May 2004

Since I last wrote we have visited our friends Dave and Marlene Paumen in Birmingham and my cousins Faye and Bob in Advance, NC. On the way to NC, we were able to enjoy a few days watching our friend Tracy Hanson play in an LPGA tournament in Atlanta, GA.
We are learning how to flex when your "home" is broken. This past couple of weeks have been a form of déjà vu. We are in Gastonia, NC as we were last year at this time. First our hot water heater went kaput. Glen drove to a shop in Charlotte to have the water heater replaced. He drove back to Gastonia and then discovered the new heater was not working properly. So.....he drove back to Charlotte where the heater was quickly installed correctly. On the way back to Gastonia, a tire blew. The rubber fragment ruptured the gray water tank. So....now we are waiting for the new tank to arrive from California so that it can be replaced at the same shop that repaired the RV last year. The same insurance adjuster came to call on us and assess the damage. I am determined the similarities to last year's trip will end right there, and I have no intention to have a return hospital visit.
We have had to rearrange our schedule, but still plan to attend the Heavilin reunion in Edwardsburg, Michigan over Memorial Day weekend. We may be without our house on wheels, but will drive our car and stay in a motel if we have to.
We are truly enjoying our stay in Gastonia and our visit with John and Rose Stanley. We traveled to Murphy, NC with them last weekend.

The Chapel at The Cove

We visited Montreat,NC where Billy and Ruth Graham live and we toured The Cove which is a Christian retreat center started by the Grahams.
I have had the privilege of speaking five times in the past two weeks at two TCF support groups, a bereavement group at McLean Funeral Home, Footprints in Charlotte, and Robinson Memorial Presbyterian Church. We are parked next to Robinson Memorial where John Stanley is the pastor. Our greatest joy is attending the services and hearing John preach. We have known John and Rose since 1987, three years after the death of their only child, Susan. It has been our privilege to watch God work in their lives and bring them from the depths of despair to a life of serving others by sharing Christ's message of hope with them.
Tomorrow we will drive to Asheville to visit the Biltmore Estate. Then we will visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins in Hendersonville, NC.
Even though the trouble with the motor home has been discouraging, we have decided it is not nearly as frustrating as receiving a call in the middle of the night that water is dripping through the dining room ceiling at your house...3,000 miles away. We have no regrets about selling our house.
Please keep us in your prayers for safety and good health.