Nothing wasted

Some years back, an honorary aunt told me:

God doesn't waste anything in our life experience. 

This week when Little Guy's aural rehab therapist was here, she was working on the /p/ sound, specifically the initial /p/ sound in two-syllable words. 

I reached over and found a purple screwdriver from his Little Tikes set.  After she did some therapy with that, I asked Little Guy to find his pillow.  He brought it over, and the therapist did some therapy using it.  Then I mentioned his orange pumpkin, and he went to retrieve it.

The therapist interjected with, "You're GOOD at this!" and I commented, "Well, teaching English for years helps."  She had never known that I taught conversational English in Japan for years, and said, "Oh, that explains a lot!  I keep thinking it's not natural for a mom to be this good at language."

Indeed God does not waste anything in our life experience:

• Modern English Grammar class in college, where we spent each hour of class diagramming sentences on the chalkboard (yes, they had chalkboards then!). 

• Spending a year in a foreign country without formal language training, trying to figure out what the sounds meant and how they fit together. 

• Continuing (for years) to learn that language with some formal training, but also with lots & lots of listening and analyzing.

• Teaching conversational English classes for a dozen years, trying to discern why my students had trouble with certain grammatical constructs, and seeking to help them understand and learn how English works.  

And now, I am entrusted with the at-risk language needs of our son.  Every week I get to observe and analyze the language of our toddler, in order to report to his therapists, so they know best how to help him.

God doesn't waste anything in our life experience.