Angels Work in Strange Ways

I spent a morning chatting with a friend, neighbor, mom to my old soul's friend, and special education teacher during a school "fun day" activity recently. As we talked about our daughters and their unique personality traits, this mother relayed a beautiful story to me about my child. I should preface this story with some information about my old soul. She is a hyper-creative, out-of-the-box thinker who rarely moves faster than 5 mph even when a speedier manner is called for. She is so creative (taking after her mom) that she is bored to distraction when projects are laid out, spelled out and the outcome is the same no matter which child is at the helm. That said, this mother shared with me that during a classroom activity where she was acting as class mother, the children were busy putting together their holiday craft according to the directions given previously by the teacher. My friend told me that she had been assigned to assist the children at my daughter's table. Halfway through the activity she noticed that my daughter had not started assembling her project per the instructions. She inquired and my old soul said, "I'm looking at all these materials and I'm thinking I could make a really fun cat toy for my cats instead." Rather than redirecting which, no doubt, the teacher would have done, this angel told my creative old soul to make whatever she wanted. My daughter came home with two beautiful holiday cat necklaces laced with jingle bells for her cats.

This mother said to me, "She's amazingly creative and that's something you should definitely encourage because that could be a great strength for her in life." In her relaying the story, I felt such gratitude that another adult/parent/teacher/mother would see value in my daughter's creativity... as I do. I thanked her and we went on to discuss how, these days, children are all expected to step into place and march like good little soldiers. A time where individual strengths are ignored and weaknesses are examined under a microscope in an effort to apply a diagnosis and prescribe meds. Thank God for the angels who see each child for their unique talents and encourage them to develop their strengths.... And, even more so, when these individuals find themselves in teaching professions or in frequent contact with children who need to be nurtured in this way. I'm happy that, at the very least, all the children that this special ed teacher, mother, friend and neighbor come in contact with -- including my daughter -- are better for the experience.