The Dance

The music begins, slowly at first, and gradually increases in volume while the tempo remains languid. Couples partner up and begin to fill the open space; the reserved seat at my side, however, is empty. The one who was to occupy it will not be coming. The dance floor continues to fill as the sound of dresses swishing and the soft murmurs of the dancing partners can be heard, mingling with the music.  Her heart falls because there will be no dancing for her tonight, because the young man is no longer a part of her life. Then, from the shadows behind her, someone else appears. A hand is extended with an offer - one dance.  Over his shoulder, she can see the bride and groom dancing. Slowly they begin to dance, she smiles and relaxes. As the dance continues, he pauses and says, "Lauren, let me lead."

After a time, the music begins to wind down. He leans and says, "One day we will do this again, the only difference is that on that day, you will be wearing white." This dance is the dance, the one that replays in my mind. It is a dance that I'll never have again. A dance that will be missing at my wedding because it was a dance with my Dad.


There are many lessons to be learned from this brief moment in time. The one that sticks out to me tonight is found in the words spoken to me that fall evening a few years ago, "Lauren, let me lead."  In my family there is a running joke that we Monroe's can be a little headstrong, independent, or stubborn; the story goes that we get it from our Scottish heritage.  I prefer to call the trait perseverance. Perseverance can be defined as the ability to remain steadfast in a course of action or for a purpose in spite of the difficulties or obstacles faced. 

Perseverance is a great trait to possess, however sometimes I have found that it can be a flaw in my life. This is due to the fact that I will try to persevere in a task, for a purpose, or to accomplish an action only to find that someone else was trying to have me relinquish the lead.  The lead in a dance is the male dancer; he determines the direction and the steps and carries the female dancer, or the follow, through the dance. Now this is not to say that they follow or female dancer does not have to work because it is hard work to dance backwards in high heels while paying attention to the other dancers on the floor and following the lead of your partner.  Oftentimes when partners are out of sync with each other on the dance floor it is because rather than a lead and follow, both are fighting for the lead.

There are times that we are called to lead, to be strong and move forward and persevere in the vision provided us. However, more often than not, we are called to follow the lead of another who has a bigger picture of our life and of the lives around us. We are called to follow God's lead and to trust Him with the steps that we are taking, even if it is backwards in high heels. It is very easy to feel like we have the ability to take care of every situation, when in reality, God is pausing, looking at us with the eyes of a loving father and saying, "Let me lead."

So, let go and trust that He knows the plans for your life and will not take you anywhere and leave you. He does not let us remain in despair, sorrow, shame, depression, loneliness, angst, anger, or any other place. Stop fighting for the lead, you do not have to go through this life in full control, we were not built that way.  Throughout it all, he simply is there with his arms stretched out, waiting for us to remember that in this dance, He leads.  Can you hear the music yet? His hand is stretched out waiting for your response to accept his lead in the dance.