Tag: people

Life Goals

December 28, 2022

Life Goals

I continually reevaluate my “life goals,” if you want to call them that.  

Core has always been to love Jesus, pass that on to everyone I can touch, and show love when I can.  The additions have changed a little:

Pre-twenties, I wanted to be a wife, mother, and teacher.  Did that.  Am living that.

Twenties to mid-thirty: The only earthly thing I wanted for my children was a home they all grew up in and family roots.  I failed at that. Life teaches you lessons and you hope to pass on the results so they don’t fall into the same trap.

Thirty-three and beyond, I only want my children to love Jesus in a true life-long relationship; I’ve learned that everything in life beyond relationships is just temporary.  

Lately, my older children have made comments in passing that really cut to my heart.  The first year I didn’t unwrap a gift from you.  (Her gifts were too large to wrap & smaller things were in her stocking.)  Wow, they’ve lived there like 12 years, that would never be us.  (We did have a home for 14 years, just moved to two different places during that ownership to help other people for seasons.)  You don’t give me stuff like the other girls’ moms.  (No, I can’t give anyone a brand new car as they get their license, a new laptop, the latest phone, gaming systems, etc.  I provide you with opportunities to save for those things and decide their value yourself.)

Those things and other assorted in passing comments have made me delve into self-examination for the past couple of months.  I can’t talk to my Daddy about it, praying feels one-way, a memory pops up of Louis’ accident last year and the days of challenges and miracles, I feel like I’ll never dig us out into property that is our home (though I keep reminding my doubt that I left that in God’s hands, the doubt keeps trying to come in), people I know whose children I know are dying from poison, I pray daily for those I know who are affected: my life feels useless as I feel like I can’t do much for anyone.

This morning I saw the evidence of a life well lived.  My entire perspective changed. 

There was a young woman in a beautiful wedding dress beaming a smile holding onto the arm of an elegant man in a suit.  Their faces shone with love.  The photo was a portrait size and in black and white; aged scores of years. You could feel their love.  Two candles on either side of the little table below the portrait.  Mementos and memories on the table; he had passed away before her.  It reminded me of my mother’s tribute shadowbox for my Daddy.  Her home was full of framed pictures: children and grandchildren in various smiles and grins.  A few in the midst of laughter – those cherished candid photos that you keep even if they aren’t the best quality.  Worn rocker.  Stockings.  A Christmas tree.  An open Bible.  Her faith and the relationships she had cultivated radiated from each well-worn book, devotional, and study guide on that little bookshelf. My writer’s brain wondered how many of those books she or her husband had bought and then passed around. How many grandchildren had heard stories from that Children’s Bible with the bent binding?  Children told her goodbye: that they loved her, they didn’t want her to leave, that they would see her later in heaven, one told her to give daddy a kiss from her.  

That is a life well-lived.  

Her children loved her enough to keep taking care of her at home; like Mom did for Grandma Jeanette.  Don’t ever put me in a nursing home.  Because of love, they sacrificed and made it happen that they cared for mom at her home so she could die in peace.  Her face showed that peace.  

That is a life well-lived. 

I was so overwhelmed with emotion for that wonderful woman I didn’t know.  Grandma Jeanette told me once to “live with no regrets” which I also remember from the lady who gave me my first cookbook.  She’d been married four times and raised five boys.  Her life story was how to gather things and make stews and build add-ons to her house and save people from storms on the lake.  Her sons all passed on her faith; I played with her grandchildren and they were the first group of children I’d met who talked about Jesus like a close friend like my family did.  She wrote “God will bless your life, let Him lead,” in my cookbook cover (I was 7 years old).  She died shortly after at 90-something.  

That is a life well-lived. 

Live with no regrets.  Love without reservation.  

My goal is to allow my children to see Jesus through me, to trust Him in everything, to do my absolute best to shine His love wherever I can.  

Life doesn’t have to be long to be well-lived.  I consider the life I’ve already lived to be amazing.  I thank God for each day He’s given me.  For the challenges we’ve overcome as a family, for the health miracles which are the reason my babies and I are here, for the protection over my daughters’ hearts as they allow it, for the relationships we have with each other.  Those I’ve known for seasons who are friends like sisters and brothers in my heart.  Growing those relationships as best I can even when life is “too busy” and time is challenging; that is a goal. 

Live with no regrets.  Love without reservation. 

I was 12, she was a beautiful frail girl with a rapturous joy of life and Jesus and family when we met her.  She shared her love with everyone without caring what they thought.  If someone stared at her bald head, she would approach them and say, hi, how are you today? And try to show them love and happiness.  She came to our house probably because we treated her and her sister just like we treated anyone else; we played with them, swang with them, took them for canoe rides, fished on the shore while she braided flowers, played with our chickens and dogs together, told stories to each other, and otherwise enjoyed life.  She lost her battle with cancer shortly afterward, but I couldn’t cry.  She was home with Jesus like she talked about all the time.  She told us we had to still play with Danielle.  As long as we lived there, we did.  I still love Erica and Danielle like they were my own sisters; since we were sisters in the faith, we are sisters. 

That is a life well-lived. 

He was his sisters’ baby doll.  He protected everyone.  He was loved by everyone.  He knew who needed to hear and in turns shared his faith and struggles and love with them.  His smile told you everything you needed to know; he was genuine.  He died protecting those he cared about.  His legacy is the love and relationships left in the hearts of those he loved and who loved him; and the relationships they created when coming to celebrate his life.  He was my brother’s friend.  His family and mine were intertwined in so many relationships through many seasons of our lives.  

That is a life well-lived. 

My perspective shifted.  It set me back on the track that my brain keeps trying to veer me off of.  My true life goal is to shine with Jesus’ light: to make strong relationships, to build into people, to share my faith, to encourage others, to help when I can, to do my very best to love as Jesus does.  And in Jesus’ time, when my story on Earth is finished, I will go home and those I love will see a life well-lived. 

Right now, I’m living my life well-lived!

Thank you for reading!

Type at you next time!

~Nancy Tart

Exploring Big Sister’s Campus

I love watching the younglings do something new; why I love just walking and exploring. We can always find something to enjoy when we slow down and ignore the overbearing stresses of life. Take a break. Make yourself take a break.

Exploring Big Sister’s Campus

Throwback Story from (October 24, 2021)

I am sitting with Thea at the side of a pool on the Embry-Riddle campus because we chose to ride down with Christina for her Sunday afternoon flight block.  Thea is laughing at pictures “Anastasia and the Bunny-Bear” from Easter at gym.  (The Bunny-Bear is the Easter Bunny outfit Jaquline & Kimberly wore.)  “The Bunny-Bear loves my gymnastics!” Thea says and laughs.

She jumps around; we’ve already walked the campus and she’s pointed out “safe” lizards (I told her here the lizards are not allowed to be chased) and flowers and bumble bees and honeybees and “boys and girls at Christina’s school.”  She’s asked me almost everyone’s name.  “What’s that boy’s name?” “Who is that girl?” “Are they all Christina’s friends at school?” (She goes to gym-school and all of those participants are her friends, so she assumes everyone at the school you go to are your friends.)

After listening to my stressed-out teenagers discussing life in the early afternoon, I’m convinced I didn’t do a great job of teaching them how to enjoy life and be grateful for the moment they are in.  Sometimes that is really, really hard.  Sometimes life’s circumstances don’t seem good.  Sometimes it’s hard to be grateful – but you have to!  I usually feel like I’m enjoying what I am in.  I am grateful for the life I have; I love my family, my job, my church – those are the important things!  I am so happy for the amazing things God keeps doing in our lives!

Christina and her educational journey is a continuing story of how God keeps answering prayers!

I’m so thankful for the people God has put and keeps putting in the path of my teenagers and young children through church, gym, and friendships.  Becky has learned so much from the mentors in her life.  Kimberly has positive role models who keep encouraging her. 

Our journey has been full of ups and downs like any life story.  We have to find the positive and focus on that.  Like right now.  Thea is running around on the “Water-bridge” after touching the “scary man” (metal statue of Wilber Wright) tentatively.  She’s singing something I can’t figure, likely made up, and I’m typing. 

Perfect contentment while exploring the strange surroundings that are Christina’s school.  I’m sure I’ll hear lots of stories about the man, the critters, and the “boys and girls” she discovered. 

I love watching the younglings do something new; why I love just walking and exploring.  We can always find something to enjoy when we slow down and ignore the overbearing stresses of life.  Take a break.  Make yourself take a break. 

Enjoy the slow down.

It makes life more fun!

Type at you later!

~Nancy Tart

Judgments

What do you instantly presume based on a look? This cup, for example:

January 7, 2021

Judgments

It starts with this cup:

Judgement – instantly you either love or hate me, but you also immediately assume I spent $3 to $5 on the “coffee” I’m drinking.

Actually, I’ve never bought Starbucks. This cup? Well, I’m love my meal shake “cafe latte” hot and I’m a mom so that means 10x trips to the microwave… this cup’s predecessor two years ago was green and white and was perfect for the serving size and microwavable!! I hate waste. That green and white cup was destined for the trash… I saved it, sanitized it, and used it for almost 14 months. This cup was also someone else’s discarded trash.

Now, knowing that, you are either grossed out that I take trash, wash it, and claim it, saying “better you than me,” or you are applauding my penny-pinching way of getting exactly what I want and saving the landfill at the same time.

Isn’t it crazy how we judge?

Someone in the food bank line driving a really sweet immaculate older model Jaguar wearing a tailored suit jacket, $400 eyeglass frames, and a Rolex. You can choose to judge, “what is he here for?” or “he could sell the car (watch, frames, jacket) for money,” or whatever thought because you feel he shouldn’t be there.

Step in his shoes. Did you know he’s a former businessman whose life savings went into a dream business in fall of 2019 – just a small operation that employed 27 people. His jacket? It’s the same one he wore to his retirement party years ago. He has sold all the others. His eyeglass frames? Those were his late wife’s. He gets his prescription put in them for sentimental reasons. His Rolex look-alike? Inscribed with “to my love; come home safe; Christmas 1969” he received it in the spring of 1970 in Vietnam. His car? He takes care of it and cleans it himself – he’s had it for 22 years. The dealership won’t even give him $500 for it without locking him into a new loan he can’t afford; it is a cheap used car. He chooses to keep his employees at work but is falling deeper and deeper in debt so yes, he stretches his food budget with the weekly box from the food bank.

Have you ever read “To Kill a Mockingbird?” That book is an excellent tool for teaching you how to always treat everyone with kindness and consideration. Atticus teaches his children, and the reader, how not to make hasty judgments. Jem actually judges people and in his thoughts and conversations with Scout, he professes what Scout is thinking; they learn how their quick surface judgments are most often wrong.

Since I’ve read that book as a youngster, I decided to leave the judging to God. I strive to treat everyone with kindness. I strive to kick the judgmental thoughts from my mind before they affect my heart or bleed into my words.

Another great book for that end is “The Shack.”

In both instances I referenced, the book is far more poignant than the film, but the films do a decent job of getting the point across.

Treat others with kindness. Leave the judging to God. He alone knows the heart. Can our sour swift judgments harm? Yes. If we are to be the feet and hands of Jesus, we also need to speak his words to others and in our own hearts. When we allow own hearts to be poisoned by our own sour thoughts we allow ourselves to make hasty judgments, in turn we make poor decisions and usually harm others. We are putting a stumbling block in front of them! This is not how we are supposed to love.

As parents, we also need to avoid making hasty judgments about our children. We may know their hearts, sure. But what good can come of judging without listening? Always ask. Always talk. Always be available for them to speak to you. Your children do know your heart based on what you have shown them during their life – they need you to be a safe place for them to express feelings and emotions and speak troubles. This needs to start from the beginning and continue even when it is hard.

My father was always open where I could talk about anything with him. He guided me through dating and the first few weeks of engagement, he encouraged me to search for character traits, gave me logical wisdom as I relayed scenarios and answers, and offered questions for me to ask that led my fiancé and I into deep discussions where we discovered each other’s hearts. We came to understand our religious, political, family, and deep convictions through soul-baring conversation and intimately know each other.

I am forever thankful for the few months of guidance that led me to understand my future husband. I wanted to be someone my children could come talk to without fear, like my father had. I hope my children always understand that my love for them will never change. I will try to guide them. I will listen. I always try to listen first. I have a fix-it mentality though, which makes it a struggle to just listen when I care about someone and want to help them.

I have to learn, still, that people don’t always want help. They want ears to listen to their heart.

This is treating others with kindness.

Avoiding preconceived judgments (back to my iconic cup).

Listening without judging.

Praying before speaking.

Hearing without repeating (aka no gossiping).

Loving as Christ does.

If I am to be His hands and feet, I need to be his ears and mouth as well. I need to leave judging to God.

(Hope this encourages you as much as writing it encouraged me.)

~Type at you later.

~Nancy Tart

Life is Risk

May 26, 2020

Life is Risk

Life is risky. How many people get out alive? (I’ve heard that from two sources this week, and it got me thinking…)

Our goal since the beginning of time has been to build this net of safety around our family to allow our offspring to grow in relative peace – to be fruitful and multiply.  How we each define peace greatly fluctuates based on our culture, time, and prosperity.

Think through culture and time.  Isn’t relative safety for her offspring the goal of every mother who ever lived?

Imagine Eve carrying her children outside of the garden.  Even though animals were still peaceful then, there were dangers that had arisen.  I wonder if she lamented over what was lost or considered her time peaceful.

Imagine being one of Noah’s daughters in law.  You grew up in a time when every step you took was surrounded by evil and except for the tiny oasis of your husband’s family unit you felt scared to go anywhere.  You couldn’t go home.  Now you are post-flood and raising your children in a world where peace is your constant – except for the new storms.  How thankful you are to be in such peace!

Imagine you are a Jewish mother raising her children under Roman occupation.  The slightest whim of a passing legion, an unruly governor, insane emperor, or a bandit troupe can take your harsh living conditions and twist them into certain death.  How do you dare to plan for the future when you know only scattered moments of peace?  When the odds are that maybe 20% of the village’s children will live to maturity?  One in five of your children will die before adulthood – how can we in this culture fathom this?

Imagine you are an orphan whose parents both perished in a famine and you were lucky to have been taken in by another family instead of doomed to die or languish into the horrid world of child slavery.  You are second class in your home with little hope of being more than a worker paid in room and board, but at least you are not starving. You fear famine and disease, ugly monsters who still stare in the windows of your village hungrily; where can you find peace?

Think of stories. Fiction, non-fiction, legends, lore. Don’t most of these follow someone who chooses to do something risky to help others, find an answer, discover a cure, or save someone or something they love? Risk-takers. Once I read, and many times have heard quoted, “in order to live, you have to take risks.” Honestly, what activity doesn’t come with risk?

Across times, across cultures, across this world, what we in the “first world” countries of the twenty-first century know as peace is something most people who have come before us would have thought at heaven.  Consider that in most places and times in the world, the thought that you will see all of your children become adults is rare.  We are in shock at this?  There are people even today who live in cultures where lack of medicines, inadequate nutrition, and the possibility of becoming collateral damage in a conflict are normal.

A hundred years ago, the simple concept of sanitation was so unknown to the majority that we can’t understand.  People dying of fevers and botulism without medical assistance? Do we even hear of food poisoning in our comfortable first-world culture?  Rarely.  Once upon a time importing unknown food products into new markets such as potatoes into England resulted in thousands of deaths because people ate the wrong parts of the plant!  We don’t hear of that often, do we?

When we consider breathing air too risky to take a walk for exercise, I consider my life not worth living.  I want to live.  I want to take risks.  I drive in a car to get to and from work – great risk is involved in that.  I want my children to enjoy the green growing outside.  I want them to run freely, love deeply, play with neighbors, and live.  I live by the same code I always have: I trust that God will decide my time and I will live my life to show my passion through everything I do.  I will not avoid stopping to help someone with their flat tire because she isn’t wearing a mask.  I will offer help.  I will not dampen my offers of help, comfort, food, or a listening ear because of some sickness – I would still talk about Jesus if it was illegal.  Why would I not show His love?  I choose not to be fearful.  I am so blessed to live in a place where the gunshot wound that killed Lincoln could now be healed, cojoined twins sharing a brain can be safely separated, babies born at 20 weeks can be nurtured to full strength; medical miracles have come from our increased knowledge in nutrition, anatomy, biology, and sanitation… and so much more. 

I will not be afraid.  I have always washed my hands, changed clothes when coming in from work, washed and changed after visiting someone who was sick, cleaned my food, and kept my home and family clean.  I understand that we have tools to keep us healthy.  The rest is up to God.  If I am to hide from this fear, why not from the fear of every other disease that circulates?  Why not hide in my home away from items I am allergic to?  Why not hide from the fear of getting in a fatal car accident? 

I refuse to allow fear to control my life!  For you have not been given the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. ~ 2 Timothy 1:7

I understand being cautious.  If you have a preexisting co-morbidity, you probably already keep yourself distant from possible infections that would aggravate your condition.  You do not go out in public without taking precautions.  The responsibility of your own health is on you, not everyone else around you.  No one understands your personal strengths and weaknesses better than you. You are weighing your risks.

But I am willing.  I am willing to take the risk of driving to work, the risk of walking into the farmer’s market, the risk of hugging my neighbor, the risk of helping a woman with a flat tire, the risk of adopting a new pet, the risk of living. 

This choice is one each person in each culture, stage, time, and place must make for themselves.  If you choose to live without fear, you must understand and accept the risks.  Just as you understand that a person may deny your offer of help, they may not wish to go out of their home, the may wish to keep everyone around them ten feet away.  That is each person’s choice. 

Learn. Read. Question.  We have more access to more knowledge than ever before. Research. Then make up your own mind and take the risks you are willing to take. 

Only a relative handful of people choose to research a mountain, outfit themselves, and climb to the summit; the risks are great – they could even die!  But when they reach the summit, the rush they get from their massive accomplishment usually makes them enthusiastic to begin planning a new mountain climb before they have even returned to base.

You must accept the risks of life to truly live.  I choose not to live in fear.

Thank you for Reading!

Type at you next time,

~Nancy Tart

He Walked With God

He Walked With God

February 25, 2020

In our church Sunday, the pastor spoke about how Enoch was one of his heroes because he was remembered as one who “Walked with God” by faith. I thought about that.

In my life, there are several people no longer here whose legacy includes: “they walked with God.”

Am I living my life so that part of my legacy will be: “She walked with God?”

What does walking with God look like right now?

My translation is that it means we communicate openly with God. We listen as well as speak when we pray. We remember to ask God’s direction in everything in life – jobs, moves, vehicles, routes for the day, etc. We have a type of open communication where we speak to God as if He were a very close friend. Don’t you have friends whose advice you seek out when making decisions? God should be primary in such things.

One of the ladies I was privileged to know once told me that she “breathed in God every morning to start her day off right.” She woke at 5am every day and had her coffee outside on her little porch or in her garden. She talked about God like He was a very close friend. All of her stories included “so after praying,” “after discussing it with God,” “well, I asked God but it wasn’t what I wanted to hear,” etc. She lived life full and open. She was far from perfect, but she wanted to be as godly a woman as she could be.

She ran her race and finished strong.

Examine your heart and see: are you in a close friendship with Jesus? Would you say that you ask His advice first? How do you interpret “walking with God?” Are there mentors or friends in your life, here or in heaven, who you would say “walked with God?”

Thousands of years after he died, Methuselah is remembered for having the longest recorded life, but Enoch, who lived about 1/3 of the standard lifespan at his time, is remembered for “Walking With God.”

What will you be remembered for?

Thank you for reading,

Type at you next time!

~Nancy Tart

Pondering in My Heart

My pregnancy brain thoughts about Mary in her culture and her time – and how it relates to us in our time.

December 24, 2018

Pondering in My Heart

It’s Christmas Eve.

Usually, at this time, my mind overflows with thoughts about Mary, Jesus’ mother.  I think about her boldness when she says “let it be to me as you have said.”  I think about how the Bible always adds this little line after something she hears or watches; “and Mary pondered this in her heart.”

I especially feel empathy over the Christmases when I’ve been pregnant.  (2009 and 2011 when my babies came a few days into the new year were very busy with my pondering… so much that I wrote a children’s story about Jesus’ birth one of those years!)  This year, my little blessing is due to show up in about eight or ten weeks.

I like to study the culture of the person I’m trying to study: the historical significance of their world, the turmoil they faced, the cultural norms that differ from what we have today.   These little details help me to step into their shoes and wiggle my toes around. I like to imagine what it would have been like to be Mary, likely between 12 and 14 years old, among her Jewish community controlled by an Empirical Roman government when highways were roamed by soldiers and bandits, family and community were everything (so doing something against the community would have been horrid), and the talk of sedition (rebellion) was strong and swiftly crushed.  I wonder about her life: her childhood, her struggles as a parent, wife, and community member.  I remember that when she said “let it be unto me…” she was just a normal girl allowing God to use her.

She was like any one of us.

She had to humble herself before God and she doubted; as she even said, “but how can this be…” questioning the miracle before agreeing to be part of it.

She must have been a logical thinker like me.  “…pondered this in her heart…” That is what I do all the time.  Whether or not I speak, write, or pray about it, I think about everything that God surprises me with in life.  I want to put the puzzle together, but realize that God knows far more than me so I relax and resign myself to just “pondering” (thinking) and praying about what I don’t understand.

I love how the Bible uses real, authentic people.  People just like you and me are scattered in every story.  Every one of them has doubts, challenges, questions, obstacles, and life choices just like us.  Every one of them must make their own decisions, just like us.

We like to think of them in their glory – after they’ve moved to where they are in victory.  We remember David killing Goliath, Samson destroying the false temple, Mary as Jesus’ mother at or after his birth, Peter evangelizing, Paul traveling all over the known world, etc.  But each of them started as a normal person who had to make his or her own active choice to give of themselves and allow God to take the lead.

During Christmastime when I’m constantly rereading the story of Jesus’ birth to my children, I’m reminded that I have to humble myself and allow God to continually take control in my life so I can be and do what God has planned for me.  I encourage you to give God control over every aspect of your life – He designed you, He knows you best!  He knows the desires of your heart and sometimes you may not even know them yourself!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Thankfulness

Time to reflect: thankfulness

November 21, 2018

Thankfulness

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow is also my 16th wedding anniversary!

The time leading up to Thanksgiving is when I usually reflect on the amazing things that God has done for us.  I often start with how every move in my life led to new experiences that helped build who I am – and the time I wrote in my journal “I’ll move with them one last time.”

That was to Saint Augustine when I was 18.

Just after that move (January 2002) I went to a family reunion where every adult teased me about not having a boyfriend (had never dated) and I remember replying with “in God’s time it will happen.” It was an awesome fun time where I met many relatives and learned many stories about my late grandparents.

January 2003, one year later, I was married, carrying our first child, and working in the town where my husband’s family had lived for generations.  The roots I’d wanted as a child I married into.  I instantly had two amazing grandmothers.  Grandma Jeannette taught me amazing things like crochet and canning food and cooking or preserving local Florida produce.  I loved learning by her side.  Grandma Honey had the most fascinating stories of Cracker life as a young girl and her journey as a mother, wife, and artist (she painted amazing landscapes).

If I had planned my life (as I did in notebooks since being ten years old) it would not have included a 4-month courtship.  I always planned on “knowing someone” for years – generally all the way through 6 or 8 years of university – before marrying.  God had other plans.

I didn’t plan on immediately getting pregnant – married in November and baby’s beautiful face is framed in our wedding cake topper on our first anniversary photo.   God had other plans.

We both planned on having a big family, but then our naïve thoughts of “big” were relative to the world around us – he thought 7 like his grandparents, I thought 7 like my parents.  We agreed early on that we’d let God decide our family size.  I don’t think either of us were truly thinking we’d ever be blessed with 7, maybe 3 or 5; maybe, and that would be “big.”  God had other plans.

Our little blessing growing within me now was totally not “according to plan” as I’d gotten sick and we’d decided it wasn’t a prudent time to start new life.  God laughed; this little one was already growing.  And the hormonal imbalance caused by my reaction to multiple medications which my research said would take 18 to 24 months to reset, was reset by the pregnancy within 5 months.  Although we thought we were planning well, God had other plans.

I love how my life didn’t go according to my “plans” – and I’ve kept diaries since I was ten, so I can look back at plans I made.  I didn’t stop making plans, I am a planner and organizer by nature, but I so love it when God’s plan intervenes and “surprise” life things happen.  I love God’s plans and how they are so different (sometimes) from my “plans” but so reflect my true heart.

From little things like my future sister and I working at the same place at the same time without knowing each other to amazing life events like marriage and births; in each, I see God’s powerful hand.  I’m so thankful for His direction and for the wisdom to allow Him to lead me.

I’m thankful for the ability to keep our family sustained.

We’ve always had jobs.

When one door closes, God always had something else waiting in the wings for us.  Sometimes far different from what we expected, but still awesome.

I was at an interview and someone commented on the variety of jobs I’ve had (Software Developer, Customer Service aka Ride Operator, Bank Teller, Business Office Manager of a Skilled Nursing Facility, Co-owner & Manager of a Transportation Company) – I had to add my recent update to that list as I’m currently a Gymnastics Coach.  His question was what could I bring to this job (food retail)?  Well, each position has taught me new skills and the list proves I can learn anything.

This official job experience doesn’t list that I’m a published author of over 50 books in children’s, educational, and young adult genres!

It’s amazing to me that God found me a job where I can combine my love of teaching, physical fitness, and a childhood dream!  (Gymnastics Coach)  I love the environment in which I work and the people with which I have the privilege of working.  Someone said it’s a step down to go from business owner to working for another small business.  Nope.  Not at all.  I bring a work ethic with me where I understand the challenge of being a small business owner and I always work my job as if it’s my company – even far before I was a business owner.  Ask me, it’s “my gym” – just because I get to work there!

I’m thankful for all the steps along this life journey.  I’m thankful for the people I’ve met along the way.  I remember faces and some names – people like Mrs. Joy up the big hill when I was 8 in Eutawville, South Carolina who baked cookies with my sister and me and gave me my first cookbook.  I remember Grandma Jeanette telling me after I’d been married a year or so, “honey, you were going to be my granddaughter, no way out of it” because she had prayed for me after meeting me at church (before I met her grandson).  I’m thankful for mentors, family, and friends.

I’m thankful for all I see before me; God has been so gracious and generous to me and my family.  We’ve been blessed so very much.

Every time I reflect on the blessings God has given me, I am overcome with gratefulness.  I can’t help but whisper a prayer of thanks.  Even though we won’t be “coming together” for “thanksgiving dinner” on the actual Thursday this year, we’ll get together on a different day with family and celebrate our thanks!

I pray blessings on you and your family as we reflect on all that we can be thankful for!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Microscopic Giants

The mind of a fiction writer: microscopic giants marching off to war…

August 26, 2018

Microscopic Giants

“What kind of giants does God mean to fall by your hand?”

That question in church this morning instantly made a crazy mental picture.  I saw the mold spores that constantly attack my body and affect my breathing marching like microscopic Goliaths toward my lungs.

The words of the last praise song caught my mind, “This is how we battle… I may look surrounded but I am surrounded by You (God)…”

So in my mental picture, thousands of bright lights like electric flashes start shooting the microscopic Goliaths and keep them from my lungs.  I imagine my lungs are Elisha and God’s armies are fighting for me.  This is how we battle… with faith, prayer, hope, love; our worship.

Weird?  Silly?  A little of both.  But though it seems trite, it’s what I saw.  Sometimes overactive imaginations and cartoonish images are what God uses to remind us that He is bigger than anything.  It’s easy for me to trust in the big things, but how about realizing that God isn’t too big to take the time to destroy the things we think are microscopic in the grand scheme of things?  I am someone who is quick to think, “Lots of people deal with medical conditions that are far worse than this,” and I discount that my issue is not important enough for God.  Sometimes just because I can use medicines to manage my symptoms makes me think I should just deal with it.  So at times, I will relegate my issues to being microscopic in the scheme of the world.

What is important to us (and yes, breathing unaided is a very important thing to me!) is always important to God.  He says he knows the numbers of the hairs on our head… that in itself is awesome to me.

Thank you, God, for reminding me that You do care for all parts of us.  Thank you for this amazing life, for removing the shackles keeping us from dancing, for giving us hope, joy, and peace, and for giving us a wonderful community to be a part of!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

Any Book is Curriculum

April 14, 2018

Any Book is Curriculum

In our homeschool curriculum, we have base books that everyone has to go through.  These are standards like Arithmetic and Language Arts.

I add vocabulary workbooks to teach etymology.  Once etymology is learned, the student usually finds spelling and vocabulary far easier so only some use vocabulary or spelling workbooks.  The main way students continue learning spelling and vocabulary is along with writing assignments.

We have a base of standard History.  After the first book, we move to whatever textbook teaches a section in which they have an interest.  Any history book is accompanied by writing assignments at the end of each unit, chapter, or small book to recount what has been learned and how it compares with other texts.

Literature study usually coincides with history of an era or region.  I find  it fun to teach history as a story of  the people; which includes their writings, lifestyle, scientific achievements or lack thereof, and culture.

Basic science is usually learned hands-on in our house through the chemistry that can be found in the kitchen, biology learned from our animals, and physics discussed when someone trips on something or while building a new project.  Our final science books require a command of Algebra; these Biology, Chemistry, and Physics books set the foundation for and help with the transition into college learning.

But any book can be a part of a curriculum!

We’ve used novels and storybooks to write about and study culture.  We’ve used classic literature to teach etymology and practice translation.   We’ve used history books to build Lego cities.  We’ve used Lego sets to cross into history books and study culture.  We’ve used cookbooks to teach fractions, chemistry, and time management.   Any book a student reads can be turned into a book report, which requires practicing the skills of writing, grammar, and comprehension.

Therefore, we’ve discovered that any book can be incorporated into our home school curriculum with positive encouraging results!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Character Creation: The Funny Sisters

February 7, 2018

Creating Characters: The Funny Sisters

One thing I love about reading is meeting amazing characters!   I’ll be feeling the same betrayal and hopelessness that twists into revenge alongside David Balfour as he watches his uncle get smaller as his prison of a ship carries him into unknown waters. (Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped)  I’m puzzling out the mystery with Nancy Drew in dozens of fun chapter books – and I scream at Bess, “Don’t open that door!” but she doesn’t listen.  When the rough man beats and drags Buck into the cold shack, I’m crying and praying for his release. (Jack Loudon’s Call of the Wild) Vivid characters make a story real to me.

I’m one of those crazy readers who actually talks to her book people.  I think about them as real people even though I know they are fictional – and when I find (or raise!) another crazy reader, we can discuss these characters as if they were real people for hours!   (This makes for interesting conversation: I’ve been part of discussions about characters’ psychology and conjecture regarding how they would handle said modern situation.)

Because of my reading quirks, when I write, I want to create believable characters.  (And I’m a nut for continuity, so I was very irritated when my first publisher cut my ending ceremony and didn’t add my 13 error-correction edit!)  But that’s a story for another time.

My first step is to figure out who I’m writing for.  For example: “The Funny Sisters” Series.

The Funny Sisters Series began as a few fun stories for my daughters.  They wanted stories about sisters like them.  Each character reflects the distinctive traits of each girl at the time the series was started.

Tina is an avid reader who likes to try to lead her younger sisters.  She sometimes gets irritated, but usually laughs it off.  She ends up in all kinds of odd situations caused by her younger siblings.  Tina is bouncy, fun, and at the age where she is trying to be grown up but also loves to do goofy stuff with her sisters.

Becky, another character, doesn’t like to get up in the mornings.  She gets cold easily, laughs a lot, likes to tell jokes and make puns, loves animals, and makes up cool pretend games.  Becky gets mad at people sometimes.  She is a perfectionist and likes things to run smoothly.  Becky and Ellen have a special understanding because they are so alike.

Kim is rambunctious.  She almost never walks or seldom does anything slowly.  She runs.  She jumps.  She cartwheels.  She slides into the oven and pulls on the handle so it falls on top of her.  Kim has a boisterous personality.  Kim almost never gets mad at anyone.  Kim is friendly.  She laughs loud and lives life boldly.

Ellen’s quiet personality hides her inner dragon.  She is always thinking, always contemplating her next move, always observing everything around her.  She usually knows where everyone else is and what they are doing.   She carries a blankie. (This just had to be since Jaquline wouldn’t have the stories without her blankie-that-went-everywhere.)  Ellen is determined, thoughtful, and factual.  She says what she sees.

Jill is the baby of the family.  She’s a typical two-year-old who loves fun, dancing, running, and keeping her sisters and parents guessing as to her next demolition target.  Of course, she doesn’t mean to decimate things, she just sometimes does.  Jill would rather not wear clothes.  She loves to sing!

These characters interact together to create funny family situations.  Most are copied from real life.  (Some events in the books are exaggerated while some are toned-down!)  Once these books became a “for sale” series, each character was tweaked just a touch to make sure they could entertain various age groups.  They are made to be read-aloud like bedtime stories.  The inclusion of the spread of ages gives the Reader an ability to say, “she’s just about your age!”  The thread of clean humor is woven through to make these books fun for the Reader as well as the bedtime audience.

This is the simplest example of my character creation.  Each of my books or series has its own backstory: some were created to reach a specific audience and characters created to meet that need (Brantley Station Saga) while others were created around a character I liked (the Adventures of Long Tail) or a story I created characters around (Web of Deception).

I’ll write about the different character creation method I use at a later time!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

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