Once upon a time, in my former life, I was a teacher. You perhaps knew this. There are days when I have the itch to get back in the classroom: to interact with and build relationships with the kids/teachers/parents, to guide and direct the structure and layout of my days (within the confines of that blessed schedule administration so arduously creates), to get those creative juices flowing while planning lessons/organizing and decorating the classroom. There's no doubt that when June arrives there is such satisfaction derived from looking back over the course of the year and seeing the fruits of my labor in the form of bonds made with the kids and successes they have achieved. I would love to delve deeper into the vast array of learning styles that kids enter into the classroom possessing and to become more equipped to help children who struggle, perhaps through earning a degree in special education.
Other days I think that I'd love to pursue a career in the writing industry. I'm particularly interested in editing/proofreading. NERD ALERT! I just love language! I can remember sitting in 6th grade, diagramming sentences, welling up with pride and satisfaction as I fit those sentence pieces into their place in the puzzle. I sometimes sit and dissect a sentence that was just spoken, naming each part of speech.
Wow. Even I am sitting here aghast at the depths of my dorkiness right now.
Along with pulling language apart, I also love the flip side: piecing it together into a work of writing. When I was younger I would spend HOURS writing stories (and, for a brief stint in high school, poetry). I wasn't all that great at actually finishing any but still, the bug was there. It's never left. It's just been buried under academic pursuit, career choice, and now children. It's that hobby that always gnaws at you: could I make this a career? Most days I think I'm just too chicken to try. And I certainly wouldn't know where to start.
I'm not really all that concerned about what the future holds for me career-wise. God has guided me thus far and has, for now, given me the most crucial job of all: Mom. But sometimes it's fun to dream about what could still be coming; to wonder at how I'll be able to use the gifts and talents and passions He has instilled in me. And, let's face it, sometimes it's just nice to know that my job description won't always include "nose-wiper and diaper-changer extraordinaire!"