There have been no major falls within the last month, so we are pleased with that report. Last week was spent checking in with the doctors.

We were able to spend an evening with Dennis Apple and the book signing for “Runaway Griever.” Marilyn could tell that he knew what he was talking about since he lost his son Denny nearly 20 years ago. This is Dennis’s first attempt at fiction, and he did an excellent job. He is writing another book which is a sequel to this book. Dennis is an excellent writer, minister, and counselor. Marilyn highly recommends the book.

June Durr’s new book “Grandma’s Amazing Arm” has been released now as well. This is the book I recommended for young children several months ago. June is one of my heroes, and if you are interested in purchasing the book, please write to me, and I will tell you how it may be purchased in time for Christmas. June is an up-and-coming author as well.

We’re busy getting ready for Christmas as most of you are. This month has been spent mostly in trying to find clothes warm enough for Kansas. It is very cold here and they are predicting snow within the next couple of days. We are trying to stay stocked up on food so that we won’t have to drive in the bad weather. I realize the weather would not stop us a few years ago, in our younger years, but now at 77 and 78, the weather does stop us. We are warm here as long as the electricity stays up. This is an all- electric building, so please keep us in prayer that we won’t freeze

While I was typing this letter Glen came into the office to tell me about the horrible shooting in San Bernardino. It almost seemed surreal that we were able to watch on the television screen the places that were so familiar to us. And yet, we were 1500 miles away from it. Soon afterwards the news started to come via Facebook as to who was actually in lockdown, Tammy Scott, Alex Briggs, and many members of the Prince family. We held hands and prayed for all of our friends who were involved as victims of this awful event. If you have anyone involved, we want to know and we want to hear your stories. Please write to us.

While we know that God was very aware of this act, I do not believe in any way that He put the idea into that man’s head. As I shared with someone recently, God is not the author of sin, and this most definitely was a sinful act. I am praying for the victims’ families that they will have peace and that somehow God will use it positively in their lives. If you know anyone who was personally involved as a victim, be sure to write to them and their families, just to let them know that you care about them.

We met some people last week when we attended a home meeting where an author spoke about Korea. Marilyn has offered to speak about her book “Roses In December,” basically what to do when someone is grieving. Since the hosts are a different religion, they may be concerned about having a Christian speak. We would appreciate prayer on this matter as well.

A prayer request just came on the computer for Martha Garrett who used to be Matt’s counselor in high school. Martha has had a stroke and her daughter Maritri just wrote Glen asking for prayer for her mom. Please continue to remember Marilyn’s sister-in-law Karen in prayer as well. Thank you for remembering us for health and safety.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a very meaningful holiday season!

LY, Marilyn and Glen Heavilin

THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We’re not baseball fans, and I didn’t think it would mean much to us. But I was wrong! We have watched every game on the TV and we watched as the team came home last night and we watched today as the city celebrated the victory with a victory parade and celebration. It has been very exciting to see how many people turned out to acknowledge the victory and support the team. Even the fountains turned blue in celebration of their victory.

So far, I have mostly managed to stay pretty much on my feet. We have decided not to try to travel to California this year. Since we will have a wedding on January 16, and we don’t want to try to travel so late in the season when the weather may be really bad. This does mean that we will be putting the RV of for sale next spring. If anyone is interested, please let us know ASAP. The RV has only had one owner, and we have taken very good care of it but it is 10 years old.

We are really looking forward to the wedding of Nathan to a very special lady, Martha Mott on January 16.

Please continue to pray for Marilyn and her sister-in-law, Karen that they will experience God’s perfect will in their lives.

We were able to celebrate our 57^th anniversary on October 25 and I will be 78 tomorrow, November 4.

Thank you for your love and prayers for our good health and safety.

Glen and Marilyn Heavilin

Royals victory celebration at Union Station

We had another busy month. During this month Glen turned a year older. He is now 77.

On January 16 we will gain another granddaughter-in- law. Nathan announced his engagement to Martha Mott during this month. We are thrilled! We haven’t decided yet whether we will go to California this winter or not. We may find out what it is like to live out a winter in Kansas. We will really miss our friends in Cambria, but we knew this would most likely be our last year in California. We may be cutting it short by a year. We will try to let you know by next month what we have decided to do.

We spent Glen’s birthday at Matt and Deb’s house, and Deb gave Glen what he asked for, for his birthday meal. Glen asked for baked potatoes, and meatloaf and apple pie. Deb prepared Glen a delicious meal and we all sang Happy Birthday to him. Marilyn gave him an ESV Study Bible which he had requested as the gift from her.

We enjoyed a concert by the pianist and organist from our church. They introduced their new CD of favorite hymns which was celebrating 40 years of service together for our church. There were several hundred people in attendance for the concert.

We are currently in Sawyer, Michigan as we have begun our trip to Frankenmuth, Michigan where the dinner for Marilyn’s 60^th high school reunion will take place on Friday, October 9. She graduated from Flint Tech High School in June 1955. We were able to have dinner with Marilyn’s cousin, Sharon Cronkright. We met her at the Cracker Barrel almost an equal distance from her place and ours.

So far, Marilyn has taken the trip quite well.  How she handles this trip will be a big factor in our decision as to whether we make the trip to California or not. We have become very dependent on our doctors in Overland Park, Kansas and it would be very difficult to expect other doctors to take their place. Please pray for us as we make this decision.

We will get to see Glen’s brother and his wife, Marilyn’s brother and his wife our dear friends Jack and Carol Peterman, Marilyn’s nephew and his wife, their precious children Aubrey and Erin and Marilyn’s cousin Sharon, as well as all of her friends from Flint Tech.

Please continue to pray for Karen as she is experiencing a lot of pain. And continue to pray for our health and safety especially as we travel.

In Him,

Glen and Marilyn

Marilyn has managed to stay on her feet when she is vertical for 4 months! She has set a goal for one year. And of course she will extend that year for a couple of years more. Please pray with us that she will be able to reach this goal.

One of the highlights of this month was that we had the opportunity to see Garrison Keillor in person. For some of you who are younger, Garrison has hosted the Prairie Home Companion on Public Radio broadcasts for over 40 years. He is now 73 and is about ready to retire.

We both had the privilege of reading a manuscript from our Korean neighbor Sunok Pai. We read firsthand of the conflict that we called the Korean War and of the Japanese colonialization of Korea earlier. Sunok has taken us out to lunch a couple of times and we have enjoyed getting to know her history. Our only regret is that we did not know Mr. Pai. But he died in 2009 and we have truly enjoyed getting to know Sunok.

We also had the joy of receiving a phone call from Chris Anderson who is the daughter of Jo Anderson Brandt, the widow of Dr. Henry Brandt. Chris explained to us who she is and that Jo had experienced a stroke just a few days prior to Chris’s call to us. Jo was in a coma but Chris felt confident that Jo could hear us. Chris asked if Marilyn would pray for Jo and everything that entailed. Marilyn prayed for Jo and for Chris and for all the family that God would minister to them in a meaningful way. What a privilege God gave us!

We also had the privilege of attending the Sunday evening hymn sing at which a family group from the Nazarene church performed.

We also had the opportunity to hear the Liberty Quartet perform last week. God has blessed us through the ministry of music, especially during the last month or so. We are truly enjoying our time at the Nazarene church even though it’s not the denomination that we grew up in. Marilyn often tells people we are Heinz 57 when it comes to denominational ties, and that is so true:  we attend a Presbyterian church in Cambria, California, are members of an independent Congregational church in  Redlands, California, and currently attend a Nazarene church in Olathe, Kansas .

Through an email conversation, we have had the privilege of getting to know the new pastor at the church where we are members in Redlands, California, Dr. Steven Jay Davis.

Marilyn’s sister-in-law Karen is still struggling with ovarian cancer. Please continue to pray for her and for Marilyn. Marilyn’s brother’s son’s wife Beth gave birth to her precious little girl. Erin Bailey Willett arrived on August 9. Erin was welcomed to the family by her older sister Aubrey Willett who will be 2 on October 25.

We have decided to take the RV and plan to attend the 60^th high school reunion of Flint technical High School for Marilyn on October 9. Marilyn will get to meet Aubrey and Erin for the very 1^st time, and we plan to visit several other relatives and friends on the way back from Frankenmuth, Michigan where the reunion will be held. Please pray for health and safety while we are traveling.

Much love in Him,

Glen and Marilyn Heavilin

We had a busy month. First Walt and Karen came, Marilyn’s brother and his wife. God answered our prayer and Karen was fine during the trip. She has not felt well since the trip, however. Please continue to pray for Karen that she will be restored soon to good health if it be the Lord’s will. It was great for Marilyn and Walt to get to see each other. We were able to drive them around and see the sights.

We had lunch at Harvey’s restaurant at Kansas City’s Union Station. Union Station is a big old train station that has been refurbished and is really beautiful.

We also had a family dinner at Cracker Barrel to celebrate our son Matt’s birthday.

We are praying about a trip to Frankenmuth, Michigan in October to attend Marilyn’s 60^th high school reunion. We hope that we can visit some of our friends and relatives during that time, too.

Last week we were able to drive to Branson to attend some special events. We saw the show, Jonah, at the Sight and Sound Theater. We have been to the Sight and Sound in Lancaster, PA, but this was our first time for us at Branson. We saw two variety shows, New South, and SIX. We enjoyed all of the shows, and we especially enjoyed New South since we had never seen a presentation by them before.

Also in Branson is Mel’s Hard Luck Diner. It’s a malt shop and hamburger place where the food servers sing. They have some good voices and they sing songs we all like.

We have a new hide-a-bed couch. (This information is for those who might like to stay here.) It just arrived on July 30. We have found our favorite furniture store in Kansas City called Nebraska Furniture Mart. The store is huge, and they provide excellent service.

Tonight, we are taking out our friend Sunok for a new experience for her. We are going to have dinner at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant! Sunok came from Korea many years ago but she has not ever eaten at a Cracker Barrel. We thought she needed that experience and we have tried to warn her just what that experience will be. Last week, she took us to a restaurant across the street for lunch that we had never visited before. We really liked it. So we took Nate and his girlfriend, Martha, there for dinner last night. It was very nice.

Marilyn has managed to stay upright this entire month and she has no new experiences to share with you. Praise God! She still has little balance and we’re praying about that. Won’t you join us? Thank you!

Our prayer requests for this month are that God will provide healing for Karen. That He will give much better balance to Marilyn and that He will help us come to the right decision about the 60^th reunion in Frankenmuth, Michigan. And that God will continue to guide us through our daily lives.

Much love in Him,

Glen and Marilyn Heavilin

RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY; DON’T COME BACK UNTIL ANOTHER DAY.

We spent our first hour in the walk-in closet because all of the sirens were going off around us warning of a tornado. The sirens lasted just a few minutes and then the warning was decreased to severe thunderstorms and then the warnings disappeared completely.

The baseball season is having a very difficult time because so many games have been delayed because of rain or completely canceled. The game was canceled for this evening and a doubleheader will be planned for tomorrow unless it rains! We do wish that we were able to send some of this rain to California. We would be happy to share the rain if that were possiblle.

We celebrated July 4th by having dinner with Matt and all of his family and then we had the privilege of watching the fireworks from our balcony. Since we’re on the 4^th floor, we had no problem about having a clear view I think the people on the 1^st floor may have had a problem because there were so many cars parked in the small street that they may have blocked their view.

We enjoyed the privilege of hearing the Attic Wolves again in Ottawa, Kansas which is about an hour’s drive from here.

Our grandson Nate is the front man.

Matt R plays a bunch of instruments. He has written many of the songs in the bands repertoire.

Know in the band as Mr H, that’s our son Matthew.

Talon plays banjo. His brother, Logan, is percussionist. He had a work conflict and wasn’t able to go to Ottawa.

Holding down bass is our grandson Caleb.

Marilyn saw the orthopedic doctor today and he said he doesn’t need to see her anymore. The cast is off and the wrist is healed! Marilyn will miss her doctor as he was one of her favorites. We have been blessed with great medical care in the Kansas City area and we’re very thankful for all of them: Kristen Humphreys, primary care, Eric Hockstad, cardiology, Deetra Ford, neurology, Michael Kahdavi, orthopedics, and many more that Marilyn has seen only once or twice.

We are anxiously awaiting our visit from Walt and Karen which should take place, July 12 – 15.

Marilyn has done some redecorating in the apartment. Can you believe we are about to sign our lease for our 3^rd year here!

We feel Marilyn is much improved. Her daily prayer is a simple request of the Lord. “Dear Lord, please keep me upright and guide my walk, my words, and my wheels.”  Please pray with us that Marilyn will not fall again.

In His love,

Marilyn and Glen Heavilin

This month has been full of graduation ceremonies. We attended Kate’s Hooding ceremony on May 15^th and her graduation ceremony at Kansas University on May 17^th. Kate received her Masters degree in Social Work. Right in the middle of those ceremonies, on May 16^th, Caleb received his Associates degree in Church Music on Saturday at Ozark Christian College. We were able to attend both of Kate’s programs, but were not able to attend Caleb’s since it was about 100 miles away. Kate’s other grandparents were able to attend as well. On Sunday, May 17^th, we were all able to gather at Matt and Deb’s house for lunch after the ceremonies. All of our grandchildren now have degrees from college, and we are extremely proud of them all.

Kate and Caleb

On Tuesday evening, the 26^th, after an otherwise good week, Marilyn began to feel a lot of pain in her head. We reported last month that Marilyn had taken a fall on May the third. We made a trip then to the ER and except for a big hematoma on her head, most things appeared to be going well. Then Wednesday morning, the 27^th, about 5 o’clock it felt like water was running down her face, she soon realized the pain in her head was gone because the hematoma on top of her head had burst, and what Marilyn thought was water, was actually blood. Glen got her all cleaned up and took her over to Urgent Care. They were very kind but had very little advice to offer except that Marilyn should expect that it could happen again. Sure enough, Thursday afternoon about 1: 15, it happened again! This time, Glen took Marilyn to the ER at St. Joseph’s Hospital, which is nearby. The Dr. remembered her because he had treated her when she fell at Panera Bread more than a year ago. He put a suture in her head and thought that would clear up the drainage. However, two days later, on Saturday, Glen realized that her head was seeping again in spite of the suture. So off to the ER we went. We had a different doctor and he added 2 more stitches to the wound in Marilyn’s head, gave her an antibiotic to ward off any chance of infection, suggested that she visit a wound care doctor and also suggested that she sit in the recliner that night to sleep. We will see the wound care Dr. on Tuesday, June second, and Marilyn feels no pressure on her head at the moment. It appears that all is well now. Thank you all for praying for her. She is praying that the wound on her head will quickly heal this time, and that she will not have an infection.

Caleb and Erika have moved into their house in Olathe. We are very proud of them.

Deb is in Montana caring for her parents. Her father has diabetes and her mother just had surgery. Since Deb is away we met Matt and Kate at one of our favorite restaurants, Pizzabella, which is on the lower level of our apartment building. It is a gourmet pizza place, and they have very unusual food. We think both Matt and Kate enjoyed it a great deal.

After having been in California in March and April we feel that we have already experienced warm weather. But it is quite cool here and we have had lots of rain. In the month of May there was almost 20 inches of rain. We sure wish we could send some of this rain to our friends in California.

We actually do have some good medical news. Marilyn’s orthopedic doctor suggested that she trade in her beautiful pink cast for a much more comfortable splint. She can take it off when she takes a shower, and she can actually hold a fork or pen now. She will probably have it at least another 4 or 5 weeks.

Marilyn has also kept busy reading and editing a children’s book written by her friend June Durr. If you have children for whom you need to buy a Christmas present I highly recommend this book. It is called Grandma’s Amazing Arm. I believe it will be ideal for 7 and 8-year-olds as a gift for Christmas. I will let you know how to get it as soon as it is printed and released.

Thanks again for praying for us.

In His love,

Marilyn and Glen Heavilin

We arrived home safely on April 30, thanks to your prayers. Glen discovered on April 28 that a wheel was about to come off of the Dolly and the hub had been damaged seriously. We did something we had never done before, we stayed an extra day in Wichita so that we could get the hub fixed with the right people in place so that that could happen, and on April 30 we were all set to go. God even provided that a Cracker Barrel was nearby, so we could eat well and be extremely comfortable.

Hub and contents

Glen took this picture of the hub and its parts. There are supposed to be roller bearings to hold the wheel on the axle. The rollers are gone and the inner and outer races are almost gone. The end nut and washer were the only things holding the wheel to the dolly.

Before we left Redlands, we had the opportunity to go with Ken and Harriett Clark to see the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Endeavor spaceship. We had a wonderful day with the Clarks and were very grateful that Ken was able to do the driving because he knew where he was going.

We were all set to go to church last Sunday and truly looking forward to it, but about 3 o’clock in the morning Marilyn fell and had injuries that were quite severe. Because she had hit her head and Glen was very fearful of a brain bleed, Glen took Marilyn to the emergency room at the hospital immediately. The hospital staff did a CT scan and an x-ray of her wrist. The CT scan came out fine, but the x-ray showed a fracture of the wrist. The hospital put a huge splint on her wrist. Tuesday she exchanged the splint for a pretty pink cast which she is to wear for 6 weeks. The head was the most painful from her fall. She had an amazing sized goose egg on her head and the bruising is now moving down her face. Today her left eye is nearly swollen shut and the bruising is quite evident on her face. Now the doctors are trying to decide whether she should stay on the blood thinner Warfarin. The question is comparing the risk of a brain bleed from a fall against the risk of a stroke during an A-Fib event. Please pray for the doctors that they will have divine wisdom.

It has been great to see the kids again. The Attic Wolves are currently in New York, and Matt is with them. Matt hosted a dinner at our house on Wednesday evening. All we had to do was provide the Vernors and the desert. That was because he knew he would be gone for Mother’s Day. Debbie and the girls plan to meet us after church and take us to Cracker Barrel for a fried chicken dinner. That pleases Marilyn to no end.

All Marilyn wanted for Mother’s Day was lots of flowers, so she accompanied Glen on his excursion. Marilyn is now the proud recipient of about 6 dozen roses!

Thanks so much for supporting us in prayer.

Much love in Him,

Glen and Marilyn Heavilin

We’ve been in Redlands for about 2 weeks, and we have another 2 weeks to go. We plan to leave Redlands April 17 and we will arrive at our apartment in Kansas on May one. We are enjoying our time in Redlands and we have managed to see many people, the Briggs, the Lindens, the Clarks, Mike Cauthron and Rick Foster and their wives, the Stucks, and Jean Nease, and the Durrs. We have also enjoyed visiting our church, the 1^st Congregational Church of Redlands, and we have been able to visit it several times. The weather has been wonderful. It is hard to imagine in 70° to 90° weather that others are suffering in snow.

We have heard via email that our kids are doing fine, and we are grateful for the good reports from them.

There are some changes in Redlands, but for the most part, things have remained the same. Most of the old restaurants are still here. We have particularly enjoyed the In-N-Out Burger and Mimi’s restaurants.

Marilyn’s health has remained about the same, and reports from Walt, say that Karen is about the same as well. Thank you for all of your prayers for our safety and good health. We truly appreciate you remembering our needs.

Much love,

Glen and Marilyn

HE IS RISEN

HE IS RISEN INDEED

On March 16 our time in Morro Bay will end. The time is going very fast. Our visit has been very different this year. We have not been as busy. We aren’t as involved with the Cambria church since things are changing there. They have an interim pastor and the pastor whom we love dearly retired last year. The Cambria church is struggling over the decision of their denomination to allow ordination of practicing homosexuals. We however have little influence since we are not members of that church.

All of our churches are without a pastor, or have been during this past year. The Nazarene church that we attend in Olathe, Kansas was without a pastor for about 6 months but thankfully they have now found an excellent pastor. Our church in Redlands, First Congregational Church, is also without a pastor, and as we said, the church in Cambria is currently without a full-time pastor.

We had a wonderful visit from the Clarks and the Lindens and we will see our children, Mike and Mellyn the last weekend that we are here in Morro Bay. On March 13, Mike and Mellyn will celebrate their 33^nd wedding anniversary. We plan to then visit Redlands for one month and leave for Kansas on April 17.

We had a lovely time in memory of our boys. We took 2 very special friends, Beverly and Judy with us. It has been 32 years since Nathan died, but as Pres. Roosevelt said “this day shall live in infamy.” One thing we pray you will all understand about grief is that grief takes as long as it takes. Some days are frozen in time and January 5, June 25 and February 10 are frozen in time for us.

Marilyn’s brother Walt called today and Karen’s CA 125 is down in the 24 hundreds. Karen was able to drive to their son JD’s home, to celebrate his 29^th birthday. His daughter Aubrey was 1-year-old last October and they are expecting a 2^nd child in just a few months. Please pray with us that the child will be healthy and the delivery will be normal for JD’s wife, Beth.

We appreciate your prayers for our continued health and safety as we travel back to Kansas in a little more than a month.

Much love in Him,

Glen and Marilyn Heavilin

Morro Bay Sunset