The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Well, its been an interesting few days since we officially became residents of the village of Hepburn. A few highlights;
The Good - The kids have made friends already, hung out at a few different homes, they actually both were visited by kids their ages on the first night. Small town community at its finest!! We had many helpers to unload our very full UHaul truck/trailer - what a humbling experience to pull up to your new home to the smiling faces of 20 strangers waiting to help you move in! I (Kelly) am LOVING the job at Bethany - what a tremendous group I'll be working with, and the pace will be so manageable. Very refreshing! On the first two nights, we were visited by the Welcome Wagon and the two local churches. Wow!
The Bad - We've had some home maintenance issues - our kitchen plumbing went haywire and somehow drained into the basement - right onto Owen's bed (immediately under the kitchen sink!). We quickly learned that it can be a really great thing to have stores open past 5 pm .. Bren had to trek to Hague (not that far) to check out their hardware store for supplies. We think everything is A-OK unless this issue is related to ...
The Ugly - Confirmed city slickers we are!! Our well has stopped pumping for some unknown reason to be figured out tomorrow. In the meantime, there is no running water in the house .. thank goodness for the water cooler in the kitchen or we wouldn't even have brushed our teeth before bed!

So, what does living justly look like?

Thinking about things like fair trade and living 'justly' (can I say that?) is occupying much space in my head these days .. I bought the poster below at the MCC store in Regina in spring. I hung it on the door of my pantry, so I had to see it many times each day. The poster has some thought-provoking ideas, like: Know where your bank banks, Don't confuse your comfort with your safety; Talk to strangers; Notice the workings of power & privelege in your culture; Question consumption; Know how your lettuce and coffee are grown: wake up and smell the exploitation, look for fair trade and union labels; Acquire few needs; Re-define progress; Read the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Refuse to wear corporate logos; defy corporate domination; Don't confuse money with wealth, or time with money; Judge governance by how well it meets all people's needs; Be skeptical about what you read; Choose curiosity over certainty; Know that no one is silent though many are not heard. Some thoughts were revolutionary for me, some were common sense ... I think I am becoming more and more committed to finding ways to redefine the way our family lives, the ways we consume. In An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore stressed over and over that change starts small ... we know this yet the magnitude of what needs to be addressed in our world dulls our senses and our desire to make a difference. We all need to start applying new principles in our day to day existence ... Can we stop doubting that our small contribution can indeed make a difference?

..and so on

Just a brief post on how things are going .. we're feeling sort of .. organized! Wouldn't be able to do it without amazing support, we've had help packing, food brought over, boxes delivered, .. too many blessings to count! We've got four more sleeps in our little Winnipeg house, can't believe it! So much has happened in the past couple of weeks, its incredible to do so much in so little time! Our one-time four page list of things to accomplish is down to one page!
We're looking forward to a farewell gathering at Lorrie and Paul's place on Friday night, we'll have a chance to connect with a few people we haven't seen in a while.
We had an opportunity to meet the new people who will live in our home. Getting a chance to chat with them was really special, we gave them the 'inside scoop' on area schools and all the perks of living in the North End. (Yes, you read that right!) Introduced them to a couple of neighbors, and prepared them to be helpers for next year's block party ... they'll fit right in in no time.
Tonight, my sweet niece was here, and she woke up a couple of hours after being put to bed (I think the dogs went into the room she was sleeping in) .. it was a gift to be able to snuggle her and visit as one can only do with a toddler .... I'm sure she learned to say "meow" ... Instead of wondering if this was the last chance I'd have to do this, I really enjoyed the moment.
I think that describes our whole family's perspective right now, we're just savoring these last days and each simple thing we get to experience.
Life is good.
One more comment about amazing things to experience, I booked a flight to Winnipeg a week after we move; I'm going to baptize a friend at Bird's Hill, right at the beach .. what a privilege!

hepburn is #1!!!!!! .... by Sydney

hey people reading this! its my first time writing and i already luv it!! did you hear about the horse? well if you didnt this is about it: ok so when my mom was in the interveiw at Bethany, me, my dad, & owen were exploring the town, and we saw a horse. We named it trigger and it just so happens that the people who we bought our new house from own that horse and they said that we could come and visit the horse!
i luv our new house im so excited to meet new people and to spend more time with my family, hang out with people from the college that i can look up to! im hoping we're gonna have movie nights at our house!!i think hepburn is gonna be great!(even saskatoon ... I can't wait to explore new malls) :):)<3!

Thinking...

As one wades through a massive life change, reflection is inevitable .. I've been reflecting lately on how we (generic 'we') live ... it's challenging me to really take inventory of everyday choices, casual or complacent attitudes, small things that add up to big impact...I've added a new component to this Blog: "Links to make you think" ... I'm going to keep updating it as I learn more, I hope you'll join me - follow the links, and check back as I hope to add more interesting sites that help us all make wiser choices ... let me know of any sites you know of that help us live wisely....

We bought a house!!!!

As Tuesday night came and went, I finally realized how real and how fast things are happening. Since we gave up possession of our house on August 21 and we had no place to live in Hepburn, we decided it would be a good idea to pack up the car and find ourselves a house. On Thursday morning we loaded the car and headed off ,"sans kids", to the sprawling metropolis of Hickburn, err... I mean Hepburn. I would like to lie to you and say that it is a scenic and exciting drive, but then I would be lying and I read somewhere that lying is not good for you. I will spare you the details of our trip save for the fact that we ended up buying a house in the town of Hepburn, which is where our whole family felt called to.(should change the blog title to "alwaysthesamepage"). We are now officially leaving on the 19th with Kelly starting her job on the 21st. As a close I ask that if anyone has a spare Blue Bomber flag lying around, I wish to fly one high, really high up on my garage.