Saturday, May 31, 2008

Happy Anniversary!

May 31 is a day of multiple anniversaries in the Peak family. Unfortunately I don't have any digital pictures at hand for any of these events. If I find some later on, I'll post them. In the meantime, just use your mind's eye to join us in these celebrations.

5 years ago: on May 31, 2003 Rebecca and I were ordained Elders in the United Methodist Church. The ordination took place at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Mo.

10 years ago: on May 31, 1998 Rebecca and I were ordained Deacons in the United Methodist Church. Although the definition of "Deacon" has since changed, at the time it was a first-step towards full ordination in the UMC. The ordination took place at the Missouri United Methodist Church in Columbia, Mo.

17 years ago: on May 31, 1991 my father Lloyd S. Peak retired after more than 25 years of teaching chemistry and pysical science at MiraCosta College in Carlsbad, Calif.

Please join us in celebrating these special milestones in our lives!

Labels: , ,

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

TPT: Live in the Moment

In a post dated April 28, 2008, I indicated that from time-to-time I would be sharing a "Power Thought" on this blog. If I find something particularly inspiring, why not share it with others who may find it equally inspiring! Yet I got to thinking--so far, every time I've posted an inspiring thought I have always used the title "Today's Power Thought." After a while it might be confusing to have post-after-post-after-post titled "Today's Power Thought." PLUS, if there was ever a thought that you wanted to go back and reference, you'd have to go back and read through every post under the title "Today's Power Thought" to find it.

So here is what I'm going to do. In the title line you will find "TPT". As you can guess, that stands for "Today's Power Thought". Following "TPT" will be a few words to describe the subject of the power thought. Hopefully this new title format will make it easier to read and access these words of wisdom and inspiration.

Today's Power Thought comes from actor, game show host, Dancing with the Stars winner, and philanthropist John O'Hurley.

The following is culled from a interview he gave in the May/June 2008 issue of Positive Thinking.

"The fundamental lesson is that dogs live in the present moment. The greatest gift that we can give ourselves is to live in the present moment and not live with a sense of regret or expectation. You'd be surprised how rich everything can be if you don't worry about the future or the past. I think that's the thing that dogs teach us."

Woof, woof!

Labels: , , ,

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Solution to High Gas Prices

My friend Jennifer Dale has come up with the perfect solution to high gasoline prices. Check it out:



Yes, a railroad handcar! Just think of the benefits:

1. No gasoline needed. It's entirely human powered.
2. No emissions, other than what might emanate from the humans powering it!
3. A great form of exercise.
4. Steel wheels on steel rails = a much faster ride than you might get from a bicycle (rubber tires on pavement or gravel).
5. If you time your travels just right, you might get a "boost" from a train going in your same direction!

A big thank you to Jennifer Dale for coming up with an environmentally friendly and healthful way to deal with the ever-worsening gasoline crunch.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

A New Appointment

Some of you are familiar with the United Methodist system of church government, while others can’t make “heads nor tails” of it. (And even some of us United Methodists can’t always make sense of it!) So please bear with me as I share the following, keeping in mind that I am attempting to address a diverse audience.

Unlike many churches where pastors are “hired and fired” by the individual congregations, in the United Methodist Church (UMC) pastors are appointed to their churches (a.k.a. “appointments”) by their regional Bishop. Each spring, pastors wait to hear if they will remain in their current appointment, or if they will be invited to move to a different appointment. When a pastor is invited to move, the new appointment takes effect July 1 of that year. “Moving Week”—when pastors move from their old appointment to their new one—is usually the 3rd or 4th week in June.

My wife Rebecca has been pastor of Palmyra UMC for the past four years. In April Rebecca was asked if she would consider serving Park UMC in Hannibal. I, on the other hand, was asked to continue serving at Monroe City & Mt. Vernon UM churches. Currently we live in the Palmyra UMC parsonage, approximately 20 miles away from Monroe City. If we accepted this appointment, we would be moving to the Park UMC parsonage in Hannibal, approximately 17 miles from Monroe City.

After much prayer and discernment, Rebecca and I said “yes” to this new appointment. So now the fun begins! Even though we will only be moving about 15 miles away from where we live now, we will be busy from now to the end of June. In a few weeks, our house will be full of boxes. The movers will come sometime during the last week of June, and then we’ll have the challenge of getting settled into a new house.

I’ll keep all of you posted as things progress. In a future post I will give our new address and phone number. Fortunately our email addresses and cell phone numbers will remain the same. So please keep us in your prayers as we prepare for this move.

Labels: , ,