Congratulations Mary Zach!

 

Percival Community Church                   

June 2nd  from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Please join us as we congratulate Mary Zach on her retirement from her 36 years of teaching.  Thank you Mary for making a difference in the lives of many students!

Secretary Snippets

Spring has sprung, albeit late this year.  In regards to the church front yard it is just as well; the Board is slow in organizing a work party and developing a design for the small garden area.  Nancy Newlon, a Master Gardner, is being prevailed upon for supervision.  We also are looking at a church yard in Hamburg, which has river rock in a reportedly pleasant manner, around hardy plants.  As reported before, peonies and day lilies have been considered and Jerry Birkby suggested a tulip tree to replace the one that needed removal, planted long ago to honor veterans.  However, a less expensive means of obtaining such flora than at the major garden centers is the aim of the church.  Once ready for action, there will be an announcement on Sunday as to when and how we can get together and start digging dirt.

Phyllis Layman made beautiful May Baskets with friends supplying candy. They were shared with some very special people who were very appreciative.

The men served a wonderful coffee before the service on Mother’s Day. A big thank you to them!  At the end of the month Pastor Blaine will not be with us on Memorial Day.  Expect a diversion from the usual Sunday service that weekend.

I can’t wait to see what the April showers bring forth.  A lot of color hopefully!

Respectfully,

Marcia Little, Board Secretary

This and That

Well if April showers bring May flowers we should have a lot of beauty surrounding us next month from just the rain the last couple of days.  I certainly hope so anyway.  Right now I am enjoying being able to see as much green as I can.  We lost a lot of lawn at the plaza last year because of no rain so we are trying to get the lawn there back.  My maintenance man there is on a mission.  Scott is on a similar mission at home to have a pristine front yard.  I am just a spectator in all of this and am enjoying that roll very much.  The only thing in our new yard is two pine trees and one of them needs to go so I have a blank slate to work with and no idea what to do.  At the old house I never had a problem.  I knew just what I wanted it and where I wanted it to go but I grew up being in that yard so it was very familiar.  This is not.  I’m thinking I’m going to just plant my pots this year and get more familiar with my new yard before I go planting a bunch of stuff.  I think maybe this is a new lesson learned for me.  I need to sometimes take more time to observe and reflect before jumping into something.  There are things we all maybe should think about and pray about before we dive into something that could be totally wrong for us.  Just like Pastor Blaine shared in his sermon the other day.  Our prayers will always be answered.  We have to take the time to wait and find out what the answer is.  It could be yes, no, maybe,  or not now but we have to be ready to accept the direction we are being led.

Paul Bennett, Board President

Pastor’s Thoughts

Regardless of weather, circumstances, the world or a particular occurrence in our life; remembering and repeating it at the dawn of every new day will give us energy and optimism.  Here is the answer to discouragement, to anxiety, negative feelings, pressures and fears.  It gives us reason to look upward and beyond all the limits and troubling concerns that often lay so heavy on and in our hearts.  What this Psalm says to me personally, is this, “Look for the blessing, Blaine.”  Each and every day look for the blessings of God.  If I delight in the moments and hours of my day I will discover at least one blessing and probably more as the day progresses and I am open to the Spirit and the presence of God in the midst of my day.  For God desires to demonstrate His love for me in tangible ways.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never end, and are new each morning.  Great is God’s faithfulness.  We are to look for the blessings in life rather than the burdens.  For the burdens and trials can, if allowed, stop our joy, but seeing God in our day can turn a burden into a blessing.  When our day seems filled with more problems than possibilities, maybe our response should be to turn that problem into a blessing.  We need to focus our days on others and offer ourselves to the people around us as a gift of friendship, caring, encouragement and help.  For God’s people are commanded to share a tear and rejoice with one another and seek comfort and strength in our common faith and love of God in Christ.  This is particularly important to our church family.  I offer this simple Council to each of you and to me, to look for a blessing.  For in our looking we will find God’s presence in each and every day.

Pastor Blaine

Happy Mother’s Day!

Today we had a very nice Mother’s Day coffee served to us by the men.  The tables looked so nice with the beautiful flower vases.

 

Just look at the yummy treats made just for us.

The we each got to take home a very pretty Gerber Daisy.  A big thank you to the men for serving us this morning and to Paul for the beautiful flowers.

Her children rise up and bless her, her husband also.   Proverbs 31:27-28

Students of the Month for 2013

Congratulations to all our students of the month.  Some of you are graduating and will be pursuing career goals or filling out resumes and job applications.  Others will find summer employment and continue their education in the fall.   Still others may simply take a summer break, travel, or leisurely do nothing at all.  Whatever your plans in the months ahead, we hope you experience the joy of living life to the fullest.

Jacob Raymond                                                        
Katie Johnson
Joel Delong
Ethan Burge
Doug Raymond
Garett Graham
Aaron Zach
Aaron Tiemeyer
Maggie Johnson


                                                                           

Student of the Month…Maggie Johnson

Maggie is the daughter of Brian & Kelly Johnson and granddaughter of Lynn & Barb Handy.
The Percival Church Congregation and its lovely members:
I hope all is well in the congregation down in Percival.  Five hours can seem a whole world away for a college student in Iowa City.  I would first like to thank you all for the generous donation to my studies.  I think it is a very personal and warming gift of support to receive for the students of the congregation from our home town.  I am sure the money will go towards class or a ridiculously over-priced textbook.
I received instructions to reveal some details about my degree and progress here at Iowa as well as some of my favorite activities or hobbies in this stage of my life.  I am presently a German and Anthropology double major with a minor in Dance.  I only decided to this past semester to audition for the university’s Dance Department Program, and I recently received my letter of acceptance.  I have been dancing for the university this past year and have truly enjoyed it.  I will be performing in a small-scale choreographed piece for one of my fellow students this weekend.
With such an excessive, I am very busy with school. I, am however, planning on graduating in 2 years.  Hopefully I will continue on to graduate school.  As of now, the Colorado and Oregon regions are extremely appealing to me.  Outside of my studies, I work at the Iowa Public Library, and this is a great part-time job in which I have the pleasure of being surrounded by books and fellow book-lovers.  I have also discovered a love of cooking here in college.  I am baking and cooking dinner from scratch for my friends here.  My favorite recipe thus far is white wine risotto with artichoke, pine nuts, and cherry tomatoes.
I will be in Iowa City again this summer, but hope on my visits home to see some of your familiar, comforting faces.  Thank you again for all of your continuing love and support.
Yours, Maggie
Maggie-johnson@uiowa.edu
The congregation of Perival Community Church wishes Maggie every success in this academic year.

Happy May!

I apologize for being late in getting the May information out. There has been a slight delay.   I will post as soon as I receive it.  Have a great day!