CHRISTMAS GREETINGS, 2004

Dear Friends and Family,

This has been a very interesting year for us, our first year of not being house owners since 1962. As I said in last year’s letter, we are houseless, but not homeless.  Our 36 foot box  definitely became our home on wheels,

but this week we are trading it in for a new model. I have discovered it is very possible to decorate and even redecorate this limited space. My desire to make a comfortable “nest” is still alive and well. We have learned we can survive without our little house for as long as a month which we had to do in Charlotte, NC. We have also learned that we don’t really like living in a motel. That kind of traveling is not much fun for us.

We loved our time at America’s Keswick in Whiting, NJ. Even though we are officially retired from a full time work schedule, we do enjoy knowing that God still has work for us to do and there is a place for us. Each day at Keswick, we saw God work in the hearts of men and women. We also saw Him use us as tools to lead men and women to a closer walk with the Lord.

We have had the opportunity to visit many friends and relatives, renew acquaintances and build new friendships. This year we basically visited places we had been before, but we found new things to see, especially in Washington, DC, Gettysburg, and Lancaster, PA.

I spoke in New Milford, CT, Ambler, PA, and Indianapolis, and I had many opportunities to speak at Keswick. Glen continues to be of great help to me as I speak and as he shares with those we meet. At Keswick Glen was a great help to Brian Bitler in the computer department as he “healed” staff computers. We also served as Counselors in Residence during the family conferences. I think Counselors in Residence just means we are old and we need a title that sounds official.

We took a cruise to Alaska in September. We loved it and can hardly wait to do it again. While in Juneau, we had the privilege of purchasing a brick in a new aquarium in memory of Nathan, Jimmy, and Ethan. We recently visited Precious Moments Park in Carthage, Missouri. We were able to have three angel statues named in memory of our boys.  The Precious Moments Park has become a very special place to us. We have made some dear friends and we are so impressed with the Christian witness Sam Butcher has established there. If you are interested in their new memorial program, please check out their web site at www.preciousmoments.com.
Our boys are now memorialized in Juneau, Alaska, Oxford, England, Charlotte, NC., Redlands, CA, and Carthage, MO.

This year we celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary. Our granddaughter Kate is 17 and a senior in high school. She is receiving offers of scholarships daily from various colleges. Nate and Christian are 15 and in the 10th grade. Caleb is 10 and in the fifth grade.

This year most of my communication has been by way of e-mail. If you have e-mail and would like to receive our monthly newsletter, please e-mail me at roses1ndec@aol.com. I also write a weekly devotional and you can subscribe to that by e-mailing me at rosesindecember5@aol.com.

We have been in the Kansas City area for about two weeks. Unfortunately our Tropi-cal has been in the shop for about a week. That is one of the main reasons we decided to purchase a new RV. Our new Itasca is far more than we planned to get, but it certainly is beautiful. We will move in on Wednesday. We have learned that winter in the mid-west is definitely the time to deal. We had planned to be heading west before winter set in, but this pictures shows we definitely didn’t make it.

We are hoping to visit the northwestern states next spring, so if you live in that area, be on the lookout for us. You just might see an Itasca  motor home coming your way..

In His love,

Glen and Marilyn Heavilin
466 Orange Street, #359
Redlands, CA 92374
951-202-8850
909-518-3399