2005 Christmas letter from the Peck family
December 25, 2005

Dear family and friends,

Merry Christmas from Randy, Julia, Caren, and Robbie Peck!

At the start of 2005, I chose Jeremiah 33:3 as my theme verse, and what God did in our family and ministry was truly incredible. In Jeremiah 33:3, God promises, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

This year started off far different than any other. On December 31, 2004, my dream team (Christian accountability group), called Team HOPE, met for the first time ever to establish far-reaching team goals along with a strategy to accomplish those. In addition to agreeing to establish habits to abide in Jesus more deeply, we agreed to work together to make Virginia the brightest light in the world by 2007, the year the world celebrates the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, the birthplace of English-speaking America and the place where Christianity first got rooted in America.

God blessed Julia with a great year and good health. Julia’s two greatest passions are fitness and graphical design. Julia won numerous running and triathlon events for her age group. Her triathlon team, called “Splash, Dash, and No Road Rash,” placed first again in the coed division at the Lake Anna half Ironman triathlon (swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, and run 13 miles), eclipsing nearly 30 minutes off their record from last year. Julia organized a few fund-raising races as well.

Julia had a variety of part-time jobs in 2005, including teaching skiing, kickboxing, and Tai Chi, serving as a personal trainer, doing graphical design, and working at Cameron Street Coffee House. She was promoted to manager at Cameron Street Coffee House, now supervising more than ten other people.

Caren is 20 and in her 3rd year at the College of William and Mary. She is in the Business School, majoring in accounting. During all of 2005, Caren served in a leadership position with Intervarsity at W&M, overseeing both the weekly newsletter and the website. In the Spring, she went to Honduras for her first foreign mission trip. For more than a year, Caren has been dating Aaron Roth, a wonderful Christian young man who graduated from W&M in May. Caren’s roommate at college for the third consecutive year is Bethany Stackhouse, a dear friend. For the entire Spring semester of 2006, Caren will be doing a study abroad program in Florence Italy. Recently, she was blessed to be hired to do an apprenticeship with a large accounting firm in Northern Virginia for eight weeks in the summer of 2006.

Robbie is 18 and graduated from Culpeper High School in June 2005. He has completed his first semester in the School of Engineering at the University of Virginia. His desire is to be an entrepreneur in the computer/technology field. Robbie has been dating Danielle Ruffo for several months now. In the Spring, Robbie was active with Young Life and played varsity soccer for the high school team. In the summer, he took it easy and attended a week long Young Life camp at Lake Champion in New York. He is learning to play guitar. Both Caren and Robbie worked part-time for my in the summer.

During all of 2005, Randy and Julia were blessed to be actively involved with Soul Purpose Church, a new church plant in Bealeton Virginia. See http://www.soulpurposechurch.org/.

Special trips in 2005 included one to the Dominican Republic in June for Randy and Julia to celebrate their 24th anniversary and a family beach vacation in Duck NC in July.

The best word to sum up this year for me is "LIFE" - I have never felt more alive in my life. Coming to a deeper understanding of who Jesus really is and how much He loves me fills me with endless joy. O, I still have problems and trials, but how I handle them is so much different. I also frequently weep when I learn about and pray for problems, trials, and suffering that so many other people are experiencing. But fortunately I know I serve a God of hope, a God with real answers to real problems.

I love Christmas time. I always have because I grew up in a loving home where my parents made Christmas fun. The true miracle of Christmas, the birth of Jesus, became a reality for me on January 6, 2001 when I committed my life to Jesus. Jesus is the reason for the season - He’s why love and joy abound. For me, every day is Christmas with Jesus in my heart.

As I practice the presence of God, thankfulness dominates my prayers. It’s less about me and more about Him. It’s wonderful to approach each day with an attitude of gratitude. Jesus is in the transformation business. He transformed me and then He transformed my family. Since devoting my life to Him, I have experienced so much excitement and so many surprises that I frequently feel like I’m playing the lead role in an Indiana Jones movie.

Julia has never seemed more beautiful to me. We delight in our two kids. I thank God that my father and mother and Julia’s mom live near by and that we still have the opportunity to visit and honor them. I’m thankful for all the new people I met this year and for all people who show their appreciation when I help them.

I started this year meeting with my three Christian accountability group partners. For the first time ever, we set team goals, which helped all of us accomplish much more. One physical goal I set and achieved was to compete in a 56 mile bike race as part of a half-Ironman team triathlon. My longest bike race previously was 35 miles and that was years ago.

What do I do for a living now? There are several correct answers. One is that I’m a part-time anesthesiologist and part-time entrepreneur. I’m also a marketplace minister, an ambassador for a king - Jesus. Recently I realized I’m a farmer because every day is an opportunity to sow good seeds of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control - all fruit of the Spirit. Since "what you sow is what you reap," I know these good seeds will result in either good fruit or no fruit, but never bad fruit.

My two favorite trips this year were my mission trip to Argentina in October and a visit to Elk River Minnesota in November, both for Harvest Evangelism conferences. See http://www.harvestevan.org/. Two words sum up those trips - "extraordinary miracles." My trip to Argentina was my first ever south of the equator. Of all the great people I met, things I saw, and wonderful experiences I had, my favorite was Jack Serra’s 30 minute presentation titled "Marketplace, Marriage, and Revival." Jack said "The businessman’s ministry in the marketplace will only advance to the extent that his marriage permits." What he taught hit home to me like a ton of bricks.

During the first eleven months of 2005, I had the privilege to host A Life of Blessing, a Christian TV show airing on a secular cable TV station in the Culpeper and Piedmont community. The show was temporarily stopped at the end of November when God made it clear that Julia and I were to stop funding this ourselves. I believe God is opening a gate for a world-wide TV and media ministry. I just need to slow down to rest, abide in Jesus more deeply, and wait for God to reveal His path and His ways.

Be blessed to know that "Jesus loves you!" and “God has a wonderful plan for your life!”

Wishing you a Christ-centered, memory-filled Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Randy
“Blessed to be a blessing”

Why do I need God?