FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE

On Thursday, May 8th at 2:52 pm we welcomed our fourth child into the world, Hope Elizabeth Mercadante. Some say “familiarity breeds

contempt;” that is, if you do something enough times it becomes rote, joy-less and mechanical. Because we have three little Mercadante’s running around, one might think that bringing Hope into our home would be a matter of routine. Diapers and pacifiers and feeding and laundry and more diapers. We’ve done it before, we will do it again. Been there, done that.

That’s just not true with our Baby Hope.

When I held my youngest daughter for the first time and looked with relief at her healthy body, the sacred joys of parenthood and family were renewed. We were made aware once more of God’s beautiful design for our life. We are all “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). I cried. Emily cried. Hope cried. It was beautiful.

Baby Hope is a reminder that all human life is unique and sacred. God has a big plan for her life that only belongs to her. While she was in the womb, God was forming and shaping a plan for her life to “prosper” (Jeremiah 49:11). She will succeed and fail, laugh and cry, make good choices and bad. And while I do not know exactly where she will settle in life, I do know that my God will constantly call her into a deeper relationship with Himself through Jesus Christ. God’s plan for Baby Hope is to be glorified in her. That she will “do good deeds and glorify her Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Again, I do not know exactly what that is going to look life, but I know God has a plan for her life.

continued...

“Perhaps you need to be reminded today: God created you with a unique plan and

purpose.”

POPLAR RIDGE FRIENDS MEETING | JUNE 2014

Perhaps you need to be reminded today: God created you with a unique plan and purpose. As a potter carefully manipulates clay to form a pot that is to his satisfaction (Isaiah 64:8), you too were carefully and distinctively formed to please God. You are not an accident. You are not just floating through life until you meet your inevitable end. God has placed you in this community, with your family and your church for a purpose that can bring glory to Him. You are important, not because of your social status or education or influence, but because God Himself spent time

creating, forming and redeeming you to be an object of His glory.

If you think yourself too broken or frail or imperfect to enjoy God’s favor, just take a moment today to remember you are

loved by a Heavenly Father who takes tremendous pride in you and wants you to live into His wonderful plan for your life. “And HOPE does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit…” —Romans 5:5

In Christ,

Pastor Dave Mercadante

interested in donating items?

Go through your house and pack up everything you don’t want or need and bring to the Fellowship Hall BEFORE June 7th! (no pricing necessary) If you need help getting your stuff to the church, just call the church office at 861-5026 and we’ll make arrangements to come get it! The whole community, as well as our church family, are invited to come and give a donation for the items offered. Anything left over will go to our community outreaches such as COAT, World Relief, or the Pregnancy Care Center.

All proceeds from the rummage sale will help send out our Jamaica Mission Team in August.

In conjunction with the Radical Rummage Sale

on JUNE 7th,

please join us for…

Breakfast Ridge

Saturday morning 6:30-8:30 am

A “FREE” Community Breakfast

sponsored by the 2020 Facilities Priority Group

at the

A COMMUNITY BREAKFAST

FUNDRAISER

will be held the first Saturday of each month beginning August 2nd!

SUNDAY, JUNE 8th | 1:30—6:00 pm

in the Fellowship Hall

Schedule your appointment online at redcrossblood.org or contact the church office at 336.861.5026.

W e are excited to host the NCYM Serenity Youth Choir’s “rehearsal week” here at Poplar Ridge! HOUSING IS NEEDED FOR APPROXIMATELY 20 YOUTH (7th-12th graders) for four

nights (June 15-19). Each “host family” will be responsible for providing a place to sleep, breakfast each morning, and a ride to and from Poplar Ridge each day (alternate transportation

can be arranged). Practice will be held from 9am-9pm Monday through Thursday.

IF YOU CAN PROVIDE HOUSING or if you need additional information, please contact Tim Vestal at 847.2752 or email tim@prfriends.org.

MEALS FOR SERENITY

Kenda Strickland is arranging meals for Serenity during practice week

(4 lunches & 4 suppers).

If you or your Sunday School class can help with one of the meals,

please contact Kenda at 474.1465 or kendastrickland@gmail.com.

Seren i ty ’s f ina l concert wi l l be he ld here at Pop lar R idge on Sunday , June 29th , dur ing our 10 :45 am worsh ip serv ice ! Fo l lowing the concert , we wi l l en joy a COVERED DISH LUNCH in the Fe l lowsh ip Ha l l wi th the Seren i ty members and the ir fami l i es (br ing some extra food for our guests , too ! ) Our church fami ly is inv i ted and encouraged to jo in us on June 29th for th is awesome t ime of worsh ip !

JUNE

BIRTHDAYS

1 Sandy Eidenberger Allen Farlow Norman Nelson

2 Tabitha Bentley Sonja Smith

3 Samuel Farlow Jonathan Linthicum

4 Susan Harrison

5 John Bartlett Lawson Wolfe

6 Keith Gardiner Montanna Johnson

7 Ryan Davidson Hannah Johnson Pam Marshall

8 Charles Bunch

9 Ron Nelson Tommy Price

10 Artie Koonts

11 Linda Douglas

15 Archie Lanier Donna Moser Erika Pennington

16 Erin P. Nimmo

18 John Lindsey

19 Andrew Quate

20 Christi Anna Coats

23 Elise Pledger Talan Vestal

26 Nancy Skeen

29 Stephanie Kersey Ethan Whitaker

30 Vickie Cecil Myrna Nelson

Happy “belated” birthday to JOE FRAZIER! >> May 7th <<

Sorry we missed it!!

CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES!

We’re proud of you! HIGH SCHOOL COLLEGE

Zachary Neal Cory Bentley Emily Proctor Catie Neal Brandon Stetina Emily Proctor Chris Safriet Ashton Vance

DRESS A

GIRL AROUND

THE WORLD

PARTY!

JUNE 28th | 8:00 am—until we’re done!

Imagine a world where every little girl owned at least one dress! What if that dress was made by you? Help us change a life by sewing a simple dress for a girl in need.

Our seasoned seamstresses as well as our inexperienced dress

makers are encouraged to join us!!

Through DRESS A GIRL AROUND THE WORLD, we can sew a dress, collect $20 from a compassionate donor, and send to a needy little girl around the world. The donation of $20 per dress will go toward our Jamaica mission trip. It’s a win-win event!! (To learn more about this awesome ministry, visit

www.dressagirlaroundtheworld.com)

BRING THESE SUPPLIES WITH YOU ON JUNE 28TH:

fabric (light weight cotton, not too thin) hem tape thread scissors or pinking shears tape measure, 1/2, 5/8, 3/4 elastic 1/2” extra wide double fold tape (all colors) your sewing machine (if you have one) iron and ironing board

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 Children’s Ch. SS Promotion

Graduate Recognition Day

5-7pm-QL Event @ Poplar Ridge

6pm Wheatmore H.S. Baccalaureate

2

7pm Visitation Team Mtg

7pm

Boy Scouts

3 7pm

Ministry & Counsel

7pm

Finance Committee

4 6:30pm

Praise Team Practice

7pm

Prayer Mtg/Bible Study

5 6 7 6:30am-until Radical

Rummage Sale

6:30-8:30am Free

Community Breakfast

11am—Rep Body Meeting

@ Piney Woods

8

C.O.A.T. FOOD DRIVE

1:30-6pm

BLOOD DRIVE

9

7pm House & Grounds

7pm

Boy Scouts

10

7pm Monthly Meeting

11 6:30pm

Praise Team Practice

7pm

Prayer Mtg/Bible Study

12 13 14

15 Father’s

Day

8am—Q Men Breakfast

5pm—Serenity Registration & Rehearsal @ PR

16

Serenity Rehearsal

@ Poplar Ridge

7pm Boy Scouts

17

Serenity Rehearsal

@ Poplar Ridge

18 Serenity

Rehearsal @ Poplar Ridge

6:30pm Praise Team Practice

7pm—Prayer Mtg/Bible St.

19

Serenity Rehearsal

@ Poplar Ridge

20

Serenity Rehearsal

@ Poplar Ridge

21

22

Children’s Church

Serenity Tour begins

23 24

7pm Cora Lee Johnson Circle

25 6:30pm

Praise Team Practice

7pm

Prayer Mtg/Bible Study

26 27 28

8am-until Dress Party

Jamaica Mission Trip Fundraiser

29 10:45am Serenity Concert

@ PR

12 noon Covered Dish

Lunch

30

7pm Boy Scouts

June 2014

quaker lake summer camp staff

Christian Allen Kendra Smith Courtney Smith

ncym serenity youth choir

Logan Allen Drake Phillips Lane Blalock Emily Proctor Alan Byrd Austin Quate Miguel Castillo Daniel Saldierna Allison Dark Paul Stetina Jonathan Linthicum Tim Vestal (Director) Zach Neal Shelby Westbrook

SERENITY 2014 TOUR SCHEDULE

June 22 10:30 am Bethel Friends 7:30 pm Quaker Lake Camp June 23 7:00 pm Hughesville Evangelical Friends (Pennsylvania) June 25 7:00 pm Archdale Friends June 26 tba Rhodes Friends June 27 7:00 pm Union Cross Friends June 28 7:00 pm Centre Friends June 29 10:45 am Poplar Ridge Friends

SOS (service over self) youth mission trip — Memphis, TN

Kaitlyn Kropelnicki Kelley Sheffield Jonathan Linthicum Aaron Vann Kimberly Linthicum Tim Vestal Timmy Moser Daniel Whitaker Tyler Moser Jake Whitaker Austin Quate Lisa Whitaker Lindsay Safriet

ncym SOUL staff—jamaica

Allison Dark

poplar ridge jamaica mission team

Christi Anna Coats John Partin

Michael Coats Melissa Partin

Keith Gardiner De Ribas

Susan Gardiner Ed Smith

Martha Harb Wendy Smith

Amy Howard Kenda Strickland

Dave Mercadante Tim Quate

Catie Neal Eddie Willard

short-term mission trip to jamaica (february 2014)

Dave Mercadante John Partin

ncym young adult jamaica work team (march 2014)

Christian Allen Travis Byrd Allison Dark

June 15 -29 Seren i ty Pract ice /Tour June 29 Seren i ty Concert @ PR Ju ly 19 -26 SOS Miss ions Tr ip Ju ly 27 -31 VBS (he lp i f you can ! ) Aug 17 Youth s tarts back Aug 23 Youth Tubing Tr ip Aug 25 H.S. L IFE Group beg ins

Be sure to PRAY for all those participating in summer missions!

2 summer events coming up!!

❶ Pool Party @

Cindy Grubb’s mom’s house Thurs., July 10 | 6:30-8:30pm

❷ Swimming @

Homeplace Recreational Park (Ararat, North Carolina)

Sat., August 16 | 8:30am-4pm

WHEATMORE HIGH SCHOOL PRAYER CALENDAR

| Poplar Ridge Friends Meeting

JUNE 2014

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 Norman Askew Sheila Atkins Kim Barkley

2 Luke Barnes

Michael Barnes Will Benner

3 Linda Binkley

Crystal Blackwelder Mark Blake

4 Tember Blevins

Becky Blue Ashley Boyles

5 Jason Bradley Danny Brock

Elizabeth Brown

6 Tina Bullin Bill Buskirk

Janis Buskirk

7 Holly Carter

Desmond Coble Nena Cribbs

8 Kevin Curry

Michael Cutts Tonya

Daughenbaugh

9 Andrea Davis Helen Davis

Sarah Downey Adam Duncan

10 Nicole Duncan Pam Eastridge

Janice Gallimore

11 Lisa Garcia Brett Garrett

Michelle Giehll

12 Rick Halo

Karen Hawkins Crystal

Hazelwood

13 Lora Hill

Brian Hodgin Jeff Howard

14 Bruce Hunt Mark Hyde Kelly Ivey

15 Lesley Jessup Eric Johnson Elane Jones

16 Burton Kesler

Brian Key Peter Kilcullen Jeanine Kube

17 Melissa Ledford

Roy Lowder Jim Luetjen

18 Tony Martin Debra Cox McDowell

Lisa Mishoe

19 Laura Monroe Allison Mosley Julie Needham

20 Jessica Ogles

Christy Overcash Elizabeth Palma

21 Jose Palma

Jie Peng Nathan Phillips

22 Christina Pierce Jessica Pisciotta Brandon Poteat

23 Michael Ranew

Aaron Robertson SueAnn Safriet

24 Karl Siebens Kaitlin Smith

Mindy Spainhour

25 David Spell

Becky Spencer Amy Stewart

26 Kathy Sumner

Jade Tolles Cheryl Traylor

27 Sandi Trotter Mandy Tuggle MaryAnn Vinay

28 Virginia Washburn

Alison Welch Parker Welch

29 Melinda Wheeler

Stephanie Whitehart

Kim Wilkes

30

Misty Wolfe Phillip Yarbrough

ONLINE REGISTRATION COMING SOON!

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL >>> July 27-31, 2014

Contact Us. POPLAR RIDGE FRIENDS MEETING 3673 Hoover Hill Road Trinity, NC 27370 Church Office: 336.861.5026

Mon—Thurs: 8am-4:30pm Friday: 8am-2:30pm Email: poplarridge@prfriends.org

Visit us on the web at

prfriends.org 9:30 am—SUNDAY SCHOOL 10:45 am—WORSHIP

Senior Pastor: David Mercadante

Associate Pastor: Brian Donley

Youth & Family Pastor: Tim Vestal

Children’s Pastor: Leslie Toth

Administrative Assistant: Paula Allen

PURPOSE STATEMENT:

To develop devoted followers of Jesus Christ

MISSION STATEMENT:

Connecting a new generation to their lifelong purpose in Christ

NEWSLETTER DEADLINE: 3rd Sunday of each month

If you would like to receive The Poplar Leaf by email, please contact the church office.

3-in-1 Summertime Evening (Jamaica Fundraiser) July 12

Southern Quarter Revival July 13-16

Vacation Bible School July 27-31

Community Breakfast (FEC Fundraiser) August 2

Jamaica Mission Trip August 3-

Ladies, you don’t want to miss this! Our next BETH MOORE Bible study will be held on Saturday mornings >>> September 20—November 8. We’ll be looking at “Children of the Day: 1 & 2 Thessalonians.” Go ahead and make plans to attend this incredible study with us!