A Day with Beckham

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Carl still has a to do list of things he wants to experience while in California; Yosemite National Park, Craig Ferguson's show, Vintage Faith Church...and of course to see the Los Angeles Galaxy Soccer Team play. And today, he got to check one off his list.

At 7:30 this morning, Carl and his friend Ray drove to Los Angeles for the day to see David Beckham and his team play the Toronto F.C. I was glad that it worked out, because as of Friday night, Carl still didn't have anyone who could make the Sunday noon game. Ray is a really neat guy, from our homegroup, and Carl was really looking forward to spending some time with him.

The drive down was fairly uneventful, except for the great conversation. They arrived at 11:15 and parked the van a few blocks from the stadium. It was a surprising hot day, 35 degrees. Yup...35 degrees on April 13th! Anyways, Carl and Ray both had to find shade, because Ray had seen quite a bit of sun at track meets the last few days, and of course, Carl had to be careful with his lily white complexion.

It was an exciting game with the Galaxy club dominating most of the plays, regardless they couldn't get the ball past the Canadian goalie. Beckham had a few assists, but didn't score any goals. The final score was 3-2 in favour of Toronto. Carl was thrilled....Ray not so much.

After the game, the guys headed home and arrived in Fresno at 7 p.m., happy with the days events and for the chance to spend time with a friend. It was a nice break for Carl and I was really glad that he had the opportunity to go.

I Make an Impact

I have been reminded how I make an impact in two very different ways and they both have stemmed from discussion in the class that I'm taking, Discipleship and Ethics.

First of all, the last three classes have really got me thinking about my role on this earth and how I impact it environmentally. We had a class on environmental ethics which was quite thought provoking. I had never really thought about it, but ethics can't be separated into neat little categories and so when I make a decision about something, it has ramifications that reach farther than I initially see.

I'll give you an example from our class that was led by an FPU prof. He was talking about the cost of organic and fair trade products. In the supermarket they are more expensive when you first read the price tag, but why don't they have the total cost breakdown on the bag of coffee or the apple? Why don't we take in consideration that when I purchase a regular apple, I may be supporting a farmer that only employs seasonal workers. Those workers can't make enough to live on and so they need to rely on social assistance. Or with the use of pesticides, introduces health problems that put a weight on health care. When I purchase an apple from Chili how much does it cost to truck it all the way to California when I could have purchased a "more expensive" apple from the local orchards 15 miles away? And so if I make the decision to eat organically isn't just an environmental decision, but it's also a socially ethical decision as well.

I got to thinking about my impact and how much food is trucked in for me to eat. I'm thinking seriously about the amount of energy is required to keep up with my meat consumption. I'm also thinking that maybe I shouldn't eat fast food as often as I have the desire to (although quite honestly, I think we have had a fast food burger once in the last 5 weeks, but if I had more $$ I would have to admit that I would be there more often...) simply because it is an environmentally bad choice, because of all the waste, and it feeds the demon of busyness, because people say they don't have enough time to sit down with family.

I'm not sure if I'll morph into a vegetarian-organic-only person, but I will eat less meat and I won't be buying styrofoam, even though it's cheaper than paper plates. Heck, I'll bring my own plate from home and then wash it myself! I won't buy regular light bulbs anymore, and I'm going to inform myself about the products that I buy. If I buy a certain type of product, how does it effect people in different parts of the world? What kind of waste does it produce? Is it the ethical thing to do? What kind of example am I setting for my kids? Do I make decisions that are very self centred or does it take in account other people? The website www.responsibleshopper.org is a great place to start and so though you can't be in my class with me and benefit from the discussion (nor do I want to rant and rave for pages and pages here on my blog), maybe if you have the chance, check it out. We can be purposeful about how we live, making thoughtful decisions instead of making careless choices.

I did a presentation in yesterday's class with Brenda on carrying for creation. It was put together in 45 minutes and we were the only group with two people. Mark tried to get us to split off and step into one of the other 5 groups, but we said we'd be fine with just the two of us. I was a bit nervous, but Brenda was a great person to work with. We had to present a 5 minute talk about carrying for creation, focusing on being centred-set and not guilting people with, you should's and you have to's. We also included the whole concept of naming, how we have been entrusted as caretakers of this world and as a testimony to those who don't know God. I think it went pretty well....

So the second part where I make an impact is through my contributions in class . In last week's class, when we were talking about the television and media, I made a couple of comments that I guess were very insightful. Anyways, after I had made the comments, Mark referred back to them, not once, not twice, not even three times, but FOUR times. Boy, I was feeling pretty proud of myself. I'm glad that I didn't take the easy way out and kept my mouth shut.

And then yesterday at common meal, while we sat with Mark for lunch, he told me again that he appreciated my comments and was glad that I could offer insight to the class.

Well, this morning I got an email from Mark affirming Brenda and I that our presentation was well thought out, from the concepts to the centred set language we used.

Wow....I hope my head isn't getting big. Anyways, I hope that the impact I make in this world and the contributions in my class benefit and give life to those around me.

Totally Siblings

We've been asked a number of times who we think Asha looks more like. I guess it's always the blessing of the third child to be compared to her two older siblings. For the most part, I think she looks more like Joel, simply because she doesn't have hair like Kezia did.

Then again, it totally depends on the day. Some days she resembles Joel, others she makes an expression that reminds us of Kezia. Well, you be the judge. Who do you think she looks like?

Thesis Update

It is with great pleasure that Carl Heppner announces the arrival of the second draft of his thesis on April 7, 2008 at 12:20 a.m. Pacific Time.

After many months of hard labour, all of his writing, his major revisions, and formatting are done.

Yes, Done.

She is so beautiful, all 130 pages, carefully laid into the binder.

All that's left is for final comments from his thesis advisor before he can schedule his defense.

And just a note, Carl is the first student to complete this part of the thesis process this semester.

I think this calls for a special celebration; and I'm not just talking about McDonald's!

more updates to come......

Menno Reconnect

This past weekend was the annual West Coast Mennonite Central Committee Relief Sale. It was held at the FPU campus right next door. I hadn't anticipated going, but on Friday night, some other folks from the courtyard were planning to go and so I packed up the kids for the 3 minute walk over. I was so glad that we went.

Nate and Maddie joined us, and so Nate wandered off with the two older Heppner kids, while Maddie and I visited with some other MBBS people. We walked through the Ten Thousand Villages tent and looked at all the amazing crafts, beautiful clothes and purses and all the cookbooks. I had purposely not brought my wallet so I wouldn't spend anything that first night. Way too much great stuff!

Maddie and I went into the auditorium to look at all the handmade quilts and afghans that were being auctioned off. I was taken aback at the handiwork. The quilts were so amazing....I don't know if I could ever learn to do that. It was getting loud, so after a few more chats with friends, we made our way out. Nate and the kids had gone by the food station and gotten a big bag of kettle popcorn and some fritters. All three of them were very happy.

The next morning, I went with Maddie and the kids to the waraneki lunch. We waited in line with Ben and Alisa for over 30 minutes and paid, GASP, $12 for 3 waraneki, some salad, 2 pieces of kielbasa and a small cup of pluma moos. But I had to because Maddie had never had waraneki before and it had been about 8 months since I had had any. I was pretty desperate!

Oh the lunch was good. The kids had eaten a large breakfast and so they didn't even finish one plate between the two of them. Asha had her first taste of waraneki and loved it. She kept squawking for more. I was getting full and there was still some left, so I decided that I would take the rest for Carl. He didn't come because he needed to finish the editing on his thesis.

After lunch, Maddie had to work and Kezia and Asha were in desperate need of a nap so we headed back. Later on in the afternoon, Joel wanted to go back to the sale, so we walked over. It was nice to go just with him. I gave him the opportunity to ask and pay for things since it was just the two of us, and he really enjoyed that. We picked up a balloon sword for him, and he also asked the lady to make his sister a purple flower (he said she would be disappointed if he came home with something and she didn't have a cool balloon), we shared a snow cone because the lemonade stand was sold out and then made our way back to the quilt auctions. Joel was intrigued with the guy yelling into the mic and all the people flapping their arms in the air. I bought the Simply in Season cookbook and a neat map of the world. On our way back, we stopped just in time to have a jump in the bounce house before they closed it down.

For supper, we went to Derek and Laura's place for faspa. It was weird not having it on Sunday, but hey, I'll take faspa any day of the week! We had fresh zwiebach and jam and cheese and fruit....it was so yummy. Asha had a great time being licked by the three little pups that were there and being carried around by Laura's dad. Joel and Kezia played frisbee with Laura's sister Sarah most of the evening on the lawn. By 7:30, we were all tired and decided it was time to go home. What a wonderful day to connect with our friends and reunited with our beloved Mennonite food.

Smart Cheerio

Homegroup Serves

Sunday was a full day for the Heppner family. In fact, the whole weekend was busy. We went to the English service, after a short and interrupted night, and stayed for the Spanish service because Joel and Kezia were singing with the preschool. I wish I would have brought my camera to capture Joel's passionate rendition of I Have a Friend Who Loves Me. Kezia just stood there and smiled and then waved and then smiled again....she said she forgot she was suppose to sing!

For lunch, our homegroup met for a potluck. Asha was feeling tired since she was up frequently with her parents.....so she went for a sleep right after the meal. The kids jumped on the trampoline and some of the adults played Chronology, which is a very fun game, while one adult (Carl) snored on the couch!

At 3:30 we packed up into three vehicles and headed downtown to the Fresno Rescue Mission. One of the guys in our homegroup has connections with the Mission and thought it would be a good idea for us all to go and serve supper.

We arrived at 4:00 and all met in the parking lot before we went inside. I have to admit, I was feeling a bit nervous about the whole thing. Well, we took a walk around the parking lot and down the sidewalk to the Mission. It was troubling to see that there were about 40 homeless people sitting on the sidewalk around the entrance; in fact there were homeless people standing around for the entire block. We went in to the entrance and I became less tense. A few of the staff members showed us where the men have chapel, where they have classes, and the dining room where meals were served.

After the 30 minute tour, we went across the street to see the shelter for the women and children. We met the lady that ran the place with her husband and heard stories of how people end up at the shelter. She took us to one of the family rooms that they have for married couples and their children; she told us that if the parents aren't married, the dad has to go across the street with the men.

As I stood in the family room, I was overcome with sorrow to think that a mom, dad, and their children would be so down and out that they would have to come to a shelter. How scary and stressful it would be for the parents. How hard it would be for them to be strong for their kids in light of their situation. How upsetting to think that some children don't have the basics that we take for granted.

While we walked out of the room, Kezia wanted to know why the room was full of toys and games and towels. I explained to her that people donate things so that the kids who don't have any toys can have something special. She smiled, "That's really nice Mom...so when are we going to feed the poor people?". Ummmm...

Okay, so I tactfully explained to our kids again what we were doing, in light of some of the things they had already seen and our group made our way back to the Dining Hall across the street. We split up into two groups. Carl and Joel plus a few others went to serve the spaghetti and bread and Kezia and I, with Asha on my back, went with the rest to serve dessert.

We passed out desserts to each person that came by, Kezia was thrilled to give out the cupcakes. It was so awesome to see the kids happily serving and smiling just to make someone's day. After a while, standing 3 inches from all the goodies, Kezia was tempted to sneak a taste. But she didn't and I was very proud of her. She somehow understood that the treats were for those that don't have much at all.

I gazed across the crowd of people, my heart ached. I was feeling ashamed that I hadn't done this more often. It's so easy to hide in your comfortable neighbourhood and not look people in the eye and acknowledge their poverty. In light of what I was seeing, how can I ever say that I don't have enough? How will this effect the way that I live? MCC has a poster that says, Live simply so that others may simply live.

And then I saw the girl who was about 6 months pregnant and I had to fight back tears. I had a baby on my back, a baby who has a safe place to sleep. When I was pregnant I was able to get prenatal care and have enough to eat. And when my baby was born, she was welcomed into a stable and happy home. I wondered about this woman, and so though it would have been safer to stay behind the table, I went over to talk to her.

After we served the supper and the room was cleared, the staff offered the kids corndogs. Kezia and Joel were thrilled and thought it was the best supper ever! Then we walked out front (we could have walked out the back and avoided the sidewalk), passed all the men that were waiting to get into the shelter for the night. Instead of averting my eyes and shuffling uncomfortably passed, I looked at them and tried to give a smile.

We packed up in the vans and went for a drive past Tent City, a make-shift homeless community under the old 99 freeway. I was troubled when I saw the pregnant girl standing in front of her tent, in front of her home under the freeway.

Then we drove home and we unpacked our kids and all our food from the potluck into our comfortable apartment....