To My Daughter

On Monday, October 10th, 2011, my little daughter Madelynn will be born to my wife, my two sons and I.  We are really excited to meet her and I figured I'd write her a letter to inform her of a few things. 


Dear Madelynn. 


Your mom, your two brothers and I are very excited to see your face.  We have been talking about it for months and were stoked when we saw on the video screen during the ultrasound that you were missing the key ingredient of being a boy.   As an aside, if you are a Benjamin and not a Madelynn, you will probably beat everyone in hide-and-seek.   As you prepared to come into this world, I figured I'd give you some things that you'll need to know in preparation. 



1.  The two animals that are in your face all day talking like little squeaky creatures...those are your brothers.  They are going to fight to hold you, fight to get your attention and fight for your right to be virgin until you are 35.  Their names are Caleb and Coleman, but you can call them whatever you want because they are already wrapped around your finger.  


2. The older, more wise one is me...your dad.  I will also be in your face all day, throwing elbows at your older brothers for the right to hold you.  I hope you like Little House on the Prairie, because that's how you'll be dressing to make sure that no boy looks at you until we deem it appropriate.  I'll get back to you on how old that is.   Everyone says that you'll get whatever you want from me...okay...that's true.  Might as well let the cat out of the bag on that one. 


3.  The one who you need to listen to the most, grow closest with, and bond with deeply, will be the one you are around the most...your mom.  She cried when she heard that she was going to have a little girl and is excited to do girl things with you.  I'm not sure what that all means, but know that you'll be getting your nails done before you know it.  She'll be the one that looks like a zombie warlock when you wake up at 2am crying to eat.  Let me just give you some advice.  I've tried crying to get food at 2am from her and it didn't work...I think she through a chair at me, I'm really not sure as I don't remember anything from 2001 to 2003 because of that incident.   Just sayin'...I would just ask, no need to cry.  


4.  You are being born pretty late in the game.  Your brothers are 8 and 5, so most people will think you were a surprise.  Not a surprise like chocolate in the middle of a piece of candy surprise, but a surprise when someone jumps out of the closet and literally scares the crap out of you surprise.   You were not.  God put it on your mom's heart that we weren't done.  That our family wasn't complete without you.  Because of this, we surprised your grandparents and aunties and uncles (think chocolate in the middle of candy) and they are freakishly excited.  We apologize for them ahead of time.  They bought you a ton of pink things with lots of ruffles...I still am not sure how all of that works and you'll probably end up with pants on your head and a tank top for shorts.   


 5.  All the other people that surround you and pass you around like they are playing hot potato will be who we call "our family." Now...with most people that merely means those that have the same blood running through them, for us, that not only includes those people like your grandma, grandpa, nanny, papa, aunties and uncles, but it will also include those who don't have our blood in them, but are still our family.  We call them our "neighbors", but they are really are family.  They'll be over a lot.  There's a saying that says, "it takes a village to raise a child" and based on our neighbors, they take this very literally.  They are a huge blessing and you might not be able to tell who is your blood family, and who we consider family because of how much they care for us.  They are very excited to meet you, hold you and give your mom a "break" because everyone needs a break from "perfection."  You'll get that joke later when you realize how sarcastic I am. 


6.  Boy bands come from the greek term for "stealing from the innocent."  I know that they sound and look like Greek gods, but in reality, they only want to steal your toys and candy.  I'd stay away from them.   


7.   Anything that is in a group, have bright colors and dance around and sing on TV should be avoided at all costs.  Some examples would be Go Gabba Gabba, Barney, and the Wiggles.    They are scary.  


8. The best food in the world comes from Food Trucks.  We are still trying to work out a plan to sneak you out of the hospital to take you to The Box on Wheels which will be across the street from the hospital so you can experience some amazing food.  Although you can't eat it...you should be allowed to visit and experience the greatness of food that comes from a mobile vehicle.   After that, we'll have to take you to meet Barb at the Bistro Box...she'll want to make sure you think her food is legit.


9.  Zombies are real.   You'll see when you wake up crying at 2am.  They look like your parents, but are a mere shell of your real parents.   Sorry ahead of time on how Zombies respond to you at 2am. 


10.  Advertising Companies rule the world.  Don't buy into their crap.  You're smarter than that. 


11.  Can you try and remind me "front to back"? Thanks.  


Madelynn.  


With all this said, we can't wait to meet you.  I want you to know something above all these things.  God has known you before time began.  He knew you and loved you before your mom and dad ever even thought about having you in our life.  He has knit you into exactly the little girl he wants you to be.  The doctors asked if we wanted to test to see if you had any "defects", like down syndrome, but we don't believe God has any defects and believe that God has made you in his image to be exactly who he desires you to be.   We didn't understand why we'd want that test done as you will come out exactly how you are supposed to and we'll love you because God has given you to us.  


Know that no matter how much we love you, your brothers love you, your grandparents love you, your aunties and uncles, and our neighbors that we consider family all love you very much.  But, God loves you even more.  Our house and lives are filled with examples of God's love for us, and we'll tell you as you grow up about this great rescue mission that God did for all of us by sending us a King that rules a great Kingdom.  I can't wait to show you and tell you about this great King who came and served us even when we hated him and how he even died on our behalf, when we should have died.   Not only that, but he actually was raised from the dead to show us how much power he had.  Sorry...I'm getting ahead of myself...I know the story sounds crazy and maybe a little confusing, but we get to chat about this as a family and learn about this King on a daily basis and how much God loves us.  


We can't wait to meet you.  You are what we call "an example of God's grace in our lives."  Your parents will fail you often, your brothers will too, but God will never fail you.  That's good news.  


I'm not sure why God has given us such a great gift, but know we'll do everything in our power to raise you in the ways and the wisdom of God.   We will have a lot of fun together, a lot of hard times, we'll laugh, we'll cry, you'll love us at times, hate us at times, but there is one thing that is always true. 


You'll always be my daughter and loved by me.  


Don't ever think you have to earn my love.  You already have it because God first loved us.  


May God make you into the woman that he desires and may we celebrate together the many victories and trials God puts in your life to make you more like him. 


Only 5 more sleeps Madelynn until we look into each other's eyes.  I can't wait.  


I just hope I don't squeeze you too tight. 


I love you my daughter.  


Love, 


Your Daddy.