Ask Shari Peggs if she’s a morning person and she’ll reply: “No, I’m an all-day person.”
Her boundless energy and upbeat personality have been a blessing to children at Green Bay Community Church for more than a decade.
Peggs happily volunteers her time in the 4- and 5-year-old preschool room on Sunday mornings. She also works with seventh graders on Wednesday nights and directs games for Vacation Bible School every summer.
“I really enjoy it,” said Peggs, who grew up in De Pere and is a lifelong area resident. “I want to make an impact in the children’s lives.”
Peggs’ volunteer work doesn’t stop with children. She also lends a hand as a Saturday Serve coordinator and recently went on a mission trip to Haiti.
She does it all with a smile on her face, and Peggs said her positive attitude is easy to explain.
“I know where I’m going,” she said. “I could die tonight and could be the happiest person in the world.”
Peggs knows she’s going to heaven because of her personal relationship with Jesus. But she didn’t always have that assurance. In the church she attended growing up, Peggs went every Sunday and hoped she did enough good works to please God.
Her spiritual path took a dramatic turn when her then boyfriend and now husband, Dave, asked her a profound question.
“He asked me point blank, are you going to go to heaven?” said Shari. “I said, ‘I should. I’m doing all the right stuff.’ He responded that wasn’t the box I needed to check. It kind of rocked my world.”
For the first time Peggs discovered that salvation wasn’t something she could earn through good works, but was assured by trusting in Jesus.
Soon after that, Shari and Dave started attending GBCC, where they were married in 1995. Out of a heart of gratitude to God, Shari has been serving in some capacity ever since.
“I wake up in the morning with an excitement of what’s up, what am I going to do, looking for the next thing,” she said. “I don’t know any other way.
“It just seems so natural to spend time with kids. I just really enjoy the innocence of youth. I want to make sure I’m a positive role model.”
She doesn’t serve out of compulsion or obligation. “I’m not doing it because I need to check a box,” she said. “I’m doing it because I just want to. I still don’t feel like I’m doing enough. I feel like I have so much to give.”
Cindy Vandermause, GBCC children’s ministry director, appreciates Shari's contributions. “Shari has such a servant heart and always has a smile and is joyful," Vandermause said. "The kids love her. She’s animated and fun. She’s just so willing to step in and use her gifts.”
Peggs works at a dental supply company in Green Bay and has three children: Madison (18), Austin (16) and Alivia (12). She would love to become a full-time volunteer someday.
“People ask me at work, ‘Don’t you want to be promoted, don’t you want to have the next job up?’” Peggs said. “I’m like, ‘No, I want to retire and just do volunteer work.’”
Peggs has also been coaching soccer in her spare time for the past 10 years. She knew absolutely nothing about the sport when she first accepted the challenge of coaching 17 young girls, including her daughter. Their team didn’t score a single goal until the final game of the season, which Peggs calls the “best game ever.”
So why did she agree to take on a task so far outside her comfort zone?
“They needed somebody,” Peggs said matter of factly. “So many times people just want to be asked. I think a lot of times people just need that prompting. They are scared to death to do it.”
Peggs now serves in an administrative role on a local soccer board and must recruit parents to coach.
“I’m very sad when I see parents say they don’t want to coach because they don’t know anything about soccer,” she said. “So many parents miss out because they want to sit on the sideline. Life is a vapor. Get off the sideline. I feel sorry for parents because of how much fun they’re missing out on.”
The same can be said for people who choose not to serve at church – they don’t know what they’re missing.
“Volunteering on Sunday mornings, I am charged up when I come here and I am charged up when I leave,” said Peggs. “It’s awesome. I don’t know how I can explain it. Until you do it, you don’t know.”
Peggs learned an important lesson during her trip to Haiti from Vapor regional director Christian Nkulikiye, who called himself a simple man that was being used by God.
“I’m a very simple person,” said Peggs. “My vocabulary is very simple. I don’t have all the biblical answers, but God can still use me. I don’t have to study up to get to a certain point. He can use me just the way I am.”
