oh! the places you'll go

Dear Anson,

The first day I kept you we read a book together -- Oh, The Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss. Check out this little excerpt:

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind. 

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place. 

The Waiting Place…for people just waiting. 

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

The doc goes on to explain how senseless the waiting place and how you're way too good for that. And I have to tell you Anson, some of the time I feel like he's absolutely right. I'm in the waiting place right now, you see. And it's a little scary and confusing and frustrating sometimes. Do I go back to school? What for? Do I move closer to home or further away? Do I pursue a career in the arts? Counseling? Do I just need to bite the bullet and find me a rich husband? Where can I buy a lottery ticket??

But the Waiting Place is not a useless place. It is a very important place. It's a place that has given me the opportunity to meet and love you and your parents. It's a place where I get to be around for my brother's first year at LSU. It's a place where I spend my days trying my hardest to learn to be still and trust the Lord with my future -- with the places I'll go! The Waiting Place is not easy. But, oh, it is good.

You're coming up on 4 months old now. We'll be expecting you to do all kinds of tricks here soon -- rolling over, sitting up, making consonant sounds, curing cancer.... But my prayer for you, even now, is that you would always wait on the Lord. Because He knows you, buddy! He loves you even more than I do -- even more that Momma and Daddy! And He has plans, good and perfect plans for the places you'll go. I thank Him every day that I get to be even a small part of that.

I love you,

LoHo ( or La La, whichever you end up calling me. I know words are still hard. I can wait.)