Tag: coaching

Sunsets and Rainbows

What I see in sunsets and rainbows!

November 13, 2020

Sunsets and Rainbows

Sometimes when you want to feel amazed, just look up. Seriously. Up at the sunrise or for me at work – the sunset. The sunsets over the intersection of interstate 95 and International Golf Parkway are amazing. It often happens with a bold artist palette of vivid colors like deep purple, bright blue, orange, yellow, pink, and red. Because this is Florida, we often have moisture in the sky (aka raindrops) that hide clear rainbows in the opposite side of the sky.

I’ve seen more double rainbows outside the doors of my gym than everywhere else combined. God’s promise of mercy.

When sunsets come, they remind me of the awesome things God has given us that all too often we brush off. It also reminds me to slow down. I have to take the time to enjoy the blessings I’ve been given rather than race through life as if being chased. I’m not being chased by anything! I’m in an amazing point of my life where I’ve stopped chasing the pipe-dream of home ownership and realized that it really doesn’t matter. I’ve been able to slow down and enjoy. I love the job I have! (stepping outside to see sunsets and rainbows is definitely a sweet bonus) I get to work around smiling, happy faces, hopefully instill confidence, positive work ethic, determination, and excitement in the hearts of the children I am honored to coach, encourage my coworkers as they encourage me, and watch my children grow in skill and confidence (and getting to see them every break is tremendous)!

I have chosen to focus on relationships. I am trying to connect with my family and friends at every opportunity. I want my children to understand the importance of relationship with encouraging believers.

I have chosen to focus on writing again (my computer that was fixed ended up with the cable to the display being pinched by the metal bracket that supports the display because it was moved when “repaired” and now the cable is shorted… so back to borrowed computers until I can repair it myself). I felt such a surge of writing energy – going from less than 5,000 words to over 22,000 in only one story in just a few off days since it was repaired? Wow, I feel like God has opened my creativity again. Despite computer issues, I will be writing!

I sold one ebook through Amazon! First sale in over a year, so that’s positive!

My boss has graciously let me put up a display of real books at her ProShop (At least 50% of sales price gets donated to the gym program!) and I am supposed to have illustrators (*clears throat*) working on drawings for my children’s books.

At this point, I’m trying to study my children, show them how I depend on Jesus, study my husband more so I can love him better, and develop or water friendships I cherish with my sisters, brothers, and friends. We’ve been able to get Becky’s braces, get Christina’s adult dental stuff started, we discovered Kimberly needed glasses & got those, and are planning to start Jillian’s and finish Lucas’ dental needs too. God is providing as we need it. Provision will come. “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Rainbows remind me of mercy.

Remember before the flood there was no rain? All the world was watered from the ground. Mists, fog, who knows, but the Bible says “the water rose up from the ground” to water the Earth. So imagine Noah and his family – they had never seen a rainbow! NEVER. This was a first for them. It was recorded as God setting His rainbow in the sky as a promise to every living thing on Earth that He would never again destroy the whole Earth by water.

That is mercy. Mercy is showing undeserved favor. Parenting teaches mercy on a whole new level.

Consider when someone is saying and doing things to cut you down constantly, hurting others you love, cutting deep into the hearts of you and those you love with their words, irritated with life but taking it out on you as if it is your fault, doing things and saying things that hurts them, etc. This irritates and saddens you. You love them still. You can’t stop loving them. You carried them and prayed for them and watched them be birthed and loved and cared for them and slowly watch them grow. You know you have to slowly release them and you hate yourself because you feel they aren’t ready but this is where you have to let go and trust God.

This is where you understand mercy. Love when you are undeserving.

You then see that is how Jesus sees you. You hurt His heart with some choices and actions or words. You hurt yourself. You hurt those He loves. You pull away when He is trying to patiently guide you yet it feels wrong or you decide to follow another. You do not deserve His love. You deserve judgement for those you have hurt. Yet Jesus showers us with mercy; new mercies each morning.

This is what rainbows show me.

My heart still hurts for the pains I feel my teens are feeling. I wish I could get them to talk openly and listen as openly. I wish I could once again kiss the hurt and it go away – but that doesn’t work anymore. They now need to allow Jesus to wrap His arms around them and comfort them. They need to allow Jesus to lead them and guide them.

I have to love them.

I also have to protect the hearts of my younger ones. Yes, sometimes from the words or actions of an older sibling. That really hurts.

I’m not going to kick them out of my house and never out of my heart; just as Jesus has not kicked me away and has loved me through all of my mistakes. I need Jesus’ mercy every day.

Rainbows remind me of this.

Thank you, Jesus, for sunsets and rainbows. Thank you that we get to see them almost daily. Thank you for love, mercy, and forgiveness. Thank you that you teach me daily in this task called parenting.

Thank you for reading!

~Nancy Tart

Itty Bitty Fun!

Fun for preschool kiddos on Fridays! (bring big siblings and baby siblings too)

September 25, 2020

Itty Bitty Fun!

Theadora loves gymnastics. Actually, she loves running, jumping, climbing, rolling, flipping, balancing, and being crazy. What little one doesn’t? Who am I kidding? What energetic adult doesn’t want to be out doing crazy stuff with the energy of an 18-month-old who is a half-hour before bedtime loaded up on red dye and sugar?

Thea loves Fridays at WGV Gymnastics because we get to have Preschool Open Gym from noon to 1pm. You only have to be able to toddle around to join in! Many friends from our Gym-N-Learn program come for more gymnastics fun.

This is an hour of supervised fun where young monkeys get to try out all of the cool gymnastics equipment (Thea’s favorites are bars and bouncy floor!), roll around on mats, bounce on tumble track, jump in and climb out of pit, and try their hand at anything that their adult doesn’t think is too scary. Yes, children, an adult like your parent or grandparent is required during this gym visit as they have to supervise. (Actually, Thea can tell you, Preschool Open Gym is a great place to have a grandma date!)

There are coaches on hand to help said adult spot (help out with gym skill), give out solicited advice, talk about gym safety, observe (watch everything like a spy!), and enjoy the fun! You can ask said coaches about learning new things, fun games to try, how to use mats, what drills or skills help lead to what new skill, and other educational things. Coaches can also help spot skills and show fun new tricks!

Come join Thea doing crazy fun stuff every Friday (check the website at www.wgvgymnastics.com/preschool-open-gym or call for more information!) at WGV Gymnastics! An adult has to come with you, wear tight fitting clothes that don’t fall off when you flip around or make big jumps, and make sure you have lots of energy!

Oh, that’s right, big sisters and brothers over 5 can come, (even though they are not in preschool anymore) just call our office as the prices for older kids may not be on the website!

~Thank you and Thea will see you soon!

~Nancy Tart

Doing Less, Loving More

July 14, 2020

Doing Less, Loving More

Kimberly calls it, “living in the moment,” but really, it’s choosing to live where God has placed you with hope for the final future.  Your focus is not on temporal things but on the things of God.

It’s been a long teaching road for me the past few years. 

I thought I was teaching.

Really, God has been continually showing me that I am doing too much.  I thought I was living in the present, planning for the future, and remembering the past – what I tell myself all the time.  In reality, I was placing too much trust in myself and my ability to work.  What these last few months taught me is that it doesn’t really matter about this chasing work… God will provide for needs. 

I kept telling myself “it is just a season” and that I would slow down once we had a house of our own.  My desire for a home that we own is not a bad thing.  My working all day every day was not a good thing.  “Unprecedented” things changed that goal and reset us to day zero. I realized I was minimizing Louis.  We are a team.  We work very well together.  My deep desire is to have strong relationships with my husband, children, and family.  I had been neglecting that. 

A voice kept repeating, “you must do what you love,” and “money isn’t a motivator,” and I was thinking in reply – “I am” (One of my jobs was a gymnastics coach… I LOVE being a gymnastics coach!) and “but I need money for a house.”  

That voice was right. 

One study I listened to highlighted “where your treasure is, there your heart is also.”

I analyzed what I really love.

I love Louis.  I love my children.  I love my family.  I love my friends.  I love coaching.  I love writing.  I love encouraging.  I love working in a Christian, encouraging, loving atmosphere.

So I prayed.  The next study came on… “doing less, loving more…” and I realized it was the right decision.  I stopped my office job and decided to be available as the “on-call” rec coach for all hours.  The same day I made that decision, the offer came in for Preschool – a position I had turned away chasing the “more money” job a year ago. 

I’m writing again!  I get to see Thea wake up, smiling, and yell “Mommy!” and snuggle before I have to go to work.  We have no real debt anymore – the student loan and the debt from food and gas during the shutdown is paid off.  Our van is a few months from paid off.  We’ve started saving extra again toward our house goal again.  By the end of next year, we should have enough to either buy a cheap property or put a down payment on something good, I’ll have been at Gym almost four years, both the van and car notes will be gone, so I’m praying for patience. 

This week, Monday, started me full-time at the job I love (a dream job, never in my life did I believe I would find a job I love so much – thank you, Jesus!) and I’ve started having study times in the Bible with the girls.  Just Becky and Kimberly right now, but Jillian was listening too.  I want them to love Jesus and trust Him from day one.  I want them to learn from my mistakes so they can move farther and faster than I did.  I now finally understand what my Daddy meant by saying the one line he said he remembered from his Dad: “I don’t care if you are a street-sweeper; make sure you love what you do because you will have to wake up every day and do it with all your heart.”

My Daddy loved computer building and programming. 

I love children, writing, teaching, fitness, and encouraging – which makes coaching recreational gymnastics the perfect dream job for me!  I LOVE waking up to go to gym!  This is the first job I’ve had as an adult where I don’t have to pretend I enjoy it (you know, you can choose to enjoy something, but you can’t decide to love what you don’t really love) – and I am thankful and excited for this new phase in our lives!

I have decided to focus on family; doing less and loving more.

Thank you for reading!

Type at you later,

~Nancy Tart

Okra & “Fire Lilies”

May 28, 2020

Okra & “Fire Lilies”

Today we planted okra. Three long rows of okra plants just far enough apart to walk through the rows with the mower for easy weeding, pruning, and harvesting.

Yesterday and Tuesday were the 6 by 4 corn patch. The 5 by 4 corn patch already has rows of little green stalks pushing up and it was planted Saturday! We also did a patch of mustard greens and our trio experiment over the weekend. The “trio experiment” is onion seed, three inches, beet seed, three inches, carrot seed in a patch 3 by 3.

Oh, all numbers are in feet… so far.

And my favorite of my blooms at this house (since my gardenia has been reluctant to bloom) is this –

– it’s a bulb with a single straight stalk that ends in this fiery flower! We call them fire-lilies but I know that can’t be their official name. It’s a takeaway from Grandma Jeanette… a little piece of history carried along and the blooms make me think of her every time I see a new one exploding with color.

(oh, and if you know what it is, please comment! We’d love to know what it really is!)

Lucas and Thea ate all six ripe tomatoes themselves before they got inside. I managed to sneak one away for the egg scramble I made for brunch. (I eat shakeology breakfast at 5:45 so at 11am I was practically starving and had to grab something filling and nutritious!)

We have little pets who poop breakfast… and Becky made more of these:

Yummy deviled eggs; Becky is a pro at this now!

YES!

Worked at gym yesterday… REC CLASSES OPEN MONDAY!! Camp fills up quickly & starts June 1st (I can’t wait to see my gymnasts!) and we get to have gym party (Parent’s Night Out) this month!! (Third Saturday of each month: our coaches entertain and feed a boocoodle of kiddos so their parents can have a night kidfree… here)

I’m excited about coaching again! I’m thrilled about our garden! I even got to play Age of Empires with Jillian and Lucas today while big sisters went shopping!

We had a lovely day!

Type at you later,

~Nancy Tart

Choosing to Rest

Ever feel overwhelemed by the busyness of life… especially around Christmas?

December 14, 2019

Choosing to Rest

The busyness of life can overwhelm us if we allow it.

Especially when your heart is troubled.

Anybody relate? 

This is the first Christmas season where all the kids have been shopping and I haven’t gone with any of them.  My Daddy passed away one year ago the tenth.  My little tradition of carefully penning the newest addition’s name in glitter glue on a silly felt stocking and adding it to our collection to hang was done by one the of girls this year.  I almost found myself feeling unimportant and stressing out because I wanted to be there…

I’m standing on the floor beam and use my standard line when my gym girls are racing.  On beam that means they end up wobbling and the exercise doesn’t look pretty when you are bouncing and wobbling. “…don’t race.  If you feel wobbly…” I demonstrate so they will laugh and pay attention, doing one passé step and wobbling as I come down “…pause…” I stop with both feet firmly planted “…take a breath to steady you…” I take a deep breath “…and now go on.” I start doing the steps again without the wobble.

This works great for my excited littles at gym.  Sometimes they race because they want to do more and more and more, but really they just need to focus on the task at hand.  They need to control the landing of their foot on the beam so the direction is perfect and they land with confidence.

—BAM—

Life.

It’s the same as walking the beam. 

Don’t race.  That one hit me; don’t we all race when we feel wobbly (overwhelmed)?

Pause.  REST IN JESUS! 

Both feet firmly planted. In the Word – while I’m pausing, I’m resetting by “planting my feet firmly” in the Word.

Take a deep breath.  Worship and pray.

Then you can go on without the wobble. (Worry, feeling of drowning, feeling of uselessness, etc)

Now we take our life and everything whirling around us one step at a time, focusing on each day as it exists, allowing God to control our steps, and we will walk with confidence!

Oversimplified?  Maybe, but that mental picture that God gave me as I was coaching certainly is helping me rest and enjoy this season instead of feel “wobbly” with worry and feeling useless! 

Thank you, Jesus for planting cool visions in my head from sometimes the simplest of things… God uses the simple to confound the wise!

Type at you next time,

~Nancy Tart

Jaquline the Confident

September 4, 2019

Jaquline the Confident

I watched my little girl exude confidence for the first time in public.  At our gymnastics show on Mother’s Day, my Jaquline performed her practiced routine with a cloud of confidence I’ve never seen in her before.  She LOVES gymnastics.  She feels beautiful and strong doing her routines.  She stood up on the mat and told everyone she wants to be an Olympic Gymnast. 

Wow. 

So much for “maybe they’ll have fun” – my thoughts when I was blessed to get them into classes. 

For my family, discovering the sport of gymnastics has improved and amazed us.  In brief, I answered an ad which I thought was part-time clerk help at a gymnastics facility; nope, was a coaching job and I am so totally in amazement that I get to work a dream job in a sport I always wanted to do but my family was unable to afford.  From there, my girls (less Christina, who laughed and said “CAP is enough for me.” – oh, but  she’s now a coach) joined classes.  Kimberly came with strength and pushes to work her way up to the amazing skills she watches the team girls do.  Becky and Jaquline had no interest in fitness before gymnastics but now are working out with determination.  Jillian and Lucas have fun.

Jaquline’s new semester includes her gymnastics classes, reading everything she loves (She graduated up from the Magic Treehouse books to A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, and The Princess and the Swans the last couple of months!), practicing gymnastics outside (no jumps or flips – that’s mom’s rule, but I watch her do her floor routine from the show over and over and over…), learning nutrition (what builds muscle?  I need x grams of protein before workout), and playing word games with her super increasing vocabulary!  Louis says he’ll glance at the table after breakfast and everyone is sitting around doing work except Jaquline.  He’ll go looking and she’s curled up in her bed with some fat book in front of her so he leaves her until she comes out.  She’s sometimes not wanting to do regular schoolwork (it seems every child goes through at least one “I don’t want to do school” phase), but we aren’t worried because right now is a nutrition, fitness, grammar, literature, and vocabulary focus semester.  A few more books in that level and she’ll either be scanning the library for more like them or moving up a notch! (And she thinks she’s “not doing schoolwork” by reading unabridged classics!)

Sometimes we all need a “break” from the ordinary (yes, mom and dad still ask, “did you finish your math, history, and science?”) and our focus shifts to what we find fun.  Jaquline is doing math she doesn’t realize while planning her savings goals.  She’s stepping into real history and culture with “Little Women” and “A Little Princess” (1860 – 1880 United States and 1800s English Empire, respectively).  She’s learning science by watching Becky and Kimberly’s experiments, reading her nutrition books.  She’s doing practical learning by watching how Dad prepares food and analyzing the nutrition in her meals (plus, math and science here too). 

Although her semester finds her trying to be stubborn and “skip regular lessons” this time around, we know she’s still learning.  God is working on her heart now too – “Heidi” is a story of forgiveness, redemption, and return to reliance on God. (Just one example… I LOVE the unabridged versions of classics.)

Don’t be discouraged, parents!  Even if they are “refusing” to learn, they are learning anyway!  Find something they love that is natural learning and encourage that!  They’ve got plenty more years to get “lessons” on track… build relationship and understanding. 

This doesn’t mean we as parents aren’t constantly reminding her to “finish her math” or whatever lessons, it’s just that we don’t fight over it!  Life has taught us that she will come back to “formal lessons” soon.  We had a teen freak and slam forward in her algebra once her sister below her was “catching up” – Jaquline did the same last year when Jillian “graduated” into the same math book Jaquline was using.  Our philosophy is never to alter one person’s progress because of another’s lack; instead we encourage self-growth.  Thankfully, human nature among our children includes a fierce competitive spirit!  They will learn.  They will grow.  Sometimes, though, a sidetrack on a different path is needed.  (Don’t you ever feel that way as an adult? – I do!)

Type at you later,

~Nancy Tart

New Routine

New Year, New Work Routine! I’m feeling so blessed!

January 20, 2019

New Routine

After so many years of not being officially employed, in my job search I often felt like the only way I would ever get a job was purely if God made it happen. (I know, running one’s own business is employment, but even the government doesn’t see it as that! Because we rolled almost all our income back into the business trying to build it, the government was like, “no W2, you had no job” oops.) No one was looking at my strange resume (last 5 jobs… including my “co-owner of…” went back to my second teenage job – Disney!) and thinking, “cool, let’s hire this person.”

At least, that’s what it felt like for 2 years – well, a little more than two years, but let’s not get technical.

Then I answered an ad to what I assumed could be an office position at a gym. Big surprise – and dream job! I’ve been there since late October 2018 and have become the Preschool Director – I love coaching! I’ve been working with the preschool teacher and coaches to help reorganize the educational aspect of the Preschool Program. (Lucas loves “going to school” when he gets to tag along – three hours three times a week of preschool learning plus gymnastics coaching plus lots of fun! Coach Bailee is so awesome at that!)

I felt a nudge to answer another part time ad. Now I’m the Operations Manager at Dog Face Electrical Contractors… a awesome business with a positive future. I’ve only been working there for going on two weeks, but – my word – do I love discovering and learning! I’ve been testing my skill at learning to read electrical building plans, understanding the electrician’s jargon, and forming expandable options for efficiency as this business grows. I’m so excited to be a part of it!

I’m just one of these people who say “my gym” and “my office” and I want to see the businesses I am a part of grow and flourish. I want to be an integral part of their team. I want to never have to leave the places I’ve chosen to work.

Strange in this day and age, maybe, but that’s how I feel.

I know God has put me in these positions at this time. I want to shine my light wherever I can! Positive attitude is everything. I’m feeling a little tired (driving is 30 minutes to either job one-way) but I use the time to talk to God and worship, but am totally blessed and in awe of how perfectly God lined these amazing jobs up for me in the perfect timing!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Awesome Job

God’s Timing is Perfect!

October 22, 2018

Awesome Job!

Louis and I operate a small business that pretty much shrunk from seventeen co-workers to one in the span of four months starting about two years ago.

Since just before then (I’m an analyst, I did see that we would shrink due to changing marketplace), I’ve been applying for various jobs all over in any industry I have experience for or my degree fits with.  I’ve been turning in applications for almost two and a half years.  Nothing.  That’s rather tough for my ego, but hey, I had a three-inch binder with book and article rejection letters that kept coming for fourteen years before my first book was traditionally published.  So I can say I’m used to rejection!  (Honestly, when it came every other job I walked into the business and three of the four was hired on the spot, the fourth I was called back that week – so it was a bit frustrating being well-qualified but not getting any offers.)

I answered an ad that I almost didn’t.  I knew the lady who owned the business, so I knew I would like working for her.  Although the ad was for a gymnastics school, it did say “no gym experience,” and when I arrived, I was asked if I liked working with children.  I LOVE teaching and working with children; I’ve taught and worked with children all my life – literally oldest sibling of 7, volunteered at schools, churches, and groups since they would let me (10), student taught, tutored, and I have 6 children.

The idea of teaching children a sport and getting paid for it is totally amazing!  I consider myself active, so a job where I’m working out a bit while teaching is perfect.

It’s really cool when God’s timing ends you at a place you know you’ll love being, a boss you know you’ll enjoy working for, and the schedule you’ll have really doesn’t mess with anything you already do!  (The girls’ college classes are during morning or early afternoon, we can still pick up Anastasia, it doesn’t change my ability to work early AM shuttle rides, it doesn’t interfere with the farm or schooling, and we can still  do weekend craft sale events and church!)

Bonus was that I didn’t have any workout pants, but the weekend before I started training, my brother and sister brought us bags of clothing and in them were three workout pants and socks!  So I didn’t need to spend money to start!

God’s timing is always perfect and sometimes what plops on your radar isn’t what you thought you would get, but it’s just perfect for you!  This job is almost too good to be true for me.  I’m going to get paid to teach children a fun  sport on a schedule that works with my family’s lifestory… Amazing!

I’m feeling so blessed and a bit awestruck.  Thank you, Jesus!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

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