Concordia University, Seward, Nebraska

Speech Camp!

 ... and so it begins!

My Short Mind...

     Mindfulness

     My Mom turns 80 in May and, as my siblings and I discuss how to how honor her faith-filled life, I know one thing that brings her great joy-  telling stories about me.  This past summer, for example, as we had dinner with our friends Dot, Sandy and their entire family and, because they missed out on these tantalizing anecdotes as I was growing up, my mother had the entire family rapt in laughter around the supper table for hours with my coming of age stories.  Quite frankly it's hard to tell, of all of my misadventures, which ones bring her the most joy.  I assure you that she never found this much joy in my sins and foibles at the time, but now, with the fermentation of years, she comes alive telling these tales.  I guess I would have to say that perhaps her favorite story from my checkered past highlights my wandering ways.  Like the courtesy stories of the ancient past, our Mimi uses these stories to instruct the generations of what NOT to do, and Ladies and Gentlemen, I am a living legend in this area.  If only I knew then what I know now, but alas, that was not to be...
     When I was a wee lass, my mam had me play outside while she was, no doubt, toiling away inside of house.  I'm not sure where my siblings were in this story... no doubt coaxing me astray, but they are not featured prominently in her telling of this tale.  As she turned back to go into the house from the porch, she strictly forbade me,  with her piercing blue eyes flashing, to leave the fenced in yard an "or else!"   Can you see where this story is headed?  The next thing she knew, when she came out to check on me or perhaps even bring me back inside the house, I was gone.  The real clincher of the story resumes when she eventually found me.  Apparently, I had wandered four houses away and when she chastised me by saying, "I told you not to leave the yard!" I retorted...wait for it..., "But, Mommy, you know that I have a short mind."  And oh, doesn't she howl with laughter at this part of the story... It's all she can do to finish the story about dragging me and my bike,training wheels and all, back to the house on Caledonia Street and, with every step I took, she spanked me harder and harder.  Never one to be short of a good comeback, Mom is less than amused when she reports that I chastised her right back saying, "It is not polite to spank your kids in front of the neighbors."  Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that, in my nearly 50 years, I have brought so much joy and laughter to so many, but as my mother recounts this story, I always reply, "I still hold with that statement.  I do have a short mind."  It's true;  I do.
     As I embarked on Advent this Fall, I also began a Health Quest and continue to actively seek to change my short mindedness in all aspects of my big-girl life-  in my relationships, in my teaching and coaching, in my praying, in my eating and moving, and even in my driving... in all aspects of my living.  The quest for better health and wellness that I began with my Nourish to Flourish class (https://www.facebook.com/RenewWellnessCoaching) was the foundation and now my Weekend Warrior class (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kaylies-Food-Fitness) continues to help me strengthen my core from within.  I am sure that I will continue to be fodder for my mother's stories in the future, but I don't want my short mind to define me anymore.  I want mindfulness to characterize all of my actions and my interactions for my next 50 years.  And so I begin again... 

(halfmoonyoga.org)

     In the meantime, I would invite all of our family and friends to celebrate our mom in this year ahead.  If you have stories about Mom jot them down and send them to me.  If you get a moment in your day, drop her a line and then, come May 12th or slightly later as the case may be, we hope to call to mind the stories of her life as we celebrate her.  Please pray for her, ever mindful of the fact that, as all of us have faced our misadventures, she has spent her life holding all of us close in prayer.