Be My Guest

I am so excited to share the talents of some great guest bloggers this upcoming week.  Over the past couple of weeks, I have shared guest posts by my wife and my son, and it has been remarkable to see the response.  Recently, I’ve started asking people if they would be interested in sharing their “stretch marks” on my blog.  This has provided an opportunity to hear what others have to share, but it’s also been an incredible opportunity to connect the blogging community.  I cannot wait for you to read the posts coming up this week, and I’m looking forward to the feedback and dialogue that will be generated through these posts.

On May 27, 2011, Jeff Goins shared some tips for guest posting on Michael Hyatt’s blog.  I think you’ll find this interesting, and I’d encourage you to head on over to see the full post.

Here are seven steps to successful guest posting:

1. Check the guidelines. Many established blogs, including this one, have a list of guidelines that you can follow to make a guest post. Before submitting your post, read the guidelines and follow them.
2. Study the blog. Do some research to understand the subject and voice of the blog and to see what topics haven’t been covered yet. If you know someone who has guest-posted for the blog, ask him how he did it.
3. Contact the blogger. Email is probably best. In the message, get right to the point. Either pitch an idea or send the whole article, but don’t waste time with unnecessary flattery or self-deprecation. Don’t say “sorry,” and don’t be arrogant. Just be yourself.
4. Write the best post you can. (This may happen concurrently with #3). Once you’ve made contact with the blogger, you can begin writing. Fight the temptation to hold back your “A” content for your own blog. Guest posts are your best marketing collateral, so don’t submit something less than your best. Once finished, send the ready-to-publish post to the blogger with a byline and link to your website.
5. Follow up. Depending on the guidelines, give the blogger some time (usually a week) before following up. When you do follow up, keep it positive and polite. You can follow up again a week or two later. If you don’t hear back in a month, tell the blogger that you’d like to take the article elsewhere.
6. Engage and promote. If the blogger posts your article, first thank her. Then, treat it as you would one of your own posts, if not better. Tweet it, share it, email it, etc. Post an excerpt on your own blog and link to the whole article. Interact in the comments and engage readers who respond. This is a must.
7. Repeat. Whether you succeed or not, start the whole process over again. If you get rejected, don’t get discouraged. And don’t let it be the last time you try to guest post. Sometimes, the topic is just wrong. Other times, it’s the wrong audience. Regardless, you need to guest post more than once for it to be an effective strategy. So, don’t give up.

If you’re interested in joining in and becoming a guest blogger on “Jon Stolpe Stretched”, please drop me a comment.  I would love to connect with you!

Thanks!

Are you a blogger?  Have you ever had others guest post on your blog?  What tips to you have for guest bloggers?

Still Stretching – Looking Back and Looking Forward

Four years ago on this Wednesday, I started this blog. So far it’s been quite a ride. Here’s how it started 416 posts ago…

Well, this is the start of it all… I’ve been contemplating doing the blog thing for some time. You might be wondering where the“Stretched” thing comes from. For starters, when I was in high school at Rancocas Valley Regional High School, I was short – 5’6″ to start my junior year. Since then, I’ve grown to almost 6’6″. Many of my friends started calling me Stretch. On a more recent basis, I often feel “stretched” by all the things going on around me – career, marriage, parenting, church, running, reading, friendships, extended family, relationship with God, etc. (in no particular order). My hope is that this blog will provide an opportunity to express some of my “stretch marks” and to possibly hear your thoughts as well. So here we go….

When I look back at all the posts and comments since the start, I believe the blog has served this purpose. Here are some of the highlights: family vacations, Supernanny parenting group, Kids Camp and Stretch, the Perelman building, several movies, Elizabeth’s adoption, blog spotlights, book reviews, small group thoughts, and personal wrestlings.  Recently, I’ve also started guest posts which I think will add a lot to my blog experience.

From my tallies, I’ve had over 6600 visits to the blog since I changed to WordPress a couple of years ago, and I’ve had over 300 comments. It’s all pretty amazing.

So where do I go from here? Great question. I think it just continues. I’m quite confident that I will continue to be stretched in the coming year. So get ready, I’m sure I’ll have more stretch marks to share.

Until the next post, I’ll be stretching…

How long have you been blogging?  Why do you blog?  Please feel free to include a link to your blog so others can enjoy.

Detours

Today, I have the privilege of presenting my wife as my guest blogger.  Leanne and I will be celebrating our 15th anniversary in less than two weeks.  We’ve been through a lot together over the years, and I look forward to the adventures that lie ahead.  Her thoughts below are extremely insightful while being very transparent.  Leanne doesn’t blog at the moment, but your comments and feedback may help spur her on to share more of her life and story.

This week I took a day off and went to the beach. This is something I used to do a couple of times a year but recently haven’t done for quite some time. So, it was a big deal to me. I filled up my tank with gas. I packed a picnic lunch, and figured out my directions. I put my tunes in the cd player and started on my trip. I didn’t even get on the turnpike when there was a detour – right at the start of my trip!

It reminded me of how this past year seemed like a detour in many ways.

1. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after being treated for a bipolar/postpartum psychosis diagnosis for 10 years. My doctor encouraged me to get a second opinion and when I did, the diagnosis was postpartum psychosis. So, I came off my medicine and gradually began having symptoms which led to a severe reaction. I have spent a lot of the year recovering but have found a greater understanding for people who deal with mental illness but also special needs in general, especially as they relate to children.
2. I decided to resign as my position of our church preschool director because I missed the children. I found myself spending most of my working hours behind a desk instead of with the children I love. Through tutoring and subbing this year, I have rediscovered a passion to be with students in the public school.
3. We had to put the trip of my dreams – Africa – on hold, but we have a greater resolve to make a difference in our local community as a family. We are excited for our service group to start-up again this fall. It was also a lesson of control. We quickly learned how much we are not in control of our lives.

In all these things, I am now able to look back and see God working for the good in all things. At the time, life seemed like a series of detours.  A friend asked me the other day if life made sense and for the first time in a while I was able to say that yes, right now it actually did. That doesn’t mean that life is without problems and everything is perfect but there’s faith, recovery, hope, and the support of family and friends.

What detours have you experienced in your life?  How have you seen God working good in your life through the ups and downs?

Plan Your Epitaph

I’m in the process of reading Chazown by Craig Groeschel, and I just finished Part I.  At the end of this section he encourages the reader to finish six statements.  “Forget the past, because you can’t change it.  During those final days (of your life), how do you want to be able to finish the following statements?”  I thought I throw out my initial responses to these statements here (but to be honest I have more pondering to do to fully finish these completely).  I also thought it would be challenging for you to consider these as well.  I’d love to hear how you would finish these statements.

1.  The thing that was most important to me was…

God (first) and my family (second).

2.  People say I stood for…

loyalty, integrity, Christ, and community.

3.  I made a difference in my world by…

setting an example for my own family and other families and by pointing others to Christ.

4.  God was glorified because I…

followed Him and led out loud in my home, in my job, in my community, and in my church.

5.  People knew I loved them because…

I listened to them.

6.  The reason I expect God to say “well done” is…

(tough one) I stuck with it through thick and thin.  I stayed true to Him.  I trusted in Him.  I lived to help others find Him.

Lemons Into Lemonade

I just had to share the thoughts from Isaac’s devotion for yesterday:

From The One Year Every Day Devotions (Devotions to help you stand strong) by Stephen Arterburn and Jesse Florea:

Have you ever heard someone say, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade?”

As goofy as it sounds, this saying holds a lot of truth.  First, it says that life will hand you lemons.  It doesn’t say if, and it doesn’t say life might hand you lemons.  It says when.

Lemons are the bad things that happen in life.  Maybe a pet dies.  Maybe your best friend decides not to be your friend anymore.  Perhaps you’re not treated fairly by a teacher.  Whatever it is, you’ll have to face your share of lemons in life.

The second part of that saying is the hardest to follow – “make lemonade.”  In other words, take the bad things that happen and make the best of them.  Look for the positives.  Find the good part.

Sometimes finding the good part is really difficult.  When a friend turns her back on you, it hurts.  Sure, you can make other friends.  But it hurts right now.  Making lemonade is probably the last thing you want to do.  That’s why it may be a good idea to add another sentence to that saying:  “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.  And God is the ultimate lemonade maker.”

God can take the worst situations in your life and make something good from them.  At first, you may find it hard to see the good, but over time you’ll look back and see how God turned bad things to positive experiences in your life.  And here’s the best part:  while you’re waiting for God to make things better, you can hide in him.  Use that time to get to know him better.  Take comfort that God love you, cares for you, and can use bad things to make you stronger and more like him.  When things get tough, look to God and take comfort in his strength.

Psalm 141:8  But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD; in you I take refuge….

Stretch – Full Circle Highlight Video

I feel like I’ve been pretty busy lately… oh, I have been. Well, here’s a highlight video from last week’s Stretch event that I was talking about. I think it provides a pretty good glimpse as to why you didn’t want to miss this event as a student or volunteer.

Until the next post…

Stretch – Night One Reflection

Last night was the first night of Stretch, and it was incredible! I truly had a blast interacting with the 200+ middle school students who came to the first night, the large number of volunteers that helped pull this thing off, and the parents who arrived to pick up their students. I also enjoyed participating in the games along with the kids – especially on the hoops court. One game station that I didn’t try yet is what I like to call the Puke Machine II (see my previous post from last year) – I think it might be called the tumbler. The challenge is out there…. If Jeff Whitebread can get Bob Lewis and Sean Healy to go on it, then I’ll go on it with them and Jeff.

At any rate, I especially enjoyed the chance to sit in on most of the program that took place in the middle of the night. It kicked off with Chosen, a great hip hop team. And it ended with a great message by Travis Crim. Travis Crim used Psalm 139 to talk about how God knows everything about us. Here’s the passage he used:

1 You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

I’m excited (while exhausted) to see how things will go tonight.

Until the next post, I’ll be stretching some more…

Stretch Video

This is my first time trying something like this, so bear with me. I think that I’m putting in a link to our church’s Stretch camp video review. The video provides a small glimpse into how cool the event was. Imagine 250+ kids enjoying this and more. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liVgwP-Oo_k]

Exhausted

Thankfully, I took today off, because I am exhausted.

Last night, we wrapped up Stretch. Between Kids Camp and Stretch, I believe we had 1000 different kids at our camp. It was really cool. I especially appreciated the chance to hang out with other volunteers at Stretch. We are so blessed at our church to have committed people who get it. What I mean by this is that they understand why we do events like these and why we do them with excellence. It’s not about putting on the best event in the area, so we can say we’re the best. It’s all about drawing people in our area to a fun activity where they will be challenged to examine and change their lives.

I spoke to several parents yesterday at church who were so thankful for camp and who seemed very interested in coming back to check out our church again. I pray that they do, and their lives are challenged and changed as a result.

Tomorrow, it’s back to work. I’m sure I’ll be tired, but I’m also sure I’ll have a reinvigorated outlook as I interact with my colleagues.

Until the next post….

Stretch Night One Reflection

Last night, we had 173 sixth through eighth graders attend our church’s Stretch Camp. It’s been truly amazing to see our volunteers working hard together to pull off back-to-back huge community events. One of my “highlights” of the evening was watching a kid tossing his cookies after a ride on what I had earlier referred to as the “Puke Machine” (I think it’s real name is Twinspin). I especially had a blast talking to some of the volunteers who I really didn’t know that well.