Category Archives for "Christmas season"

Third Sunday of Advent: Joy

But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

Psalm 5:11

This is a picture of JOY.  Not what you expected?  Let me explain.

This is a picture of our Seeing Eye dog, Irwin.  We are fostering him until he goes to school in another month or two.  This picture was taken after we first got him about a year ago when he was seven weeks old.  Everyone is pretty happy and joyful when Irwin arrived.  But there was another type of “joy” we experienced as he became part of family.

Whenever I came home from work for the first few months, Irwin would run to the door to greet me.  He was always so excited that he would lose control and pee on the floor and sometimes on me.  I’m not sure if animals experience true “joy”, but it seems to me our puppy was experiencing uncontrollable happiness whenever I returned.  I don’t know that we’ll pee ourselves, but I have to believe we will experience an uncontrollable joy when Christ returns.

If you come from a more traditional church background, you probably will be lighting the third candle on the church’s advent wreath.  Today is the third Sunday of Advent.  Many people around the world will be talking about joy.  Today’s verse above talks about an everlasting joy that comes to those who take refuge in God.  When we sing Joy To The World at Christmas time, it’s not about the joy of a new puppy or a new baby. Christmas is about a joy that can only come through a Savior.  May you know joy this season in a new way as we anticipate Christ’s return.

How have you experienced joy this week?

Today, I’m hooking up with The Sunday Community and Fresh Brewed Sundays.  Hop on over here and here to see what I’m talking about.

(To set your mind at ease, Irwin doesn’t pee on me anymore.  We think he’s going to be a great Seeing Eye Guide Dog.)

 

Ice Breaker – Top 5 Christmas Movies

Each week on The Stretched Blog, we ask an ice breaker question.  The questions are designed to help us get to know each other here in The Stretched Community.  I’ll provide my answer to the question here in the post, and then you can leave your response in the comments.  While you’re in the comments section, see how others answered the ice breaker question.

This week’s question is designed to get you in the holiday spirit.  The Christmas movies are starting to show up on television.  It’s time to schedule time to watch your favorite movies.  Today’s Ice Breaker will get you thinking, so you can properly prepare.  Have fun!

Question:  Name your top 5 Christmas movies.

My Answer:  I’m sure I could come up with more than 5, but I have to start somewhere.  Here you go:

(1)  It’s A Wonderful Life – What can I say?  This is my favorite Christmas movie by far.  I’ve always enjoyed watching this movie on Christmas Eve.  There’s something about being reminded every year that I have a wonderful life.

(2)  A Christmas Story – Many of us could probably recite the lines from this movie.  Believe it or not, I looked like Ralphie from that movie when I was a young kid.

(3)  Christmas Vacation – If you need a good laugh during the holidays, this is a great place to turn.

(4)  Polar Express – The animation, the music, and the story make this one of my favorites.  You gotta’ believe!

(5)  Christmas With The Kranks – This is one of our families favorites based on Skipping Christmas by John Grisham.  (If you get a chance, read the book.  It’s a great book!)  I love the ending of this movie when the community unites together to help the Kranks.

Honorable Mention:  Elf, Home Alone, The Santa Clause, and The Muppets Christmas Carol

There you have it – my answer.  Now, it’s your turn.  Answer this week’s ice breaker question by leaving a comment.  I look forward to reading your response!

December 2011 Top Posts

We’ve reached the end of another month.  December was the BEST month so far at Jon Stolpe Stretched.  Traffic on the blog increased slightly by over 500 page views since November and by almost 300 page views since the previous record month (September 2011)!  Comments continued to roll-in.  And new people joined in the conversation and community.  The blog added TWELVE new subscribers, and the Jon Stolpe Stretched Facebook Page attracted a couple of new followers in its fourth month.  Here are the top 10 posts and top 3 commentors for the month:

Top 10 Posts

1.  On Fire

2.  Ice Breaker – Christmas Movies (the new #1 Ice Breaker question)

3.  Ice Breaker – Christmas Songs and Carols

4.  Surprise!!!

5.  Our Christmas Ornament Tradition

6.  Ice Breaker – On The 13th Day Of Christmas What Gift Are You Hoping to Get

7.  Ten Things Every Small Group Leader Should Know (originally posted on October 24, 2011)

8.  Ice Breaker – Favorite Toy

9.  Leaders Are Readers – Creating My Reading List For 2012

10.  It’s 40!

Top 3 Commentors (We blew by the 1,500th comment mark this month!)

1.  Larry Carter (for the 2nd month in a row!)

2.  Brandon Gilliland

3.  Bill Grandi

I now have 32 regular subscribers.  If you’d like to become a subscriber, see the “Join the Stretched Community” window on your right.  It’s great to see this starting to take off.

Thank you to all of you for reading and contributing to the blog and to the reader community.  I continue to grow a lot through this experience.  *** This month, the top commentor will receive a copy of The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson.  Get your comments in for an opportunity to win!!! ***

As always, I love to share your “stretching” stories on my blog, so leave me a comment if you’re interested in being a guest blogger on Jon Stolpe Stretched.  As a side note, I’d love to see guest bloggers in the monthly top 10 list!

Finally, if you’re a blogger, how did your blog to this month?  What was your top post?  What was your favorite post?

Ice Breaker – Resolutions

Okay, here it is!  The last ice breaker question of 2011!  I started these ice breaker questions a couple of months ago, and I’ve been amazed at the popularity and response.  The Ice Breaker question a few weeks ago about Christmas movies is one of the top posts all-time on The Stretched Blog.  For those of you who are new or who forgot, ice breaker questions are used to help people get to know each other – to “break the ice” so to speak.  I love hearing what other people have to say and how they think.  So for today, I’m excited to throw out another simple New Year’s themed ice breaker question.  I’ll answer it first, then it’s your turn.  Answer the question by leaving a comment for us all to enjoy.  Thanks!

Question:  Do you make New Year’s resolutions?  If so, what’s one of your New Year’s resolutions? If not, why?

My Answer:  Here you go….

If you’ve been reading for a while, you may have noticed or you may have heard me share that I’m a goal oriented person.  I love to set goals and to see where they take me.  So…it shouldn’t be a surprise that I like the opportunity to set new goals for the year ahead.  I usually set personal fitness goals, spiritual growth goals, leadership goals, church goals, marriage goals, family goals, financial goals, and personal growth goals.  I’ll share a goal from my personal growth area.  I’d like to read at least one book per month in 2012.  For the avid readers out there, this doesn’t sound very challenging.  But I’m not the average avid reader, I’m pretty slow and deliberate with my reading.  So reading one book per month will be a decent challenge.  I am currently reading The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson, and I think I may finish this before the new year, so this doesn’t count.  I’m looking to focus my reading in a few areas:  small groups, leadership, and spiritual growth.  I couple books that I’m looking forward to reading this year are:  Community Is Messy (a soon to be released book by Heather Zempel), Community:  Taking Your Small Group Off Of Life Support by Brad House, and EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey.

So there you have it, my answer to the question.  Now it’s your turn….I can’t wait to hear what you’ve got to say!

Christmas Eve 2011 Week In Review…

What a great week here at the Stretched Blog.  The blog traffic is up for the week, and we’re already running a higher page view total than last month.  If we can keep it up this week (which could be tough over the holidays), the Stretched Blog may see its highest page views per month total ever!

Monday’s post was titled My Treasure & My Heart was an opportunity to share some of my wrestling over time and priorities.  I really appreciate the empathy and encouragement expressed in the comments for this post.  Tuesday brought a visit from Jonathan Pearson.  Jonathan did an excellent job sharing the stretching of a young leader.  Wednesday, I started to share the top 5 posts for the year.  The number 5 post for the year was a great guest post by my wonderful wife.  She shared about Detours that she has experienced over the past year or two.  On Thursday, I shared the 4th most popular Stretched post of 2011Locks of Love – about my daughter’s generous donation.  And finally and Friday, I shared another fun Ice Breaker about our favorite toys.

I am so thankful for your continued contribution to the blog through comments.  Your comments are what makes this Stretched Community!  Please remember to take the time to Subscribe to the blog, so you can have Stretched delivered daily to your e-mail inbox.  Also, don’t forget to stop by the Jon Stolpe Stretched Facebook fan page.  Become a fan to keep up with some additional Stretched stuff.  I have started to share more blog highlights from other blogs that I read regularly.  I think you’ll find some great stuff here.  Thanks!

A few of my favorite posts from the rest of the blogging community this week:

I’m really excited about this upcoming week as I’ll be sharing the top 3 posts for 2011, and I’ll be preparing for the new year!  Please stop back so you can see what’s going on here!

How about you?  How was your week?  If you’re a blogger what happened over your way this week?  Did you read any great blog posts this week?  Share with the rest of us!

December 17th, 2011 Week In Review…

Another week has come and gone.  It was a busy week in real life and here on the Stretched Blog.  The blog is trending towards similar traffic patterns to last week – maybe even stronger this week.  This week saw the second best day ever on The Stretched Blog.  And I’m excited about what’s coming up in the week ahead.  Here’s a recap of the week.

Monday, I kicked off the week with a post which indicated that the Stretched Blog was visiting The Handwritten.  If you haven’t read it yet, please head over to Michael Perkin’s blog to read my guest post titled Stop & Start.  On Tuesday, I shared about my surprise party and I threw out a question about the cake.  We learned some interesting things about some of those in The Stretched Community.  Wednesday, The Stretched Blog paid a visit to Deuceology for a guest post titled I’m Dreaming Of A Stretched ChristmasLarry “The Deuce” Carter mentioned that the post has been running strong over on his blog.  Please head over and check it out, and read the other stuff that Larry’s writing about.  My Thursday post was an introspective post about what it means and looks like to be on fire with our faith.  I’m still wrestling through this one, and I appreciated the comments that contributed to the conversation and my thought process.  And finally on Friday, we finished the week off with another fun holiday Ice Breaker where we learned about what gift everyone would like to receive on the 13th day of Christmas.  You should check it out if you’re trying to figure out what to get The Stretched Blogger for Christmas!

I am so thankful for your contribution to the blog through comments.  Your comments are what makes this Stretched Community!  Please remember to take the time to Subscribe to the blog, so you can have Stretched delivered daily to your e-mail inbox.  Also, don’t forget to stop by the Jon Stolpe Stretched Facebook fan page.  Become a fan to keep up with some additional Stretched stuff.  Thanks!

A few of my favorite posts from the rest of the blogging community this week:

I’m really excited about this upcoming week as I’ll be sharing a guest post by Jonathan Pearson along with some other great ideas brewing as we head into the Christmas weekend.  I can’t wait!

How about you?  How was your week?  If you’re a blogger what happened over your way this week?  Did you read any great blog posts this week?  Share with the rest of us!

Ice Breaker – On The 13th Day Of Christmas What Gift Are You Hoping to Get

It’s that time of the week again…time for an ice breaker question!  I’m going to stay with a Christmas related question again this week.  For those of you who are new or who forgot, ice breaker questions are used to help people get to know each other – to “break the ice” so to speak.  I love hearing what other people have to say and how they think.  So for today, I’m excited to throw out another simple ice breaker question.  I’ll answer it first, then it’s your turn.  Answer the question by leaving a comment for us all to enjoy.  Thanks!

Question:  On the 13th day of Christmas what gift are you hoping to get from your true love?  Or what gift can I, The Stretched Blogger, give you?

My Answer:  Here you go….

I know it’s much better to give than to receive.  In fact, I much prefer the giving part to the receiving part, but I had to ask the question anyway.  I’m not sure how anyone could need or want anything after getting a partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three french hens, four calling birds,….  But maybe all these things left you wanting just a little more.

From a blogging perspective, I’m thinking that this would be a great year to get my own domain name and to start self hosting.  But I think I will probably take care of that myself.  What I’d really like to get this year are some other things that might take my blogging to another level.  Here’s a list of possibilities:  a new Standard Theme blog layout, a new laptop (maybe even an Apple), guest bloggers, opportunities to guest post, ideas and inspirations, a few advertisers, new readers, and lots of comments to extend the Stretched Community.

Besides this, I really have everything I could ever want or need.  I have an awesome family.  And I have some incredible friends – including the Stretched Community.  What more could I ask for?

So there you have it, my answer to the question.  Now it’s your turn….I can’t wait to hear what you’ve got to say!

The Stretched Blog Visits Deuceology

Today, I have the honor of guest posting over at Deuceology.  Deuceology is a blog by my friend Larry “The Deuce” Carter.  Larry is a Christian, blogger, husband, dad, and a huge Tennessee Vols fan.  Everyday, Larry posts his thoughts and struggles as he seeks to spur others and himself closer to God.  I love his honesty and openness which leaves me challenged on a daily basis.  Please check out his blog and my guest post which is titled I’m Dreaming of A Stretched Christmas.  Then do me a favor and leave a comment.  Thanks!

Larry "The Deuce" Carter from Deuceology

Regarding guest posting, I love opportunities to guest post as it provides another opportunity to “stretch” me, so contact me through the comments if this is something that interests you.  And I love to share others stretch stories and guest posts, so let me know if that’s something that interests you as well.)

December 10th, 2011 Week In Review…

These weeks keep blowing by at a rapid pace.  This week was a milestone week.  I turned 40 on Thursday, and the Stretched blog is having one of the best weeks ever.  Here’s a recap of the week.

Monday, I kicked off the week with a post about my reading list for 2012.  Thanks to all of you who gave me ideas to add to my list of consideration.  If you missed it, please stop by and add your recommendations.  On Tuesday, I shared about our families Christmas ornament tradition.  I really appreciated hearing about your favorite family ornaments and Christmas tree traditions.  Wednesday’s post paid tribute to my Grandpa and his legacy.  Thursday was my birthday.  I appreciated all the birthday greetings through the comments and on Facebook.  Finally, we finished the week off on Friday with another holiday Ice Breaker where we learned about everyone’s favorite Christmas songs and carols.  As always, I’m thankful for all of you who stopped by and left a comment or just checked things out.

I am so thankful for your contribution to the blog through comments.  Your comments are what makes this Stretched Community!  Please remember to take the time to Subscribe to the blog, so you can have Stretched delivered daily to your e-mail inbox.  Also, don’t forget to stop by the Jon Stolpe Stretched Facebook fan page.  Become a fan to keep up with some additional Stretched stuff.  Thanks!

A few of my favorite posts from the rest of the blogging community this week:

I’m really excited about this upcoming week as I’ll be guest posting on a couple of blogs.  It should be a blast!

How about you?  How was your week?  If you’re a blogger what happened over your way this week?  Did you read any great blog posts this week?  Share with the rest of us!

Ice Breaker – Christmas Songs and Carols

It’s that time of the week again…time for an ice breaker question!  In keeping with last week’s theme, I’m going to stay with a Christmas related question again this week.  For those of you who are new or who forgot, ice breaker questions are used to help people get to know each other – to “break the ice” so to speak.  I love hearing what other people have to say and how they think.  So for today, I’m throwing out another simple ice breaker question.  I’ll answer it first, then it’s your turn.  Answer the question by leaving a comment for us all to enjoy.  Thanks!

Question:  What is your favorite Christmas song or carol?

My Answer:  Here you go….

I think I’ll answer this twice.  My first answer will be my favorite secular Christmas song, and the second is my favorite Christmas song that you might hear on the local pop radio station.  For my first song, it may surprise you to know that I really like the song, In A Bleak Midwinter.  Before you get to flustered let me explain.  I realize it’s not the most up beat song, but the words of this song speak volumes – especially the last verse:

1.	In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
	earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
	snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
	in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

2.	Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;
	heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign.
	In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
	the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. 

3.	Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
	cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
	but his mother only, in her maiden bliss,
	worshiped the beloved with a kiss. 

4.	What can I give him, poor as I am?
	If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
	if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
	yet what I can I give him:  give my heart.

And my favorite Christmas radio classic?  Bruce Springsteen singing Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.  How can you beat the saxophone solo and the part when Bruce tells Clarence that Santa might bring him a new saxophone.  How can you beat that?

So there you have it, my answer to the question.  Now it’s your turn….I can’t wait to hear what you’ve got to say!