Angela's

I go to “the gym” 3 nights a week y’all.  

I really do.  I promise. 

One of my closest friends owns a “cheer and tumble” training gym for young girls.

I  have taken a “moonlighting” gig working. Before you burst out laughing….no, I’m not working IN the gym.  I learned a long time ago, not to put THIS hiney above my head.  Gravity can be brutal!  I’m actually keeping the books, setting up her new accounting/bookkeeping system, offering a little advice here and there.  Basically, working ON the business so that her focus can be IN the business.  Its just next to impossible to do both.  And do it well.

I’ve been there a few weeks, now.  And just let me just tell ya a few things.

Ms. Angela is incredible at what she does.   She loves the children.

I watch each day as little girls hit the door running  and cannot wait to see and talk to her. 

I watch as timid, shy little girls come for the first time….scared of new surroundings, and soon they are made to feel as if they have been coming for months.  They leave with a newfound confidence that is simply incredible. 

I listen from the desk as mommas brag about how far their child has come.  As they beam with pride over a new skill or as a challenge is overcome.  How each is anxious to get to the “next level.”

I watch as parents share openly the various ways they love “Ms. Angela”.  And if you watch her with these kids…you know she loves them too.  Her office is a blanket of drawings and colorings and gifts for “Ms. Angela”.  

You may find her in the floor with them or walking on her hands.  (Yes, I'm serious.  This makes me jealous!  Lol). You will always find her laughing and making it a fun atmosphere fit for the children. 

Angela loves her "gymbabies."  That is a given. 

Part of my job at times is the keeper of the “candy bucket.”  (Just a logistics thing….it is housed on the desk that I share.)  I love seeing these kids walk in to choose their candy consistently at the end of each class.  I look into their little eyes….see their smiles….and understand why she chose this profession.  It is more than just “flippin babies.” 

Angela and I have talked before about praying over the children in her charge.  Calling each by name as a staff on a weekly basis.  I pray for her little business.  That it continues to grow. 

The God we serve is so full of mercy, grace and love.  He is there for us in times of plenty and times of need – through feast and famine.  I have had many heart to hearts with Angela over the direction of her business. Prayer is neccessary during these times of "growing pains", but motion is nearly as important.

I am reminded of a scene from the movie Facing the Giants.  Coach Taylor is considering quitting. He feels he has done everything he can for his school’s football team and that he has failed. His team seems destined to lose every game. The parents are upset with him. He is on the verge of losing his job. He is at the end of himself. Then a janitor named Mr. Bridges walks into his office and provides a glimmer of hope with a passage from Revelation 3:7-8: “What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name”.

Mr. Bridges then tells Coach Taylor the parable about two farmers who were in a drought. Both desperately needed rain and prayed for it. But only one of them went out and prepared his field for rain. He then asks a revealing question, “Which one do you think trusted God to send the rain?”

Our financial life is the same way. Businesses can be run the same way. We can sit around and wait for God to do something, or we can take the necessary steps needed to prepare our financial life for God to work. He cannot bless ideas and actions we never make. I pray.  And hope I can help prepare, take steps and continue to build Angela's Cheer & Tumble along God's path....along side her sweet team. The first step is preparing for Him to work!

At Angela’s….we, as in the whole team….are preparing our fields.   We are making ready for God’s promises for this little gym. 

Speaking of….let me tell you about her team.

 

Miss Jordan.  Presh.  Presh.  Precious.

Not only can she TEACH.  She can do.  A genuine love for the sport.  For the kids.  For everything about this place.

Angela has raised her teachers. Jordan, Hunter, and even her own Brandon. I sneak peeks at their classes. I join in the cheers I can hear from the other side of the glass, each and every night.  Because no "accomplishment" is small. 

Miss Judy keeps us ALL in line.  :). 

You just leave there feeling a little better than when you came in. The bright little faces.  The sense of genuine pride. And of course the love. 

Obviously, this job has been a blessing to my little family.  Has given me an avenue to use my talents to help. But the blessings are FAR greater. It has done my heart good.

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."  Proverbs 22:6

In Him,

Terri