I first met my YF's mother via a Christian organization I was working for where she was (and still is) a board member.  Through her I met her husband, and did some work for him. He works out of his home office, so I was working there regularly, which introduced me to my YF and the entire family.

This past spring I left town, under the impression I would not be coming back for a long time, to pursue another business venture.  Before I left, my young friend gave me a letter he'd written, as I boarded the airplane. I opened it and read it, and amusingly enough, one of his first sentences was "When I first met you I thought you were a dork."  Talk about a humbling experience!  However, he and I had become very good friends. Although he is an extremely attractive boy of 14, there is no romantic component, and never will be, and I generally do not desire one with him. It is a pure friendship, simple and strong, and not much more (although I suppose that is more than enough).

Anyway, when I left, I had left some things at his parents house to be stored for a few weeks and then sent to me. One of these things was my journal/poembook in which I detail everything in my heart, including my BL, and many poems and such are there too. One day, the mom was packing up the things to be shipped, and that notebook fell out onto the floor and fell open, spilling several loose sheets of paper out. She read a little bit of it, and then more as she came to see what it held.

Well, I returned back to town after several months, years earlier than I had thought I would. I went out for lunch with the parents, and over a picnic lunch in a cemetery(!) they confronted me about what they had found.  I see little sense in denying things like this, once they happen. So we had a very frank discussion about my sexual attraction to boys.

One of the things that helped considerably was the fact that I am a Christian.  I have tried to put Christ number one in my life, and that is a fairly important thing to them. To make a long story short, we talked for a while and more or less figured out that life would pretty much go on as it had. I did not return to work for the same Christian organization, so they were not faced with the decision of telling the director there (since the mother is on the board).

I am again a part of their family--I am over to their house many times each week, and we share meals and discussions. They are very accepting and loving. They have four kids - the boy and three girls. They have no qualms about leaving me alone in the house with their children, or about letting their son go places with me apart from them. The father often travels, and when he does, he asks me to check in on his family daily for him, and aid the mother in anything she needs a male to do. They ask me to housesit when the whole family travels.

In short, they have not changed in their treatment of me very noticeably. We don't talk of my BL. I feel that it is not something they are completely comfortable with yet, or that they ever will be. Occasionally the father will make random small remarks, or requests, or questions.

For instance, I have a tattoo of a boylove symbol. Apparently he has done some research on the internet about BL's, because one day he asked me, "What is that symbol? Is it what I think it is?" I said, "What do you think it is?"  He said, "Is it a man-boy thing?" I said "Yes," and that was that. Several weeks later, he asked me as we were quietly sitting one night in their house, "When are you going to get that tattoo removed?" I said, "I don't think that I will."

But we've never had any long discussions, just small things like that.  The only thing that has changed around their house is that he requested that I not sleep in his son's room any more. (His son has two beds in his room, and occasionally I would crash there on some late nights.)  He said this was not because of any fear on his part, but merely for his peace of mind. I understand that completely (funny that it was his idea in the first place for me to crash there!)

It has been a great witness to me to be a part of this godly family. The Lord is truly number one for them, and they live examples of His unconditional love and acceptance daily in their treatment of me.

I have been outed to a fair number of people in my short life already. This has been one of the few times it has turned out well, for the most part. There are still some awkward moments, and since this revelation I am somewhat hesitant to be with any other boys when I see these parents, although they know of my other YFs.  Still I feel awkward and almost ashamed when these parents see me with one of my other YF's. I wonder why that is, for I have nothing to be ashamed of.

I had never thought of myself as having great confidence to do what I am doing now.  It is merely what I desire so I will follow that dream with the utmost of my being.  Now if only I could translate that work ethic into "seeking first His kingdom."  That is something I try to work on daily, but I am all too conscious of my failures.

Still, the Lord has truly provided me with a family I can call myself part of. That is a great gift, for my own family is distant in both miles and relationships. I have been greatly blessed, and I thank the Lord entirely for this blessing.

"Robert Lee" is a student pursuing independent study in introductory theoretical physics.