Creativity strikes again

My parents recently attended an event where they happened to be seated with an administrator from the school where I used to teach. As often happens, conversation turned to common ground which in this case happened to be me. My parents reported that he spoke very highly of my teaching, telling them that he remembers my creativity and that he lists me in the top 10 teachers he's ever had working under him.

I write this not to stroke my own ego. In fact, in true Cindy fashion my first thought was that this must be on over-statement or miscommunication. My second thought (knowing that my parents aren't habitual liars) was regret that it's been almost 20 years since I was in the classroom. I had a brief period of wondering if this was some kind of sign that I was supposed to go back to teaching. It's not that I haven't considered it. I have. Plenty of times. There are times that I'll think of an idea or find an old one in my filing cabinet (yeah, I still have plenty of teaching files), and think about pulling that old teaching certificate out of hibernation (or whatever the state calls it), take all those classes I'd need to take to bring it up to snuff, and get out there and interview. And then I'm able to think realistically again and know that at this time of my life, I do not have the time to give to a classroom. And when I'm really honest, I don't know if I would be happy in a classroom today. The opportunities for teachers to be creative or less than they used to be. There's that old creativity thing again.

But then I saw this compliment for what it was - an encouragement.

Some days, the task of raising a child who is blind seems insurmountable to me. The teacher in me looks at child's play as learning and at playtime as opportunity for pre-reading or early math skills; setting the stage for future learning. I know how to do that with a sighted child; I've been doing that for a long time. But a blind child? I've never done that before. My training in special education focused more on developmental delays than vision issues.

I even looked into dusting off that old certificate just so I could get certified in teaching the visually impaired. But when I broached the subject with the Good Doctor, he said he didn't think it was necessary. He said he thought I was a creative enough teacher to prepare Victor just as well as all of our other children. Hmmm, sounds familiar.

Thank you, Lord, for an encouraging word. First, from an obvious source and confirmed by an unlikely source.

Truth be told, creativity is what my elementary and middle and high school teachers always mentioned in the comments section of my report cards. God was preparing me for Victor even way back then.