Category: FemmeFuel by Sasha Katz

Woman of the Month…Tina Yeager!

On By femmefuelIn FemmeInterviews by Sasha Katz, Transform YourselfLeave a comment

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I met Tina Yeager through her leadership position in a local foster care organization.  As I got o know her, I was impressed by her warm, professional manner and passion for serving the community.  As it turns out, like most of FemmeFuel writers and followers, she does the balancing act—Business Owner, Committed Mom, Christian Leader and Writer.  She is absolutely qualified to be our very interesting woman for January 2011.  I hope you enjoy her candid thoughts on femininity, relationships and being a single mom.  Feel free to post your comments and ask questions—she will be with us all week!  – AbbyA

AbbyA: What fuels the Godly woman?

Tina Yeager: The Godly woman is fueled by a desire to please the Lord.  Instinctively, we dedicate our lives to nurturing those around us.  As mothers, we spend endless hours on homework, laundry and taking care of the daily basics such as homework, meals, baths, prayer and even discipline. As women, I feel giving back to the less fortunate and raising children who understand and walk in true relationship with Jesus is what the Lord is calling us to do.  Each day, as we grow closer to the Lord, we are able to make wiser and wiser decisions and avoid the self-gratifying and self-serving decisions which give us that instant gratification we so craved as non-Christian women.

I pray Psalm 51:10 frequently: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Even in my early days of serving the Lord, I struggled with allowing God to fuel my desires versus worldly desires guided by my own emotions.  I have made so many mistakes in the past because I didn’t understand spiritual warfare and the need for putting on the full armor of God as described in Ephesians 6:10-18.  Now what fuels me is knowing that I helped someone in need, seeing my friends come to Christ and even sharing my testimony with others so that they understand what redemption means and that Jesus loves us despite of ourselves.  Although my struggles were many, with God’s Grace, Love and Strength, I am able to live in victory—knowing that the women I share with, gain hope and strength from learning this about me, fuels me to continue on my mission.

What is my mission?  1) To help women and children overcome abuse, neglect and hardship;  2) To teach them that, if we surrender our hurts and pasts to the Lord, choose to let go of them, forgive others and press forward, anything is possible with Jesus in us.

We simply have to truly surrender and not let Satan control our thoughts, emotions or decisions in any way.  This comes not from just being a Christian, but from true relationship with God.  Many women do not understand what true relationship means because we were never shown what healthy relationships looked like as children.  True relationship means simply spending time with the Lord every day (sometimes minute-by-minute), talking, listening, reading His Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us in all decisions.

When we make a decision, do we ask Jesus his opinion or do we simply make the decision and then pray that He will bless it?  See the difference?  I didn’t, for many years.  I am fueled and fired up for Jesus and sharing Him with others.   How about you?  What fuels you?

Tina Yeager has been an RN for 18 years and the CEO/owner of Ocean to Ocean Healthcare since 1995. She has been nominated for “Business Woman Of The Year” by the South Florida Business Journal. Tina is currently chair of the development council for 4Kids of South Florida, an organization committed to meeting the needs of foster care children. She is also active in a community outreach endeavor that benefits The Boys and Girls Club of Broward County. This endeavor is called “Dunn’s Run”. Tina sits as the chairperson for this annual community event where proceeds go directly to The Boys and Girls Club, and is also a corporate board member and chair of the volunteer committee.

The True, Eternal Time Keeper

On By femmefuelIn Best of Sasha Katz, FemmeFeatures by Sasha Katz, Transform Yourself3 Comments

imageBy AbbyA

Time.  There have been times in my life when I planned ahead.  I planned for who I would be and in what time of my life I would be “her.”  I planned for things like becoming a Supreme Court Justice and for being a stay at home mom.  I planned for a wedding before I had a date.  I planned for walking the red carpet in a very, large fancy dress to a charity gala in which I had raised a lot of funds.  I remember planning to be famous when I was four – – I insisted on wearing a night gown to school fancying myself to be different, and therefore, famous.  I planned on famous again when I was twelve making my brother take a video of me ballet dancing – – of course, the video would capture the priceless dancing of the young woman before her upcoming fame.  I always had something quite big in store for myself.  But in the deepest part of my heart, I often felt very small.

Time.  It is the planning ahead that minimizes the ups and maximizes the downs of this life.  I will have you know that I am neither a Supreme Court Justice nor a stay at home mom.  It is the planning ahead that later causes us to “discover” we have fallen short, taken a wrong turn or missed the mark altogether.  I have never worn a large, fancy dress anywhere (except to prom).  The calculation of time judges our understanding of our successes and failures.  And, finally, I am not famous.  The circling of numbers measures you.  It measures you.  How are you holding up under the weight of time?

Time.  The digital glow that gets you up.  The tick tock that pushes you out.  Alarm dings for when to leave, who to call, where to meet.  Married by thirty?  Boy and girl?  Keep trying.  Either way, get it done by thirty-five.  Did you have them potty trained by two? Were they reading by five?  Mortgage to pay by the tenth.  Kids to pick up by three.  Mouths to feed by six.  Work begins, work ends.  Client I missed?  Who can I text while I am waiting in line?  Grocery list?  Who will I call to set plans straight?  Efficient or not.  Behind or ahead.  You’re middle-aged by forty.

Time.  Feeling quite small under its suppression?  Mind you, it’s temporary.  There is a time not too far ahead of this temporal place.  Eternity.  Where there is no time.  Where a day is a thousand years and a thousand years is a day.  Where we arrive as the completed “her” without any planning ahead.  Where we wear large, fancy dresses and are quite famous in His eyes.  Where the depth of the mind and the sweetness of the soul replace the ticking of the clock.  Where we will be thriving in the light rather than striving in the shadow of time.

Time.  If you can catch the “what you planned” without fine sieving it through the net of time, you will find a few jewels.  You will find that you may have attended a gala event in lovely navy pants for a cause in which you raised some money.  You will find that God did not plan for you to be a Supreme Court Justice, but a lawyer and a very good mom.  You will find that feeling quite small is a reminder of the very big unfailing love that the Father has for you.

Time.  You will find that planning ahead is a journey in which time is not a marker or a judge.  You will find that planning ahead is about subject matter and substance.  It is about building a life and not a list.  It is about establishing principles and surrendering failures.  It is about coming home after being far away.  It is about a map that takes on many forms, but always brings you home.

Time.  This time I have with you.  I want to draw with you a map where the points of interest are subject matter and substance.  It is for the woman wearing many hats who desires a map that brings her home.  You will find this map to cover both the what we do and who we are.  It will change the way you plan ahead.  It will appeal to our familiarity with the temporal but set our minds on the true, eternal Time Keeper.  Love to you until next time.

When Everything is Clean

On By femmefuelIn Best of Sasha Katz, FemmeFeatures by Sasha Katz, Transform YourselfLeave a comment

imageBy AbbyA

Cleaning.  Did I say cleaning?  Where’s my mom?  She is the one who kept it all clean.  Did you spend time with your mom today or did you spend time finding out if she can watch your kids?  Kids.  I have a four year old girl with a curl in the middle of her brow who tells me how to pack up my Christmas ornaments.  Christmas.  How many meals can you eat in twenty-four hours?  Food.  If I eat everything that is left over from Christmas, then I can potentially deflate if there is nothing left.  Nothing left.  That would be me when I fall asleep with wet hair and the lights on.

Clean.  That would be my house on Mondays and Thursdays.  Thanks, Helena.  Mom.  She would be the person to whom I owe just about everything.  Including the mother I am to my kids.  One of the few things I am sure that I do well.  Kids.  Joy of my heart and light of my life.  Food.  Joy of my heart and light of my life.  That was a joke.  Food.  Take a look at Susie Larson’s Balance that Works when Life Doesn’t and the “F Word” will finally make sense AND take its rightful place in your life.  Something left.  That would be me when I lighten up and trust God that He has it all covered.

Clean.  Clean first the inside of the cup and the outside will also be clean.  Matthew 23.  That would be the moment in which my Christianity made sense to me.  Clean hands and a pure heart.  Psalm 24.  That would be the moment in which I understood that God knows my intentions when they are not apparent to anyone else.  Blessed is he in whose spirit there is no deceit.  Psalm 32.  That would be the moment when I realized that even my unintentional mistakes would be forgiven.  A lot left.  There is a lot left when everything is clean.

With so much ahead in 2011, I plan to find time to spend with my mom.  I plan to revel in the chants of my daughter – me and my mama and only me – when we are lying in bed together.  I look forward to Christmas time again so that I can remember how good He has been to me the whole year long.  I will remember to keep things clean and to get some help with that.  Helena, Mom, God, Kids, Food.  There is a lot left to give when everything is clean.

Kicking Off Your Master Plan

On By femmefuelIn Best of Sasha Katz, FemmeFeatures by Sasha Katz, Transform Yourself6 Comments

By AbbyA

January 2011.  The Daily Grind continues.  The Master Plan does not.  In other words, the Daily Grind will rock on.  But the Master Plan won’t kick off unless you plan for it.  Think not about the categorical boxes or time lines that tell you where you are.  Dig up the good stuff that seems far off.  Are you a talented CPA but used to dream about basketball?  Are you working 9-5 in a cubicle but design beautiful wedding cakes?  Are you changing diapers while thinking up a book on nutrition?  Wherever that dream went, find it, grab it.  Make it a Master Plan.

Think Big.  Start Light.  Grab a bound notebook and give it a date – – January 2011.  Jot down locations where you can start up your sport’s league.  Think about who would allow you to design their wedding cake.  Start collecting articles on the kid’s food revolution.  Add to it every week, every night, every month.  Once you have a handful of entries, write an outline of surfacing themes, tag your guiding principles and put action to the Master Plan.

Be clear, the Daily Grind is loud and the Master Plan is quiet.  The Daily Grind will Eat your Notebook in your Exhaustion.  It will Hide your Notebook in its Busyness.  The Daily Grind will Soak up your Dream like a Coffee Filter.  Dreams lost look like deflated balls.  Smooshed cakes.  Sluggish days devoid of backseat lightning to keep you moving.

Daily Grind keeps the world spinning round.  But it doesn’t set the spin in motion.  The Master Plan is the origination of the momentum.  It is the Steady Hand that gives you the dream.  It is the Voice of the Spirit that says you are capable and called to do one thing, but you were made to dream and do another.  Daily Grind and Dreams are Counterparts.  Both sides were drawn into Time.  Both Counterparts were Crafted into you.  No doubt, you can Occupy yourself Full Time with the Daily Grind.  But, without the Master Plan, the who you are will suffer loss in the long term.

The Even Greater Loss will be to the stale lives of those to whom you were meant to deliver your dream.  Someone who really needed to be part of something will not have a league to join.  Someone won’t have the chance to know you as a cake designer.  Someone won’t be enriched by your book bound wisdom.  If you already have lost a few Dreams, know that the Master Plan covers all sides.  The Master Plan will lead someone else’s ripe dream into the life of someone in need.  And, the Master Plan will give you yet another dream to construct into reality.  So, pick up your Notebook, your Cake, your Ball and your Book and venture into your Master Plan.  January 2011.