Category Archives for "Ice Breaker"

January 22, 2012 Week In Review

The week in review for was pushed back a day thanks to the wonders of our winter wonderland and the need to take care of some things at home.  It was a good week on The Stretched Blog.  On Wednesday, The New Stretched Blog experienced the highest traffic day so far!  I will be traveling this week, so I’m turning the blog over to some great guest bloggers for a few days.  Please read the excellent posts by Diane Karchner, Chad Jones, and Kevin Stone and join the conversation in the comments.

Here’s a recap for this week:

Your continued contribution to the blog through comments is greatly appreciated.  Your comments are what makes this Stretched Community!  Please remember to take the time to Subscribe to the NEW 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 am sharing more blog highlights from other blogs that I read regularly.  I think you’ll find some great stuff here.  Thanks!

Here are a few of my favorites from around the blog world this week:

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 – I Have A Dream

It’s that time of the week again…time for an ice breaker question!  This week we celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  We’ve all heard his famous “I Have A Dream” speech where King dreams out loud about a day when black men and white men will live together in harmony.  In keeping with this theme, today’s question deals with dreams.  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:  What’s your dream?  (You can take this in many different directions!)

My Answer:  Here you go….

As a child and teenager, I had many dreams.  I dreamed of writing plays and becoming an actor.  I dreamed of becoming a firefighter, a pharmacist, and a baseball player.  I dreamed of building a new Mt. Holly, NJ (my hometown growing up) where people got along and things worked more efficiently.  I dreamed of building my own house.  I dreamed of marrying a wonderful Christian woman.  Some of my dreams came true (like marrying a wonderful Christian woman), and many of my dreams never came to fruition.  As I’ve grown and my responsibilities have increased through marriage, parenting, and work, I honestly haven’t dreamed as much.  This question is definitely STRETCHING for me.

Last Sunday, I shared that I’ve been thinking about doing something bigger with my blog.  I truly believe that God can use The Stretched Blog for a much greater purpose.  I’m not sure exactly what that is yet, but I dream that The Stretched Blog and The Stretched Community would be able to build something that outlives us and that ultimately brings glory to God.  When this dream becomes clear, you can be sure that I’ll share it here.

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!

Don’t forget to sign-up for the NEW Stretched Community.  Subscribe to the blog today!

January 14, 2012 Week In Review

This has been an exciting week for The Stretched Blog!  On Thursday, we moved over to our own domain (from the WordPress domain).  Traffic on the old and new sites remained high this week, and I’m looking forward to the week ahead where I’ll be reviewing The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson, Frank Chiapperino will be visiting the blog on Wednesday, and The Stretched Blog will be visiting The Point on Thursday.

This week was truly a blessing as we made the transition to the new platform.  Monday’s post featured my first eBook review of Michael D. Perkin‘s Manifesto on Being Myself.  Tuesday, I shared some of my thoughts from Matthew 6.  On Wednesday, Brandon Gilliland stopped by to share his thoughts on discerning God’s will.  The new platform was introduced on Thursday.  And we ended the week with another fun ice breaker question about going back to the future.

Your continued contribution to the blog through comments is greatly appreciated.  Your comments are what makes this Stretched Community!  Please remember to take the time to Subscribe to the NEW 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 am sharing more blog highlights from other blogs that I read regularly.  I think you’ll find some great stuff here.  Thanks!

Here are a few of my favorites from around the blog world this week:

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 – Back to the Future

Like I explained yesterday, I’m planning to keep things going on the NEW Stretched Blog (jonstolpe.com), so it’s that time of the week again…time for an ice breaker question!  One of my favorite movies of all-time is Back to the Future.  I’ve always been intrigued with the possibility of time travel, so today’s question has to deal with time travel.  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:  If you could go back in time (or forward), what time period would you like to experience?

My Answer:  Here you go….

I would only use this time machine if I knew for certain that I could return to right now.  I’m so thankful for where God has me right now.  So assuming this was secured, I would choose to go back to the 1950s.  This is the time period in which my parents grew up.  It would be interesting to see what they experienced.  What were the fads and trends?  What pressures were they up against as kids?  The cars were pretty cool back then.  It just seems like a more simple time frame.  The technology that we now experience wasn’t there which could be seen as a blessing or a curse.  They didn’t have the same distractions that we experience in 2012, but they also didn’t get to experience so many of the luxuries that we now take for granted.

On a personal note, I’d love to meet some family members who passed away before I was born.  I’d especially like to meet my great grandparents.

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!

Don’t forget to sign-up for the NEW Stretched Community.  Subscribe to the blog today!

January 7, 2012 Week In Review…

It’s time for The Stretched Blog Week in Review – the first for 2012!   The traffic to the Stretched Blog is at an all-time high this week.  In fact, blog traffic on Wednesday was the highest ever on the blog (and Thursday’s traffic was right behind).  Thank you!

Here’s the rundown on the posts for the week:

Monday:  December 2011 Top Posts

Tuesday:  Meet Irwin

Wednesday:  One Word For 2012: Transformed

Thursday:  The Stretched Blog Visits The Analogous Truth

Friday (this actually posted Saturday do to a visit to me by the stomach flu):  Ice Breaker – My First Car

Your continued contribution to the blog through comments is greatly appreciated.  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!

Here are a few of my favorites from around the blog world this week:

It should be a fun week upcoming.  Brandon Gilliland will be guest posting on Wednesday.  We’ll have another fun Ice Breaker on Friday.  And there’s sure to be more Stretching the rest of the week.  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!

Ice Breaker – My First Car

It’s that time of the week again…time for an ice breaker question!  Since it’s the first ice breaker of the year, I thought I would ask a question about firsts.  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:  What was (or is) your first car?

My Answer:  Here you go….

My answer will be pretty simple.  My first car was a 1974 Chevy Nova.  It was midnight blue with a white hard top.  It had a straight six cylinder engine in it, and I could stand next to the engine if I lifted the hood.  The Nova had four doors and a JVC stereo that I installed.  The ceiling fabric was falling down, so I used push pins to hold it up.  It had an Oakley sticker in the back window.  The Nova felt like it was floating when I drove down the highway.  I’ll always have fond memories of the Nova.

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!

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?

New Year’s Eve 2011 Week In Review…

It’s been a different week here at the Stretched blog.  The holidays have provided a great opportunity to catch up with family, to relax, and to regroup for 2012.  The traffic to the Stretched Blog was a little lower than the past few weeks, but that was expected.  On the positive, December 2011 has been the best month (by far) since the blog started!  Thank you!

Here’s the rundown on the posts for the week:

Monday: Top Posts of 2011 Number 3 – Reflect More, Risk More, Leave A Legacy – Start Blogging (A Guest Post by Jason Fountain)

Tuesday: Top Posts of 2011 Number 2 – Ten Things Every Small Group Leader Should Know

Wednesday:  Top Posts of 2011 Number 1 – Top 10 Things To Do At Grove City College

Thursday:  Book Review: Rumors of God by Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson

Friday (this actually posted Saturday do to a visit to me by the stomach flu):  Ice Breaker – Resolutions

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!

I’m really excited about this upcoming week as we roll into 2012!  I’ll be guest posting on a blog or two, and I’ll have more stuff right here.  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!

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!

1 … 21 22 23