my name is tyler harris (what a weird middle name amirite) libre, but you probably already know me if you’re here. i’m 17 years old as i write this, but soon i’ll be 18 (march 17)! i’m a senior at frenship high school in wolfforth, texas. i live in lubbock, texas with my my parents lisa and purisimo (what a weird name amirite, just call him perry). i have a brother named travis who’s currently in the 8th grade and is taller than my mom (who’s 6’0 but doesn’t want to admit it so i’ll say she’s 5’12). i have an older sister, steph, who’s 38 years old! wowza. she lives in paris with her husband, anton, and her two daughters, my nieces, sophia and ellie, who speak both french and english! i love to sing, just for fun or professionally. i am a two year texas all-state choir member and it’s been a life-changing experience. now that i’ve let you know who i am now, i’ll tell you of who i was before.
my parents lived in connecticut, but i was born in new rochelle, new york. we lived there for a couple of years and i still have little drops of memories from that. we moved to cebu city, philippines because my dad wanted to be with family while i grew up. growing up there was the most beautiful thing you could imagine: consistently nice weather, plants and life everywhere, and most importantly nice, clean beaches with clear water. we lived there for 7 years and i can say that i wish i could one day bring my own family there. my mom wanted to move to the state’s so my brother and i could get a good education. from the fourth grade up until junior year, i had no sense of the Lord in my life. i was agnostic and just didn’t find it logical to believe in something that couldn’t be proven to me. i lived my entire life just kind of floating on without direction. i found a sense of fulfillment in worldly things. at the end of the first semester of my junior year i had fallen into depression. looking back at it now, i still couldn’t pinpoint why i did, i just felt empty. my life was crazy and spun out of control, but i found refuge in my friends. i saw a joy and happiness in their life that i wanted and i sought out what brought that light to them. at a retreat in throckmorton, texas i confessed my thoughts toward my peers. they all had given me great advice, but i still didn’t feel it, yknow? one of my friends told me to read Romans 8:18, and suddenly, i felt a weight lift off my body. i felt free. it reads “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.” it inspired me to leave past worries and doubts behind and to look forward with love.
