Several months ago, Katelyn began asking to take piano lessons. Of course I wanted her to take; music is important to our family, and I knew she would do well. Plus, she absolutely loves to sing and I know that a piano foundation will be beneficial if she ever wants to pursue music. Teaching her myself wasn't really an option; we are too much alike for that to end well. I knew she needed instruction from someone who isn't Mommy.
So I asked friends for recommendations on piano teachers. I looked into options and there was nothing wrong with any of them, but... I don't know, I just didn't have a peace about moving forward with any of them. Nothing seemed like the right fit.
I began praying about it and told God that if we were supposed to pursue piano right now, I needed a green light in three specific areas:
- I wanted lessons to be in a home setting. Katelyn can be very shy and I didn't see her adjusting well in a setting where a lot of other people would be around, even if just in passing.
- I needed the location to be relatively close to our house so that I could pull off the logistics of getting her there after school.
- I needed the cost of lessons to fall within a certain range.
Most importantly, I needed to have a peace about all of the above.
Some time later, I texted my friend Lisa from church. I didn't give her my specifics; I just asked if she could recommend a piano teacher. Lisa said she could certainly recommend her daughters' teacher, but she had someone else in mind who might be a good fit for Katelyn.
So I emailed the lady Lisa recommended. As it turned out, lessons would be 1) in her home, 2) she lives 5 minutes from our house, and 3) the price was right! Yes! Finally, I was feeling good about this! So that this teacher wouldn't be completely caught off guard, I mentioned that Katelyn had one hand and asked if she was comfortable with a creative teaching challenge. Her response:
"I actually have a student that has one hand without fully grown fingers, so I'm already working with a similar situation."
Wait, what? Are you kidding me??
WHAT ARE THE ODDS that this teacher would already have a student with any sort of similarity?!? (Lisa had no idea, and it's worth noting that she has a gift for connecting people!) Naturally, I picked my jaw up off the floor, wiped away my tears, and asked when lessons could start. To say that I finally felt peace about this would be an understatement!
When I had prayed for peace, I really just meant that I would feel right about whatever fell into place. God delivered that with the home setting, location, and price... but then He gave abundantly more. I never, ever would've thought to pray for another student with a limb difference. But He knew she needed that right now.
Katelyn often says she feels like the only kid in the world with a limb difference, because in her day-to-day world, she is. It's hard. School is going very well because kids know her by now, but any sort of new setting outside of school is often followed by nights of tears. Two hands or not, no one wants to walk into a room and be greeted by stares and whispers. And Katelyn experiences that all. the. time. It gets old, and it stings. At age 7, she's having to learn hard life lessons about self-confidence, friendship, and extending grace.
So for her to feel like she's not alone in piano is huge. When I told her about the other student, she was crazy excited. We've never met the student, but just knowing she's not alone feels pretty good!
What a beautiful, humbling reminder this was! How foolish I feel to be surprised by God's abundant blessing, yet how grateful and humbled I am by it! How many times have my prayers lacked great expectation and boldness? God is in the details. He is good. He knows our hearts and our hurts and he wants to bless us immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.
