Worthy of Love

You are worthy of love!

September 7, 2020

Worthy of Love

Did you know that even when you have blown everything, Jesus still loves you? The Bible says that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Translate that into real life:

Even while we were still doing evil stuff that makes God sad, He held out the eternal salvation to us. This gift cost Him the blood of his only son, and He was okay with giving that to us as we were still doing things to make Him sad.

Often in our life we get told by our own mind, “you aren’t good enough.”

It goes something like this:

“See what mistake you just made, they won’t love you anymore because you did that.”

Then you get sad. You feel discouraged. You try to win their love. You know what is really sad? Most of the time, those inner voice thoughts are lying to you! The person you thought you “wronged” because you forgot something or didn’t remember to text this or called while they were at work or accidentally said that – um, they laughed it off or *SHOCK* didn’t even notice! They certainly don’t hate you for that slight.

Or like this:

“God can’t love you, you aren’t good enough – look what you just did!”

When we sin, God does feel sad. Like a parent whose child knows what they shouldn’t do but they do it anyway. Life choices have consequences. God doesn’t save us from all of the consequences of our choices just like a wise parent lets the child walk through the consequences they can handle. This is so we learn from our mistakes. But guess what. God still loves us! Just like we still love our children!

You know what the Bible says about inner thoughts that do not align with God’s Word? We are to think on good things (whatever is noble, just, of good report…) to retrain our mind to see things in God’s perspective. This is hard to practice sometimes.

I often judge myself too harshly. I can’t seem to find the right reset button. I end up digging myself further into sorrow by trying to reset. I need to learn to just abandon ship; jump off and give the whole ship and my rescue to God. Then the reset day would actually be better!

From simple such as “the day not going well” to life-changing such as “rejection letter from college.” All of those things in between – don’t allow failures to drag you down. Read and study – in history, most people fail before they rise. Those who give up on life never achieve what they want to achieve. You have to stand, look at the failure and let God move.

I try to fix it. How can I redo this so it isn’t a failure? That isn’t always the answer because sometimes that whatever-it-is just isn’t meant to work. God can redirect us and show us what we need to let go and what needs to move forward – and He’ll lead you toward the right path in order for you to apply yourself into something He wants you in!

I’ve learned it’s always best to let go and let God do it. But my mind always wants to fix everything. I can say “I know this” but it’s really hard to put the knowledge into practice sometimes. It gets harder when you feel there is no safe place for you. There is. God has given you places and people to be around that are working in His love – it may be a best friend or a family member or a co-worker.

Someone needs to tell you this: You are worthy of love! You are so worthy of love! The Creator of the Universe loves you! That is your building block. From that, all things grow and prosper. You are worthy.

Read this slowly with your name in the blank (and tell your mind to be quiet, no negative “buts” added on!): “__________ am loved by God. I am worthy of unconditional love just as I am.”

Thank you for reading!

Type at you later!

~Nancy Tart

Fighting Failure

July 12, 2019

Fighting Failure

It’s when your mind tells you stuff that isn’t what God wants you to hear, but the logical part of you says, “yes, that’s right,” so you agree and allow the spirit of failure to permeate your day.

I know in my heart that anything discouraging that doesn’t come with a motivation for how to fix it isn’t from God.  Yet, my logical brain doesn’t always catch these.

Fighting with the spirit of failure has been tough for me lately, especially the last couple of weeks.  One of the girls says “you are always busy,” and I hear “you are never home” to which my logical brain reminds me that I leave before most  are awake and I come home straight to dinner, cleaning, and bedtime or arrive just as bedtime starts.  My brain reiterates: “you are a failure” (at being a good mom.)

Louis says, “obviously, that’s wrong” when I ask for his help and my brain says, “you can’t even put a couch cushion cover on right!” This makes me irritated so I leave because I am now mad at Louis – to which my brain shouts, “see, you’re a horrible wife,” and I believe that because I couldn’t even get dinner ready within an hour the night before but Louis can throw a gourmet meal together in twenty minutes (why do I even agree with that failure, I know I’m not a fast cook?).  My brain reminds me of strings of “wife fails” in reverse order like comic book pages on fast-forward speed laughing, “you are a failure” (at being a wife.)

I’m working so much and have little time (when they need me) lately to spend helping my family with our recent losses.  One of my friends says “you’ll make time,” and since I haven’t stopped my job or altered my schedule too much, my brain laughs, “you are a failure” (at being a good sister, daughter.)

One of my friends is going through a very trying time and I want to be there for her more, but I’m busy when she’s free or I turn into a pumpkin at nine-thirty (to get to bed by ten & therefore up by five to get ready for work) but she is usually home and free in the evenings.  My brain tells me, “see, you are such a failure” (at being a friend.)

BUT… (positive one!)

I have to remind my mind (remind = renew my mind, if you will) that we are all failures.  All have sinned and come short of perfection.  So, yes, of course I fail over and over!  God gives me peace, hope, and joy.  I do my best with what life has given me and pray for God to give me the joy (translates into strength for me) to handle what I’m lacking.

So even though physically and humanly, I am not matching up to my image of perfection (another trap for us perfectionists, we actually think somehow that we can be perfect on our own), when I remind my mind who I am, I remember this: I am saved by undeserved favor (meaning I did NOTHING to deserve it, rather I deserved to die).  Jesus knew my failures ahead of time yet chose to say, “I want her.”

Now I can fight this feeling of failure by choosing to fix where I can improve and trust God with the rest.  I’m not going to be working from home again anytime soon – I will trust God with that.  I can try to prioritize time spent at home.  (I think I’m doing good until I literally take a step wrong my first day off & bruise my neck & shoulders so I spend almost two whole days recovering and doing nothing… and those were supposed to be quality family days!)  I remind my mind, “in all things, trust God.”

The joy of the Lord is my strength.  My mind plays Rebecca St. James “Be The Voice,” and Mandisa’s “Born For This” as I tell myself to “Lay it All Down” and trust.  “This Song is Alive” and “My Heart’s Already There!” (Point of Grace, NewSong, respectively)

Music is my key to joy!  Music is how I fight failure!  Thank you, Jesus, for music!  Thank you for always helping me to fight the spirit of failure in me.

Type at you next time,

~Nancy Tart

Upcoming Show 2019!

Come join us for fun!!

April 25, 2019

Upcoming Show: 2019!

It’s that time of year again!

April 27, 2019 is the fourth annual Family Fun Fest in Saint Augustine, Florida!

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Check out this video (the smiling butterfly is my niece, Anastasia!) and “like” them on Facebook to keep in touch with updates!

Come join us for a wonderful day!  I’ll be at a table with books, DVDbooks, Audio CDs, (some of the girls’ craft goods) and an activity center where children can make a complementary bookmark to take home!

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My oldest two girls will be volunteering (probably gone all day and might drop in for water occasionally), Kimberly and Jaquline will be “on younger duty” in rotation (meaning they get to play with Anastasia, Jillian, and Lucas), and Jillian, Jaquline, and Kimberly will be rotating “salesgirls” at the table!  Lucas and Thea will be entertaining others (most likely Grandma & and friends who stop by) and I’m sure Kimberly, Jaquline, Jillian, Lucas, and Anastasia will be familiar faces for everyone monitoring a child’s activity!

There will be an obstacle course to watch – many teams have already signed up, it is amazing!

There is other live entertainment, vendors, bounce houses, information booths, food trucks, and raffles!  All of this will be supporting the Alpha Omega Charities!

Our table gives 50% of what we make plus usually, the girls give all of their “tip jar” money!

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Come enjoy an awesome family fun day at Francis Field, downtown Saint Augustine, Florida on April 27, 2019 between 10am to 8pm!  (We will be there all day, please find us and chat!)  Oh yes, your kiddos will definately sleep well afterward!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later… (And see you on Saturday!)

~Nancy Tart

A Good Morning

April 14, 2019

A Good Morning

One of the neatest things about working lately has been the amazing cuisine at my house!  Louis has this amazing talent for cooking.  Anything he touches is amazing.

One morning this past week, when Louis came in from work, he couldn’t sleep so he made the most amazing breakfast… I chatted with him as I nursed Thea and he rolled out dough.  We could already smell the amazing cinnamon and butter.

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The warm aroma wafting from a giant pan of cinnamon rolls woke everyone!

Louis’ alarm went off as the girls started hopping into the kitchen.  (His alarm is epic, it’s Mandisa’s “Good Morning!”)

Warm, yummy food, laughing, smiling company, and fun, encouraging music made an excellent start to an amazing day!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Valentines Silliness

From my teenager’s claim of the “real holiday” to Becky’s video silliness… a fun post with links.

February 14, 2019

Valentines Silliness

It’s Valentine’s Day.

My girls are busy playing and giggling in the playroom (well, we could technically call it “studying videography,” “creating scripts,” and “video editing,” but that’s homeschool thoughts lol).

What would they be making a video about?

Becky comes out as I finish an amazing lunch (Louis made baby back ribs, corn on the cob, and French fries… and his food is so good!  We did save the busy girls a few ribs… maybe) wearing a huge grin and holding the “play phone” (it has the best video editing software but is one of Louis’ old phones from his work).

They have spent an hour, maybe more, creating a 24 second video with dolls and candy hearts… and the “surprise ending” – which, if you know Becky’s sense of humor, it is not really a surprise.  It is funny.  See it here… (They are “Toy Acts” on YouTube).

“Mom, it took us like 30 minutes to figure out how to work the hearts!”

“Engineering,” Kimberly laughed.

At this, Louis and I laughed too… they are just as crazy as we are.  “Not exactly,” I take a breath, “did you do paperwork as well?”

“Oh yeah,” Becky grins, “we did real school on this holiday.”

“This holiday is only for married people so kids should do school period,” voices Christina (the teenager… go figure).

“All schools, everywhere?” Jaquline sighs, “I did math and language but I thought I could take a break from history.”

So Louis decides we are going to learn about the American adoption of Valentine’s Day as a holiday… (typical home school decision)

Christina, who is going to babysit, hitches a ride with me to work (my gym is closer to her client than our house).  We have Kimberly (she’s going to spend the night with a cousin) with us and the car conversation circles around the baby Guinea Pigs and how Valentine’s Day is seriously only for married couples.  (Christina is still debating this to no one else, as no one else is arguing otherwise.)

“Seriously,” Christina says, “the real holiday is February 15th, when all the candy is half-off.”

Okay, that one I will totally agree with!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Movie Thoughts: Happy Feet

When you look for the good… you will find it! One point of view (review) of a movie we discussed.

December 5, 2018

Movie Thoughts: “Happy Feet”

We were watching a movie the girls got from the library.  In this movie, the hero is searching for why his people are starving, the elders don’t like his “different ways” and command him to stop so that their “God” will restore the food supply, and the hero refuses so is “kicked out” by the elders.  On his quest, he discovers another predator is taking their food and appeals to them to bring back the food using his “different ways” and since this is so uncharacteristic of his people, the other predators try to fix the problem (and they end up fixing it).

I’d heard mixed review about this movie.  Some said it was a “cute little movie” and had some adult humor, yes (I will say; the use of older classic songs and caricatures of famous singers from the previous generations’ era is neat).

One of the most common negatives I heard was that it was sacrilegious and projects a negative view of authority.  Check and check from one point of view.

But there’s the other point of view.  The one my kids came up with.  (I’m a homeschool mom who loves to find teaching moments in everything… so we usually discuss movies after watching them.  I choose to use these discussions to teach literature basics – analyze, review, react.  Everyone is involved and gets to support or debate the others’ summary.  We “review” songs, movies, stories, and even cartoons.)

This is what they got from “Happy Feet:”

  • Mumble was born with the difference because God (represented in the movie by “the Great Guin”) knew that the humans were taking too much fish and that something different would be the only way for the humans to take notice of one animal.
  • The reason Mumble has the encounter with the birds is to cause his curiosity to spike and him to believe that the “aliens” have a “better nature” and want to fix things.
  • This is why he is not discouraged by discovering that the humans are taking all the fish and left a sea of trash (even though one of his buddies is almost strangled by said trash) – rather he is determined to ask them to stop. He believes they are good-natured.
  • Rather than Mumble’s “fancy feet” being something against the “Great Guin,” it was the plan of the “Great Guin” for Mumble to be different, catch the human’s eye, and cause them to fix the problem they caused.
  • My girls believe this movie shows how God prepares unexpected people to do great things in often unexpected ways. It champions determination, the beauty of our differences, honesty, and love.

That is what I like to see when I watch it too.  Overly simplistic?  Maybe, but then simplicity is often the outlook of most children and sometimes the simple is used to confound the wise.  I pray my children will always “look for the good” in people, movies, songs, stories, and life so that they will find it.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

Reset, Again

Resetting the brain of a PS2 inspires me… really?

November 10, 2018

Reset, Again

In the last blog (Proper Burial) I mentioned that Rebeccah likes to tinker with stuff.  She often fixes electronics when we think they are broken.

She had our playstation 2 unit scattered apart on the table (for the 5th time).  After hours and her final conclusion of “I have no clue what’s wrong with this thing!” she decided it was truly trash.

She always puts the garbage electronics back together like they were supposed to be – search me as to why (maybe because I once told her that sometimes resetting something was all it needed to come back to life) but she claims “a proper burial” for broken electronics is with the item totally back together.

So after Rebeccah put the Playstation 2 console back together for its “proper burial,” it now works.  (It was bought used and had a short since day one, sometimes the CD tray got stuck, and lately it would just choose to die.)  For days, that console has been working great.  She reset it back to “original” after cleaning every part in it and it has new life!

I’ve been considering that for some time.

Sometimes God wants us to close the doors on something old and leave it buried.  Sometimes he wants us to reset it.  Maybe what we’re resetting isn’t so much the item as it is our way of thinking.

The playstation console’s brain just needed all the dust cleaned out, everything disconnected and reconnected, and the source of power reset.  Yes, this was the 5th time!

Maybe we need to allow God to reset the way we think – clean all the garbage out of our brain and connect all the synapses to what we’re supposed to think about (remember, whatever is good, just, lovely, think on these things?) instead of dwelling on misfires like our failures… hmm.

Is that a lot to think about because I saw the inside of a playstation brain cleaned and now it works?  Maybe.  But I like to analyze things… maybe I analyze stuff too much.

I try to allow God to renew my mind daily.  (He says each new day is fresh in Him.)  Thinking about the things I see in life (like a silly piece of electronics) working according to God’s design helps me think that all things obey God.  (I know, silly, but if it helps me be encouraged, maybe it will help someone else!)

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

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