THE HEAVILIN HERALD

October 2005

 

We are experiencing Fall in the Eastern states. It is beautiful here. Life at Keswick is very quiet. Most of the activity is centered on the weekends as far as meetings at the conference center. Sticking around for a little longer this year has given us a chance to interact with the staff. Even our times in the dining room have been fun since there are generally fewer than ten of us eating at the staff meals. It is still very nice to have someone else do the cooking.  We have enjoyed dinners around a campfire, too. We are a small community in the off season, but we still enjoy each other.

Our time in Toledo was great. We always enjoy getting to visit with our friend Ernie Marsteller again. Ernie is the Funeral Director who served our family when mom and then dad went Home to be with the Lord. Ernie had arranged for me to speak under the auspices of the Catholic Diocese in Perrysburg, Ohio. One of the services that the funeral home where Ernie works provides is a dvd, beautiful brochures, and bookmarks including pictures of the deceased. Ernie provided all of these things, including a dvd for us of Nathan. What a treasure this has been. It was a joy to be able to share memories of Nathan with those who attended the seminars. (See attached picture below.)

On one of my free days here at Keswick, I invited Jesslyn and Julia Bitler to visit with me so that I could help them complete Christmas craft projects for their mom. (See attached picture below.) Whew!  I'm so glad Glen stayed to help me. I love having them here, but I do understand why God gives children mainly to the young! I have a greater respect for Abraham and Sarah raising Isaac when they were in their nineties!

I do have an announcement to make! I have enrolled in an on-line program to earn my Masters in Biblical Counseling from Trinity Bible College and Theological Seminary in Newburgh, Indiana. I just received my books for the first class and started reading this morning. I already know this will be an interesting two years for me AND for the school! I doubt they have any idea what they gotten themselves into.

We plan to leave here around the 17th of October. We will visit the Lancaster area before we drive to Roxbury, PA where I will be speaking October 21-23. On October 24 our granddaughter Kate will be 18 and on the 25th we will celebrate 47 years of marriage. It has been quite a ride and God has been faithful!

 

Marilyn Heavilin
author of Roses In December