I told you on Friday that my son was competing in a talent search at the Ky Opry. Well, I wanted to share our trip with you.
I was so excited about going because I love road trips, and this was going to be Jonathan’s very first singing competition!
It was just Cy, me, Jonathan and Luke. Adam stayed at a friend’s house because he had some basketball games he didn’t want to miss. And Eli stayed with Dad and Janet.
It took us about 4 hours to get there, but it really wasn’t a bad drive at all.
We actually got there an hour earlier than we thought we would because we forgot about the time change!
So we were able to walk around the building and check it out. Here is the main stage…
The lobby of the Opry is filled with all kinds of pictures of famous country singers. It was fun to check out the history of the Ky Opry.
Here’s Cy checkin’ it out…
Jonathan was thrilled to be there. He has wanted to compete for a long time, so this was a dream come true for him.
Here are my three goodlookin’ boys! I love every second I get to spend with them!
Jonathan was actually very calm. Not really nervous at all. Let me just say that his mommy and daddy were not quite as calm! Our stomachs were in knots!
Isn’t funny how “tied” emotionally we are to our kids? I felt like I was the one performing!
So glad I wasn’t! 
Then it was time for the show to begin!…
There were 21 contestants total, but only 4 in Jonathan’s category (beginners).
It was Jonathan and 3 girls.
He sang, “Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts.
After all of the contestants sang, they brought them all back on stage for the audience to see again. Everyone in the audience had a voting sheet, and we had to vote for our favorite singer out of each category.
The winners were chosen by the judges vote, but the audience’s vote added about 5 points to the total, (I think).
Then there was an intermission, and we got to get up and stretch and get a drink. After the intermission, we all sat back down to enjoy the Ky Opry band perform for about 45 minutes. It was a great show!
I love country music so much because I was raised on it. As a child, I remember waking up in the morning to Dad listening to country music as he worked in the garage. And the Ky Opry reminded me so much of my dad’s parents, Papa and Grannie.
My grandparents loved to camp every summer, and as a kid, I LOVED going to visit them at the campgrounds. There was always a country or bluegrass band playing at the campgrounds. Such great, sweet, innocent childhood memories! Wouldn’t trade them for anything!
After the Ky Opry band played, it was time to hear the results of the competition.
They brought all the contestants back up on stage and announced the winner of each category.
And Jonathan Won!!
Let’s just say that this mama was screaming her head off! I was so very proud of him!
He did such a great job for his first competition!
We counted our blessings all the way home,
which included a large Coke from McDonald’s! 
To think that 10 years ago, when we discovered Jonathan’s hearing loss, I thought he may not even be able to talk as he got older.
And now I get to sit back and listen to him sing his heart out.
God is so very good! (But even if Jonathan couldn’t sing or even talk, I would still praise Him!)
My cup runneth over.
Jonathan will compete again in the Elimination Round in the middle of April. I will let you know how it goes!
Yay! Congrats, Jonathan!
That was wonderful. I love his voice. God certainly has blessed you. Looking forward to the post in April.
Wow, what a natural! Praying for you Jonathon! God has blessed you greatly! Use your voice to honor and glorify your Lord! AMEN!
WAY TO GO, JONATHAN!! I am such a fan, I love that voice! What a bright future he has ahead of him. God is GOOD!
Congratulations! He certainly has a gift!
That was fantastic!! I teach a children’s choir and when they do a good job I get chill bumps. They love when I exclaim, “I got goose bumps!” ’cause they know they sang really well! Well, Jonathan gave me goose bumps! My girls watched with me and laughed when I exclaimed it! : )
As a child I’ve been to the Kentucky Opera so thanks for taking me down memory lane. That was a fun treat.
I’m so happy you all got to have this experience! Congratulations, Jonathan!
Beautiful! You and your family should be very proud of that boy!
Way to go, Jonathan!!
Incredible!!! Way to go Jonathan, you are truly blessed with a gift from God.
That is wonderful news. Congratulations to your son. I think he did a great job.
Wow, Traci!!! That was amazing! Great job, Jonathan. mCongratulations to all of you!
Wow, he seems so comfortable up there! Good for him! I’m sure you’re so very proud!
Congratulations, Jonathan! How exciting! (Sarah loved listening to “Eli’s brother” sing. She made me play it 3 times!)
Awww, Trace, (I feel like I can call you that since you’re my virtual BFF even though I am a complete stranger to you-you can call me Steph, hee) I am bawling my eyes out after watching your sweet boy. I commented awhile back about him being so confident yet humble at the same time and he shows that again with this performance—yay, Jonathon!!! As a speech pathologist, I know the difficulties and limitations a hearing impairment can have on speech and he shows none of them. As a mom, I also know those emotional “ties” you speak of and they can be excrutiating. So glad that YOU made it through with a victory to show for it-ha!
I thought about y’all this weekend and couldn’t wait to hear the results–congrats to the whole family and thanks so much for sharing your boy and your joy!
So are we looking at the next American Idol coming our way in about 6 years? Just saying.
Congrats he did awesome.
tammy
OMG Traci, you have every right to be so incredibly proud of Jonathan. He has a wonderful gift and looked so comfortable performing. I loved hearing the crowd burst into applause (twice) during the middle of his performance. And here I sit in my office with tears in my eyes – it was just beautiful! Thank you for sharing that with us. Can’t wait to see how he does in April. Hugs!
Yay! I knew it….he is THAT amazing! Way to go Jonathan! Can’t wait to see what your future holds.
AWE. SOME! The voice of an angel. I’m so happy for Jonathan and your family. Thank you for sharing.
Beautiful. Jonathan has a wonderful tone to his voice. He really is gifted. My oldest boy who is 18 plays the banjo-gospel, country and bluegrass and my baby boy, he’s 14 is involved in musical theatre. Music is a WONDERFUL thing.
Good luck in April.
YAY Jonathan!!! You have such a beautiful voice and I’m thrilled you won!
Wonderful! I would listen to him sing the phone book! So happy for all of you. Congratulations, Jonathan!!!
CONGRAT’S!!!! Jonathan did a FAB job. What an accomplishment. :-)
CONGRATULATIONS TO JONATHAN!!!!!!!
What a wonderful job. Beautiful voice.
Thanks for sharing!!!!
Congratulations!! He has an amazing voice, loved it. Thanks for sharing How do you feel about arranged marriages? Ha I have an 11 yr old girl and I would love for her to meet some sweet boy like that some day!!!
That brought tears to my eyes! Oh to heck with it, I was bawling. LOL! Get that boy in some lessons, he has a LOT of talent!
Yep, I pretty much cried. What an awesome talent! :) So happy he won! You know what else? I have heard a lot preteen boys sing who “lose it” as they get through puberty, but I think he’s going to have a really great baritone voice as he gets older. You can hear it in the low notes he hits.
Be a proud mama, he’s very talented and a total cutie pie. Get that boy on Ellen! ;)
I have tears in my eyes also.
Congratulations! to Jonathan and his very hard workin’ parents. I am sure that you will keep him grounded. Good job!
Beautiful…just beautiful.
He’s fantastic! Such talent in such a small guy. Congrats. His performance had me crying, I was so moved.
-Paulette
3sisters-pjr.blogspot.com
aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh! how awesome!!!!!!!! what a talented guy! He was SO SO SO good!!!!!! I am proud of him, and I haven’t even met him!!!!!!!!!!!! may God bless his gift!
love ya, momma!!
– {dar}
Congratulations Jonathan! What a memory!
He definitely has a natural talent. You can tell he truly feels what he is singing, and is not just singing the words. Hope to be able to listen to lots more from this boy.
no wonder he won, that was awesome!! Congratulations to your whole family, Traci and especially to Jonathan!
Please enroll him in some music and voice lessons! He has a lot of natural talent and starting so young will only enhance that! Who knows maybe you have a future worship leader/minister on your hands.
So excited for you!
Way to go Jonathan!!
Simply beautiful. Congratulations, Jonathan! You are blessed with a special gift, indeed.
Wow, congratulations to you all as I know the entire family wraps themselves around this kind of accomplishment. I think a very special angel was also overseeing the entire event! Sprinkling Joy for sure. God Bless you all!!! So much FUN!
Traci, Jonathan is a beautiful soul. Now, he is a handsome boy, no doubt. But, a beautiful voice, spirit, and soul. God bless him. Thank u for sharing his gift with us and please pass along our biggest congratulations and bestest wishes!!! <3
You are so blessed. What a wonderful experience to share with your son!! I will keep my fingers crossed for him to go further in the competition. :O)
Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!!!! Thrilled for all of you! Fingers crossed and prayers sent that all his dreams will come true!
Donna
WOO HOOO!!!! Way to go Jonathan!!! I am so very excited and happy for you!! Great job!!
I know you are one proud mama, Traci! God bless you guys! God is good! :)
Congrats to your handsome, talented young man … he did an amazing job, and I love the song he chose. That is “my” song for my 5 year old son. You all are truly blessed!
Lump-in-my-throat. So so so adorable and congrats!!! There is something so special about the love between a mama and her boy;) I can so relate to the jumping up and down for joy;)
He has a great voice and did such a great job! Way to go Momma!
Yay! I just knew he would do well. He seemed so comfortable onstage! Congratulations to all of you.
Made me cry!! God has great plans for Jonathan…when I first heard him sing on You Tube, it was clear he was going places. What a beautiful spirit and talent. God’s best to you!
Congratulations Jonathan! You have a wonderful voice. Good Luck! We will be praying for you.
Traci, you have such a lovely family. You are right, God is good.
Jonathan did a great job. He also looks very comfortable on that stage. Jonathan is blessed to have a family who is willing to drive 4 hours to let him sing for a bunch of strangers, to let him be judged and win. He is a fine young man and his mama and daddy must be exceedingly proud of him. That is what family is all about unity & love. Best wishes for April.
jan
Chills and tears!!!
When the crowd started clapping and cheering I thought my heart was going to burst right out of my chest!
SO proud of Jonathan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:-D
Wow! You should be a proud momma! Brought tears to my eyes! My oldest is 5 and a boy and I think I would just pass out from anxiety if he did something like that and if I didn’t my heart would just explode from pure joy!!
Love it!
WOW!! what a proud moment for your family!! This is mine and my husband’s wedding song- he is currently deployed so I got chills hearing it again. Wonderful!!
WOW!!! He is fantastic! I think there is a career down the rode for that young man of yours. Sings like an old soul! Loved it!
Hey Traci! I’m not typically a commenter although I do follow your blog, but that video was just precious! I had to tell you so. Way to go Jonathon!
CONGRATULATIONS JONATHAN!!!!!!! What a great voice! (I always cry when I hear him sing.)
So happy for you and your family Traci. God is good and thank you for sharing your love for Him to inspire others (like me).
Have a great day!
God has great big plans I think…….he was WONDERFUL! He has a truly beautiful spirit that shines through……yay God and Jonathan!
Congratulations to Jonathan! You must be so proud! He did a great job and great choice of songs. Love RF!! Congrats again! ~Linda
Congratulations, Jonathan, for one more solid block laid in the foundation!
WOW! That is all I can say. Brought tears to my eyes (Traci – your posts have a way of doing that to me..) I am not much of a country music fan so I was not familiar with the song but I have heard of Rascal Flatts :). Nonetheless, that is one talented young man – glad that he had the opportunity to do this and I can see why he got 1st place. Congratulations Jonathan and looking forward to hearing all about it in April too! God is so good!
Wow, I got goosebumps listening to Jonathan sing the words to that song. What a wonderful choice. I’m certain God has incredible plans for him. Amazing young man!
Congratulations to Jonathan and a big hug to mom. I love this picture of the two of you – what beautiful smiles. My younger son Brady had a speech impediment when he was young. He so wanted to be an actor and tried out with his brother (who was 17 months older) for so many parts. His older brother always got the lead role and Brady would get either nothing or a very small part, because you just couldn’t understand him. Brady worked really hard and overcame his speech impediment. He got the lead role in several plays in high school and is so very talented. I would sit in the audience and my heart was so very blessed as I thought – this is my baby boy who couldn’t get ANY role because of his speech and now he is getting the lead. You are so right, Traci – God is so good. Another big hug to YOU – I loved this story!!!
The first time I read this post was in my email and I didn’t realize that there was a video clip of Jonathan singing. So, when I saw your post on facebook, I hurried over to have a listen…..
I got chills and my heart just fills with joy for you and your family. It is a blessing to get to watch this journey with y’all.
Sharon @ mrs. hines class
I have tears running down my face as I listen to your son sing. He has an amazing spirit! We need more singers with amazing heart. Thanks for sharing. Have fun in April Jonathan!
Congrats to you and your family!! What a great performance!
Johnathn, you and your family have a BIG fan in Richmond. Virginia.
You all are so blessed.
Thanks for sharing!
OK he made me cry. What a wonderful voice he has and that is one of my favorite songs – ever.
Congrats!!! Sunday I looked and looked for some news all day. I even had my husband to check e-mail several times to check for the news. But I guess good things are worth waiting for. His voice just melts your heart. I am sure your mother sent down blessings too. God has blessed you that’s for sure. Please don’t wait till April to share his voice with us. We want more….. When you come down from cloud 9 be sure to know we love you and so proud of Jonathan.
Jonathan gives me goosebumps when he sings! God has bigggggg plans for him! He is going to be a star!
Jonathan is truly besse beautiful voice. He sounds like an angel. He is so at ease up there singing and it shows when he sings.
Congratulations and good luck in April!!
goodness, i was typing too fast. I wanted to say Jonathan is truly blessed with a beuatiful voice. I need spell check before I hit post. : )
Woohoo!!! Way to go Jonathon. I will never meet you but I can tell what an amazing young man you are. Congratulations, you have a beautiful voice and a talent that you should be very proud of. God Bless, and good luck with your next performance. I can’t wait to hear the results…in fact I don’t really care about the results, I just want to hear you sing again.
congratulations, Jonathon, you have beautiful voice and a very talent young man…good luck !!
Congratulations!!!!! You are a blessing to listen to. May God take you many places and use you to touch the lives of thousands of people. To think what may have been but what actually is with your hearing. Through God all things are possible.
Oh, Traci!! Jonathan was fabulous!! He was so relaxed and his voice was so clear and perfect. I love that song!!!! Great job! Be sure to post when you’re headed back that way. We spend a lot of time in that area near Kentucky Lake and I’d love to hear him in person. : )
That is FABULOUS! Congratulations! I know you are one proud mama!!
That is wonderful news- yay, Jonathan! God is so good- I love the testimony He is working in Jonathan’s life. :)
Holy Hot Hogs, Traci!!!! Goosebumps! And no training? My youngest daughter is about the same age and we are now contemplating singing lessons for her. She walks around the house singing 24/7. Something we definitely have to give more thought to. I am so happy to hear that you encourage your childrens’ passions, whatever they may be. Me, I was always told that something was foolish or that I just couldn’t do whatever. I have carried that with me into my adult life and I’ve vowed not to do that with my children. You rock, Jonathan!
Congratulations to Jonathan!
Yay!!! I am so excited for you guys!! What a proud Mom moment that must have been. What a blessing Jonathan is to me and to others. Give him a big hug for me!
Congratulations! What a blessing! Thanks for sharing!
What a special night it was at the Kentucky Opry. I have been playing music now for over 47 years and the night Jonathan sang was special. Since our piano player is blind and Jonathan hearing impaired, it was magic – they made such beautiful music together – it almost made me cry.
I am so gratified to give an opportunity to young performers like Jonathan – i feel obligated to give them a place to perform. Our door at the Kentucky Opry and to our home as well, will always be open for great young talent like Jonathan.
Keep singing. Be persistent, be determined and be patient. May God Bless your family.
If I can help you in any way please let me know…
Clay Campbell
Owner Kentucky Opry
Loved it! Such a handsome young man and very talented! Thank you for continuing to bless us by sharing your family’s journeys!
What a blessing to share with us! Thank you for sharing and God bless Jonathan and his precious heart!
Congratulations to Jonathan!! I just watched the video and he has such an amazing voice and presence! You must be so proud! btw I love that song!
Fantastic! Great performance Jonathan! Loved your song choice! Loved how confident you were on stage and I can’t wait to see what you do next. :D
LOVE that song & he did a FANTASTIC job singing it! Many congrats to him, what a proud mama you must be!!!
Your son has a beautiful voice. I love that song too. How proud you must be of him. Thanks for sharing.
Oh, you must have been just busting with pride! He did such a great job I was thrilled, and I don’t even know him. What a lovely young man. :)
How wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations to Jonathan!!!!!! I know he must have been thrilled …. not to mention how proud the whole family must be!!!!!! So precious….. making wonderful memories!!!!!! Thank you for sharing Traci…. :)
Thank you so much for posting the link… It’s great to read about his win, but even better to HEAR why he won. He has an amazing voice… and a beautiful soul.
CONGRATULATIONS!! What an amazing accomplishment!! Sooo happy for ALL of you!!
He looks like he’s always been up on stage performing, no wonder he wasn’t nervous!! What natural! Congratulations to your son! What a joyous time to celebrate with him and for him! Praise the Lord for taking a hard, sad time in his young life (when you found out about his hearing loss) and turning it into something so beautiful that can then be turned back as Praise to the Father!!!!
Traci,
I have followed your blog for some time. I now follow your sister’s as well. Between the two of you, if only for me alone, the blessings you have given me cannot be counted. We all have struggles in life, but somehow, what you say, how you say it, how you share the good and bad, all speak to my heart. And your family!! I use you as an example for my 24-yr old daughter, finding a godly man with a godly heart!!
Some day I just may have to drive from California to meet you two in person and, of course, to hear Jonathan on stage!! I was crying before he started singing…
God Bless.
YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY JONATHAN!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO
Can you hear me screamin all the way down here in Tennessee?? I had so much catching up to do on your blog and I couldn’t wait to find out how he did. I KNEW he would be AWESOME!!!!!!
CONGRATULATIONS – WAY TO GO!!!!! He has such a precious heart and I can’t wait to hear and see him on the GRAND OLE OPRY ONE DAY!!!
HUGS!!!
Marilyn C.
Congratulations Jonathan. I am very proud of you.
Linda S. in NE
WOWZA! That was so beautiful. I don’t even know this young man, but that video clip brought tears to my eyes. He did such a wonderufl job, and was so composed and mature. My heart would have burst out of my chest if I had the opportunity to see my child perform like that. This is the kind of person I pray that my girls will meet when the time is right. Congratulations!
Congratulations!!! I see why he won, he has a beautiful voice !! His choice of song impeccable (happens to be my favorite song by my favorite band).
Congrats to Jonathon! He has such amazing God given talent!! Can’t wait to hear what happens in April.
What a great story. You must be so proud of your little man :) So inspiring! Congrats to Jonathan!
Congrats! First, I LOVE Rascal Flatts! Second, that song is my all time favorite because it is the story of my husband and I and has been “our song” since it came out around the time we got engaged 7 years ago. But most importantly Jonathan sang it BEAUTIFULLY! His tone is beautiful and his range is surprising for his age! He went up with total confidence and to be able to drop down like that and still have richness in his voice is impressive! He has a bright future ahead of him and the more exposure he has to singing in front of people the better he will become with connecting to his audience. Good luck to him and your beautiful family as his journey is just beginning! I will be praying for him and your family as he uses his gift to glorify our father!
You did a GREAT JOB!!! Love it all the way. Looked good and relaxed. A real natural gift. Keep it up.
LOVE to hear that sweet boy sing!! He is truly talented and has a great voice. More than that though…I look forward to seeing the videos you post because I can always see his heart and sweet spirit shine through. Precious and rare. :)