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AROUND THE GARDEN with Margaret
Victorian Tea
IN THE KITCHEN with June

IN AND AROUND THE WORD with Zita

Many books, along with the Bible, have influenced

my spiritual understanding over the years. Years ago, the book titled, The Principles of Spiritual Growth by Miles J. Stanford, which was followed by all of John MacArthur’s Bible study notebooks, stimulated my desire to know more. I have spent hours enjoying and growing with J.I. Packer’s book, Knowing God; A.W. Tozer’s book, The Best of A.W. Tozer; and John MacArthur’s books, Our Sufficiency in Christ, Reckless Faith, and Alone with God.

Recently, because so many at Grace are facing

various types of trials and sufferings, I started re-reading

John MacArthur’s book, The Power of Suffering. How refreshing to read again that we need not rely on self-sufficiency during difficult times but depend on God’s sufficiency to endure. We must submit to His sovereign control in our lives (Romans 8:28 and Isaiah 45:7). When we have learned to trust God to the extent that Abraham did in Genesis 22, we become confident in any trial or suffering. God already knows what is in our heart concerning Him, and He may allow the difficulty so that we may know for certain what is in our heart. MacArthur further explains how we can be prepared for the trial when it comes, how to handle the suffering, and more importantly, the lessons and benefits derived from the experience, all of which are so fascinating and reassuring that one almost begs to endure such an experience. This is indeed a book worthy of your time!

AROUND THE GARDEN with Margaret

“He has made everything beautiful in its time...”

Ecclesiastes 3:11. We surely see that beauty as spring comes to our beautiful North State!

We do have some chores to do while we are out there admiring the beautiful things around us. This is the month to begin feeding the camellias, azaleas, rhododendrons, and ferns you have outside. We will be setting out tomatoes, peppers, annual and perennial flowers, and planting our vegetable gardens and any flower seeds that you might want to plant directly into your prepared seed bed. These would be zinnias, marigolds, asters, and cosmos, to name a few of the more familiar and hardy ones. The problem you might have with direct planting is feeding the birds each time one little seed sprouts! Ants, worms, and snails are also addicted to new tender plants. To make their life more difficult, sprinkle a little repellent for each type of pest directly over the newly planted beds; this will help to discourage them before the plants show, but be sure to continue keeping the repellent around all through the growing season.

After the spring-blooming bulbs are finished blooming and the flowers die off, wait until the leaves die before cutting them off; they are feeding the bulbs after the blooms are gone. A good side dressing of bulb fertilizer should be put on now, this will assure good blooms next spring. If you can leave them where they are planted they will develop more bulbs for more blooms in future years.

This month we are interested in books; those that have blessed, given help, or just provided pleasurable reading. Since we are into gardening I will give you a few books that have been a help to me, and I hope will be to you, too.

Sunset’s Western Garden Book, Sunset’s Pruning Book, which includes directions for pruning everything from houseplants to fruit trees, available at most large nurseries and some bookstores.

Gardening Made Easy, 444 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. Phone 1-800-954-5210. This is a subscription-type service in which they send a packet of loose-leaf cards with a large selection of how-tos, ideas, and helpful information regarding all that one needs for gardening. (I haven’t used the service in quite a long time, so hope this information is still good.) Sunset Magazine, Sunset Publishing Corporation, 80 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025. Garden Gate, 220 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50312-5340.

Victorian Tea

May 9

6:30 p.m.

Fellowship Hall

Each table will be beautifully decorated with fine china

and crystal. You will be served the delicacies of an authentic

Victorian tea.

FANtastic Woman

We will be meeting some FANtastic Women from the past.

Enjoy a gift give-away.

Have pictures taken with a friend or family member.

Each woman who comes will be given a fan and

will be instructed how to use it, had she been a woman in

“Victorian Days.”

This is a wonderful opportunity to invite an unchurched friend. Your friends will feel comfortable and enjoy the evening as much as you will.

IN THE KITCHEN with June

Our recipe this month is a special request by one of our women and comes to us from none other than our Pastor! Perhaps you have heard him mention from the pulpit making biscuits on Saturday mornings. While it is not a weekly Saturday morning occurrence, it is a tradition when any of the kids come home—they want Dad to make some of his famous biscuits! So why don’t you try making these for your family too—who knows, they might become a Saturday morning request around your home. . .

Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons flour
2 ½ t. baking powder
1 t. salt
¼ t. baking soda
5 T. shortening
¾ cup buttermilk

Mix together and roll out on floured board.

Cut out biscuits and place on baking sheet.

Bake at 400°   for 12-13 minutes or until golden brown.
Chef Alfredo Franco

If any of you have a recipe you want me to chase down from someone in the church family, let me know and I’ll try to include it on this page.

Parting words from Margaret: Have a wonderful spring and Resurrection Day celebration! Remember, He is Risen! He is Risen indeed