hey ill take care of myself and my own first and then ill worry about everyone else.  The truth is as we do the unthinkable and start pushing and lifting with those around us we will find God reaching down to push and pull with us.  Behold the lillies of the field.  If we our worried about our own needs we first need to relax and feed Christs sheep.

Not so cursed with girls!

A follow up to a post I left on facebook a few weeks ago.  I tutor for a family that has four girls.  I have only been tutoring one of them and periodically the other three appear as they come in and out doing homework and various things.  One of the first nights I tutored I was leaving and one of the younger girls was like, "Bye Tyler!" and I was like "goodbye!  I dont know your name but I should".  Well she got a little pouty face and I was like "Ill remember your name for next time" and she responded "I sure hope so".  Well, I grew up in a house that is mainly male.  Those of you that know Erika and Karissa know that they are extremely feminine.  They are very feminine in very different ways, we all have very individual very eclectic personalities.  Erika, Karissa, and my Mom instilled a love of fashion, shopping, country music and other such things on all us boys.  However, when we were growing up we all loved playing sports together.  The TVs in the house were mainly on sports channels and the girls had trouble fitting their shows in.  Our TV almost permanently sits with ESPN on, even when no one is watching it is on in the background.  I guess me learning how to read from the sports section of the newspaper had some sort of effect on all that.  I have always contended that when I get marry I know my wife is going to have girls.  I dont know how to deal with girls.  Ive been on bunches of first and second dates, but beyond that and into relationships I am completely in the dark when it comes to girls.  So I have always said, "One day I will be cursed with girls and then Ill learn".  Well getting back to the start of the story, being in a house full of girls tutoring has changed my outlook some.  While I realize I am not the parent of any of those girls, and I dont have to be around them incessantly I think they are awesome.  Do they fight because someone borrowed something without asking or for various other reasons.....yeah.  Do the teenagers have some extra sassyness and some things that would be tough to deal with...yeah.  The thing is though they are all so sweet.  Their sweetness blesses everyone.  As I went to leave today Caroline and Lauren the two youngest were hanging out by the front door.  I was like "Goodbye Caroline!  Goodbye Lauren!"  Lauren got a huge smile on her face and said, "Hey!  I remember your name too!  Goodbye Tyler!"  I left with a huge smile on my face and I feel stoked and blessed just to have had the opportunity to spend time around them.  Guess girls arent so much of a curse after all :).

Tender Mercies

Some doctrine of Tyler that I dare not teach or share in a Sunday School lesson.  Listening to the Spirit and going about doing good can be a real constant thing in our life. There are numberless chances during the day to stop and listen to promptings that will enrich our life and the lives of others.  While at BYU, I made a habit of slowing down in between classes and making a conscious decision of which route on campus I would take that day.  Most of the time at BYU people get set in a routine, walking the same way to their same classes everyday.  A number of days I just felt like there was a different path I should take, sometimes the paths were the opposite way of my class, and sometimes I just ended up at class real late or not at all.  How was this a positive?  Everytime I went somewhere I wasnt "supposed to be", without fail I would run into someone that I had not seen in awhile and we would share some time and words that would enrich our lives.  Oh right, I should add in here that sometimes it was excruciatingly painful for people to get across campus with me.  You never wanted to walk to class with me if you were planning on getting there on time and not meeting a bunch of good new friends.  I was reminded of this the past two Tuesdays.  Both Tuesdays I went to the same area near the temple to eat lunch.  The first time I was stopped by someone yelling "Workinger".  I looked over to see my good buddy Fitz, and he was eating lunch with a bunch of the guys that I spent a lot of time working with in a lab at UCSD.  We were able to sit down and enjoy some time together and renew old friendships.  Today, I went to the same place expecting maybe I would run into them again, however, I ran into Rory Taylor.  I dont know Rory incredibly well.  We didnt talk a whole lot.  We just exchanged pleasantries, said Hello, asked about each others jobs and carried on with our days.  All these simple "tender mercies" though reminded me that God has a role in all sorts of small things in my life.  Tonight everything seemed to be topsy turvy of what I wanted.  I ended up running a bunch of errands that I would have forgotten to run if I had gone on my own selfish way.  At the end of the errands I was at the checkstand, the little cute latina clerk sneezed, and I promptly said "Bless You".  Then, I kind of laughed and looked up with a smile and was like "Salud!".  She had just been speaking Spanish to the other clerks and when she heard me say it she got a huge smile on her face.  As I walked out, I heard her start talking to the other workers in Spanish and smiling and laughing about the whole thing.  Sometimes, God just wants us in places so people knows he care and that we care.  Hopefully, we all stay a little less busy and find a little more time to be in the places not that we want, but the places where God needs us.  We truly are each others angels.  Oh, Ill also give Maelyn another shoutout here for making my night last night.  Even though we were totally joking around about sharing a positive, uplifting moment at the end of the night, it really did make me smile.  Also, I hope people dont think Im posting this to say that Im awesome, cuz obviously that is not the case.  I feel like all the opportunities were in order to bless me and I selfishly got way more out of them even if I didnt get to do the initial selfish things I wanted to.  Basically, sometimes we think we are sacrificing but something more awesome comes are way!

Friends cheat?

There are many quotes that have somehow been attributed to me over time.  I dont deny that I said any of them although I dont remember the majority of them.  The few people that know me best know I love making a joke out of anything and everything and rarely take anything seriously.  Frankly, Im not sure I know how to take anything seriously.   There is just something wild, free, fun, flirtatious about being able to sit back and joke about anything and everything that comes your way.  It has a Bogartesque/Bondesque feel to it.  Let the world fly crazy round while you laugh at whatever comes your way.  Really though in my rare thoughtful times every once in awhile I get back quotes like "Friends cheat, thats why they are friends".  Really, I said that?  That is completely non sensical mumbo jumbo.  Although in someways I see why it might have made sense.  Friends cheat sadness, sorrow, and other Satanic wiles.  Friends give you the lift and wings to just keep on keepin on....that warm smile and an arm around you lets you know that they are behind you, beside you and in a second you are ready to keep fighting by each others side.  The most fun and most fulfilling things in life are being surrounded by great friends.

BYU Womens Soccer

Dear BYU Womens Soccer,

   You are the greatest thing on the planet.  Jaiden Thornock...I dig your style...so fierce but so smooth.

                That is all.

The lovers, the dreamers, and me...

I am a dreamer.  One of the reasons why I consider myself part southern or part cowboy is that I have always loved and dared to dream.  Being a dreamer is a blessing about 80 percent of the time, however right now does not belong to that 80 percent.  The idealist in me is rarely evident in my subconscious and most of the time i dont remember my actual dreams from dreaming at night.  Im mainly  a daydreamer, a believer that I can do difficult things.  Right now, my actual dreams are vivid and far closer to "beautiful nightmares" than anything else.  The interrupted sleep and waking up to reality is taking a converse toll on my actual daily dreams.  The funny thing is, I have found a way to tear it up at work and remain oddly focused.  My attention to detail during the daytime is kind of ridiculous at this point and my ability to think clearly after the 5 o'clock quitting time is completely shot.  Life, its a funny conundrum.  Nothing is ever as it seams.  "What's so amazing that keeps us star gazing...someday well find it...I've heard it too many times to ignore it

There's something that I'm supposed to be".

Creed (rough draft)

While at Bishops house last night I just had some thoughts that are turning into this rough draft creed:

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.  I will seek to love my fellow men and be of good cheer.  

I want to steal pretty much all these song lyrics and incorporate them somehow: 

So when my life's a leap of faith

I can hear You say well done

I'm gonna run this race

To hear You say well done

If people walk with me, talk with me, looking for truth

They're gonna find out soon

If they're following me then

They're gonna follow You

I will trust in the atonement of Jesus Christ through the sunshine and the storms.

I will seek to listen to problems without attempting to solve them.

Come what may and LOVE it!

I have always had an aversion to roller coasters.  I have lots of reasons and beliefs for why this fear may have come into existence.  It is not that I dislike roller coasters, I just dont like the anticipation of whats about to happen.  I dont like the feeling of falling and not having any control over where I am in time and space.  Life is the greatest roller coaster ride.  I have often pondered how I ended up on this ride and how willing and excited I was to go through all the experiences that come with life.  I am sure that at first it felt like a roller coaster line, complete with all the hesitation and panic.  Once the ride is over, I usually am jumping back in line to try it again.  The highest highs and the lowest lows are all worth experiencing.  The best part is learning to be excited for the hills and valleys to come and embracing whatever happens with a desire to keep moving and becoming better.

There is something pristine about the generation that is quietly disappearing.  As a youth, I was an avid sports fan.  I have not changed much since then.  Coach Wooden was a name I knew.  I had heard the legend of his UCLA teams that were unbeatable.  Now and again, I would hear a little talk about his "pyramid of success".  I did not realize, that he loved English.  Coach Wooden was a perfectionist and a master at everything he did.  Coach Wooden is probably one of the most quoted figures in sports history, but up until recently I did not know a single maxim attributed to him.  I like Coach Wooden, because he represents a generation I envy.  My grandparents generation was fraught with war and depression, but out of that time grew great God-fearing men.  There is a 90 or so year old man that walked into my dad's accounting office this year.  Whenever he comes in he greets everyone in sight.  Mr Reed always smiles and laughs and makes sure to compliment everyone he sees.  What I envy most about their generation is that they memorized poems and dances.  They were gentleman in every sense of the word.  Its a quality we dont see as much today, and some people dont like it when they see it.  Jeremy Lin and Tim Tebow are winners in the Coach Wooden sense.  I hope we see a change in sports and the world in general where people turn back time.


"If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes." - Coach Wooden

Walking around the yard in the morning and looking at the growing plants and flowers is one of my favorite routines.  The large majority of those trees, flowers, and plants were planted by members of our family.  Their is an unmistakeable joy that comes from seeing nature take its course when things are done properly.  I came home today and their were yellow flowers on the table.  The flowers make me smile.  I dont know why, but I know they make me smile.  Life is about taking things that make you smile at a premium.  Its too easy to get lazy, and not appreciate the things that bring us joy in life.

This blog is born on my sisters birthday.  The blog was supposed to be born yesterday since I joked about it during a Sunday School lesson.  I am rather stunned that there isnt a bigger Switchfoot fan with this blog name.  Ive thought about starting this blog multiple times, but blogs were to feminine.  Awhile ago, I watched that awesome movie with Amy Adams, really I just think shes adorable, where she cooks everything in that french cookbook and then blogs it up.  I feel like this is an episode of Psych and Im missing the super obvious name of the movie reference.  Anyways, that should have convinced me more that blogs werent cool.  Now I have this space, and Im almost through with this miserable difficult first post.  Ill have to decide if my random song thoughts of the day, jokes of the day, sports thoughts of the day, or stream of consciousness of the day end up here.  For now we will just go with my faith in the younger generations music choices has been partially restored.  My younger brother plays on a baseball team and the favorite bands of the kids were:  Guns N Roses, Queen, and Metallica.  Hopefully, those kids will tell there friends about real music and get all this autotuned, computerized mess off the radio.