30 Things 

1. I have never even tried smoking, pot, or any kind of drugs. Never. Ever. Really. I don’t need it.
2. I have never been drunk. I don’t feel my life has been damaged or deprived in any way. 
3. I have done many things of which I am ashamed. 
4. I have spent 29 years with one woman, never had sex with anyone else and I feel damn lucky.
5. I had 2 college professors that told me I wasn’t good enough, I believed them and quit. I desperately wish I hadn’t. 
6. I love my country, but I think it’s been ruined by professional politicians and the media. I don’t know if it can be fixed. 
7. I spent 20 years of my life working at churches, mostly with student and worship ministry. I use to think about planting a church, but I don’t think I have the qualities to succeed. I have seen what pastors must do and it is unattractive to me now. 
8. I feel closest to God when I am doing mission work or serving in my community. I am in a bible study that is my church. 
9. I wish I could make more money only so I could give more.
10. I think it is incredible that thousands of children die everyday from preventable causes simply because they are poor. Why do we do nothing? 
11. I have been to third world countries and I know that even in my meager income bracket, I am rich. I feel some animosity toward people who use their wealth only for themselves when they could help so many.
12. I think sports in schools are a distraction. I think public schools need a epic overhaul. Teachers union won’t allow it.
13. I think many sports have been ruined by performance enhancing drugs, unscrupulous thugs who can perform but have no moral character and high dollar contracts. 
14. I have done prison ministry for a number of years, I think prisons are too nice. I also think there needs to be a system of restitution for victims.
15. I spend most of my free time reading, writing and playing musical instruments. 
16. I have kept a journal since my first son, Adam, was born in 1989.  I have always enjoyed writing and the simple idea of pencil on paper. 
17. I believe that we are part of an actual spiritual battle with angels and demons.
18. I have been a salesperson and a debt collector and I have very little patience with them. 
19. I am not very patient and I don’t suffer fools well. 
20. I tend to be very polite unless I'm pissed off. 
21. I forgave my Dad for all the cruel things he said to me. I still haven’t forgotten them. 
22. I can’t go back to the places I have worked and lived, it feels like walking over my own grave. Too many regrets. 
23. My wife learned she had leukemia in the summer of 2006. I have lived in fear since then even though her medication seems to have it under control. 
24. I have recently decided that I want to travel the world and live in other countries. 
25. I have never been arrested, never been the cause of an accident, never had a speeding ticket. 
26. It is hard to be a fat guy missionary in a country of skinny people.
27. In 2009 I discovered I had Type 2 diabetes, I hate needles. I began to change my lifestyle of eating and exercise and I came to a point when I could regulate my blood sugar with oral meds and exercise. I have lost over 150 pounds since then. 
28. I use to believe that if you worked for other people, you would never make what you were worth. I believed that self-employment was the only way to earn what you were worth. I have learned without a degree, that is true.
29. I worked with Hospice as a chaplain, I believe the terminally ill should have the freedom to die with dignity and free from pain and it’s nobody else’s business. However, Jack Kevorkian was a self-promoting ass.
30. We home schooled our boys and I am confident we have produced 2 damn fine men. 

~ Jeff Peters