First Thankful List in May

First on my list is that the Bible Reading Schedules for May were sent out last week to our church members in time for everybody to receive them before May 1. Along with the schedules went the following poem, which I found in a hymnbook and thought everyone would like this reminder for their reading schedule. We are in Exodus during the month of May, and should finish with Exodus with the June schedules. The poem is as follows”


Holy Bible, book divine,
Precious treasure, thou art mine;
Mine to tell me whence I came;
Mine to teach me what I am;

Mine to chide me when I rove;
Mine to show a Saviour’s love;
Mine thou art to guide and guard;
Mine to punish or reward;

Mine to comfort in distress,
Suff’ring in this wilderness;
Mine to show by living faith,
Man can triumph over death;

Mine to tell of joys to come,
And the rebel sinner’s doom’
O thou holy book divine,
Precious treasure thou art mine.

John Burton, 1803

2. Along with the schedule and the poem went also the updated address lists for friends and members of Barker Avenue Primitive Baptist Church. There were several changes from the first time I sent these out this year, only a few months ago, but I had a lot of editing help from folks who saw changes that needed to be made, and we had lost one dear member who was removed from the list. I’m so glad to have this done . . . at least until further corrections need to be made.
3. I was able to remove the wilted yellow tulips that I had taken for the concrete urns in front of the church at Easter, and replace them with white Dahlias, which look a lot better. I was glad to have this taken care of before Sunday. I had noticed them needing changing earlier, but was unable to get to this little task before. I’m glad I got to it last week.
4. Our Spinach is growing profusely, and twice my husband has harvested a mess of them, stemmed them, and washed them and spin-dried them, then put them in a zip-loc bag in the refrigerator, ready for cooking or a salad. I think I’ve had two salads and I’ve cooked some, adding garlic to the bacon I fried first, then put in the spinach and some chicken broth. My husband, who wasn’t sure about the spinach being planted (but did so at my request) has now become a fan of it! More will be ready soon in the garden. I needed a quick sandwich for supper last night, and all I had in the fridge for sandwiches was bologna, so I fixed myself a bologna sandwich and added a few leaves of spinach for a green aspect to the meal, as well as some crunch to the otherwise bland meal, and it was surprisingly good!

5. Since we plan to be away the last of May, I’ve been working on the June Bible Reading schedules, and have them printed off and the envelopes addressed. They may have to be sent from Gatlinburg in Tennessee where we’ve planned a little getaway. The Gaither Family Fest is to be held then, and we have reservations next door to the concert venue. Dr. Ravi Zacharias is also scheduled to be there and talk on Saturday, and we have learned much from this very able Bible man, so we’re also looking forward to that.

Must close here, and get ready for a cooking class tonight. One of my favorite Chef Instructors will be teaching about “Sauces” tonight. The last class I took from her she had on the menu “Blackeyed Pea Salad”, and it was very good. I’ve been a little under the weather recently, so I’m not sure how long I’ll last in class, but hopefully at least until I get to eat some of the goodies.

Love to all,
Elaine