Jon Stolpe
Jon Stolpe
Bring Good News
Mountains Near Xenacoj (Photo by Adam Flora)
How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
Isaiah 52:7
During my trip to Xenacoj, Guatemala, I saw these three mountain peaks from the time I woke up to the time I returned to our compound. The three mountains were actually miles apart from each other, but from the Xenacoj area it appeared that they were right next to each other. On a clear morning, you can actually see one of the volcano peaks smoking.
It didn’t dawn on me during our visit, but I see now that these mountains were a great reminder of the words in Isaiah 52:7. May we proclaim the message that God reigns whether we’re in the mountains of Guatemala, the rolling hills of Pennsylvania, or wherever.
How are you sharing the good news?
Today, I’m hooking up with The Sunday Community. Hop on over here to see what I’m talking about.
Once Upon A Time…Help Write The Story
Okay, it’s Saturday, and I need your help. Together, we’re going to write a story. How are we going to do that? Great question. I’ll start the start here with an introductory paragraph. Then you can add to the story with your own paragraph by leaving a comment. Make sure your paragraph is a follow-up to the previous comment. Feel free to come back later to see how the story is going and to add another paragraph. Sometime next week, I’ll post the complete story.
Before we start the story, I want to give props to two of my fellow bloggers who gave me the idea for this post. First, Arny Sanchez of The Analogous Truth did this a year ago, and his blogging community came up with a funny story about The Blogging Knights of the Square Table. Second, Larry Carter of Deuceology started a new Saturday series today that is excellent. In his post, Larry starts a piece of fiction that will pull you in waiting for next week’s post. Okay, now to our story….
Once upon a time in the town of Milton, John Miller lived with his young family on 2nd Avenue. John, an aspiring artist in his mid 30s, spent his days working down at the local ship yard where he loaded and unloaded ships as they came in and out of the port. John was married to Caroline, and they had three kids – Jenny (10), Danny (8), and Billy (5). They lived a happy simple life. Nothing major happened in their lives. But that all changed one warm summer day when John discovered something amazing down at the ship yard.
Okay, now it’s your turn. Let’s see where the story goes. Add to the story in the comments.
Ice Breaker – The Last Time I Cried
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 an oldie but a goodie. My answer has changed since I originally posted this Ice Breaker question back on October 19, 2011. This is one of my favorite Ice Breaker questions to ask. Depending on the answers, the level of community can go real deep with a question like this.
Question: When was the last time you cried? And why?
A family changed forever in Guatemala (Photo by Kaleigh Rank)
My Answer: Earlier this week, I shared my Wrecked Creative Expressions. This was created the same day I last cried. On July 29, 2012, our team finished the house in Guatemala. For me, this was the culmination of a lot of hard work, prayer, and team effort. As I’ve shared here before, it took 2 1/2 days and the hard work of our team of 31 to build the house. It took over 3 months and a generous blogging community to raise the money to pay for the materials required to build the house. The dedication service for the family was a moving experience (as I shared before).
After the dedication service, we headed to the center where we ate lunch every day. As I walked into the center, missionary Dave Sgro asked me how I was doing. I could barely get my answer out. I explained the feeling of being “wrecked” over this experience. I was transformed by the whole experience. I know we forever changed the lives of the family who received this house. But my life had been changed as well. As I grabbed my lunch, I sat off to the side. The tears were uncontrollable as I tried to collect my thoughts and eat my lunch. The tears were tears of joy for a feeling of accomplishment. They were tears of sadness as I didn’t want this part of the experience to be over. And they were tears of uncertainty not knowing when I would be able to do something like this again. And that is the last time I cried.
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!
I Remember When…My Family Moved Half Way Across The Country
Last week, I started a new series called “I Remember When…”. In this series of posts, I intend on exploring memories from my past. Part of this exercise is to force me to recall things from the depths of my memory bank. Another aspect of this series is to share other sides of me. I want Jon Stolpe Stretched to be a place to share my stretch marks and where I stretch those who read along.
When I was eight years old, my dad took a job as a full-time pastor far away from home. I was born in Illinois and had lived there my “whole” life up to that point. When my parents said we were moving to New Jersey, I’m not sure that I understood what was about to happen. We were leaving my comfort zone near my friends and close to my grandparents and other extended family.
I remember the Mayflower truck arriving at our house in Wheaton, Illinois to load up with boxes and furniture from our house. After the truck left our house, my parents, my brother, our dog, and I packed into our 1972 brown Chevy Impala and started our journey to the east coast.
On our way, I remember driving along the Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania Turnpikes. We picked up a map at the first service area in Indiana, and I tracked our progress as we slowly made our way east. I don’t know what the early settlers were thinking, but I had the sense that I was experiencing the same feelings without the smell and wind of a horse-drawn carriage.
My parents had already picked out our three bedroom split level house on Glenwood Road in Lumberton, New Jersey. I don’t remember the actual moving-in experience, but I do remember the excitement of getting my own bedroom. I would no longer be sharing a room with my younger brother. I also remember meeting a few of the kids in the new neighborhood. This new gang of kids was a bit rougher than my friends back in Illinois, and I think it took a little while to find close friends. But eventually, New Jersey became home!
So much of who I am today is a result of the things I did and the friends I made in New Jersey. Was the move scary? Yes, I would say so. Was it good? Yes, it was good. I’m thankful for God’s direction in our families life.
It’s good to reflect on this memory. I still don’t like change, but this reminds me that God always has the bigger picture in mind.
When have you moved in your life – literally and figuratively? What is stretching you these days?
What else do you want to know about my move half way across the country?
Wrecked Creative Expressions
When I was in Guatemala last month, we had evening worship every night up on the roof of the compound where we stayed. Each night, the Adventures in Missions team would lead us in some form of creative expression. Typically, this time revolved around prayer. One night, we were each handed a piece of construction paper and some markers. We were then instructed to be creative in writing down or drawing how we felt God was speaking to us at that particular moment.
I had just finished reading Wrecked by Jeff Goins along with the trip to Guatemala had me thinking a lot about getting out of my comfort zone. Here is what came to mind as I wrote down my thoughts:
As you can see, part of it is cut off and some of it was blurred. Here’s a recap of what I wrote on this paper.
WRECKED
- Getting out of my comfort zone was so worth it!
- I have one life. I want to make it count.
- Never ever forget today.
- Don’t underestimate the power of one to make a difference.
- Let my heart break for the things that break the heart of God.
- Don’t strive to be comfortable. Strive to be disturbed.
- Stop. Listen. Be still. Fight distraction.
- Pursue wreckage and strive for a life of meaning.
- You are never too old or too young to make a difference.
7-29-2012 (This was the day that our team finished the house.)
These thoughts still apply today.
How is God speaking to you these days? What’s making you uncomfortable?
One Way To Help Your Marriage
This past February, Leanne and I attended Family Life Weekend to Remember in Hershey, PA. This is a weekend event designed to help improve and enhance your marriage. You can read more about our experience by clicking here.
In my opinion, it’s not a once and done event. This is something to revisit again and again. I know I need the reminders and the encouragement. And while it can be a lot of work to attend one of these weekends, it is so worth it.
Leanne and I are already making plans to attend our next Family Life Weekend to Remember. And we’d like to invite you to attend one of these conferences. Family Life has teamed up with The Stretched Blog to offer a discounted rate for Stretched readers. Simply go to the Family Life Weekend to Remember site, and register using the group code: STRETCHED. This will give you a significant discount on the normal rate of this conference.
We will be attending one of the weekends in Pennsylvania, but you can use the group code for any of the weekends that are offered this next year across the country. Don’t let another year slip by without doing something to improve your marriage. This is a weekend that you will remember.
Feel free to pass this along to other as well, so they can get in on the discount. Also, let me know if you have any questions that I can answer for you regarding the Weekend to Remember.
What have you done recently to strengthen your marriage?
This Is Holy Ground
Yesterday, we visited with some college friends who we haven’t seen since college. Like us, this couple met at Grove City College and married after graduation. The wife of this couple comes from an Asian family. When we entered our house, she asked us to remove our shoes. It is Asian custom to remove your shoes when you enter the house.
This didn’t really phase us at first. It felt very welcoming to know that we could remove our shoes and relax in their home. But later I was thinking about it some more. There is a fairly famous story from Exodus 3 in the Bible that talks about removing ones’ shoes. The story is about Moses and the burning bush. Here’s the beginning of the story:
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. Exodus 3:1-6
I’m not completely sure about the reasons for this Asian custom, but I know that in our culture we often overlook God’s holiness. God is holy. In my mind, this means perfect and set apart. Holiness means completely clean and pure. I think there might be something powerful about realizing the holiness of God’s presence.
When Moses approached God’s presence, he could have no barrier between himself and God’s holiness. He also needed to come with humility. I’m not a Biblical scholar (and I don’t play one on TV), but it seems that Moses’ response was the only response that made sense when he realized that God was right there. It would also make sense that we need to approach God with this same humility and transparency.
Wherever God is we are walking on holy ground.
After enjoying the afternoon with these friends, I had a sense that God was there in our conversation and in our time together. These friends who we hadn’t seen in nearly 20 years were certainly instruments of God as they confirmed the importance of taking leaps of faith. Again, I’m not sure about the Asian custom, but I’m convinced that we were stepping onto holy ground when we entered their house. God was there!
Have you ever been on holy ground? What was it like? What was your response?
Consider The Flowers
“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!” Luke 12:27-28
I took this picture while walking through the streets of Xenacoj, Guatemala. As I walked, I passed homes built by cinder blocks and many homes built with cornstalks. Interacting with the people of Xenacoj as I made this journey gave me the opportunity to see this verse fleshed out. Most working people in the town make one or two dollars a day. They spend hours working in the fields or sewing clothing for companies like Hollister. They live on very little, and they have very little. What they have – they use, and what they use – they need.
Being home for a month (as of tomorrow), I’m back into the swing of things. I have my job to attend to and bills that need to be paid. It’s easy to fall back into the rat race of working hard, trying to prioritize finances, and wanting more. I need this verse today – just as much as the people of Xenacoj. Oh me of little faith!
What are you worrying about today? Have you stopped to realize that God cares for you?
Today, I’m hooking up with The Sunday Community. Hop on over here to see what I’m talking about.
August 2012 Top Posts and Commenters
It’s been a couple of months since I did a month in review post. The past two months (July and August) have been a bit different here on The Stretched Blog. If I look at the numbers compared to other months, it looks like I’m heading in the wrong direction. If you take into consideration that I was on vacation for a week in July, I was away in Guatemala for over a week in July and August, and I’ve dropped most of my weekend blogging, the numbers make a lot more sense. Actually, I’m quite optimistic about the future here on the Stretched Blog! Here are the details for this past month:
Top Posts for August 2012:
- Guest Post: Wondering by Leanne Stolpe (8/2/2012)
- I Am A Missionary…And You Can Be One Too! (8/9/2012)
- More Than Words (8/28/2012)
- Ice Breaker – Jobs (8/24/2012)
- Ice Breaker – Songs On Your Playlist (3/23/2012)
- Re-Entry Reality – Back Home From Guatemala (8/6/2012)
- Always Be Prepared – Lessons From A Smoke Alarm (8/22/2012)
- Creative Expressions – Creatively Tapping Into Our Creator (8/8/2012)
- Book Review: Love Does by Bob Goff (8/27/2012)
- Ice Breaker – Memory Moment Songs (8/17/2012)
Top Commenters:
Looking forward to September and the rest of the fall, I’m looking forward to a deeper level of engagement with the Stretched Community and the blog worlds of several bloggers who I read regularly. I’m anticipating new stretching experiences that I hope to share here! And I’m hoping to get involved with more guest blogging opportunities here and on other blogs. It should be a fun time.
Thanks as always for your readership, comments, and encouraging support along the way. You are the ones that make Stretched such a great experience for me. Please keep it up, and don’t forget to refer your friends and fellow bloggers. Finally, have a great month!
How are things in your world? If you’re a blogger, what was your top post? What other blogs should I be reading?
Ice Breaker – Back To School
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 inspired by the return to school.
Ready for the first day of school! (Photo by Leanne Stolpe)
Question: What was your favorite school subject?
My Answer: Okay, I’ll be a bit of a geek here. I loved math, and I still do. From the time they taught us how to add to one digit numbers all the way up to learning differential equations during my engineering studies at Grove City College, I have enjoyed math. Now, most of my math involves punching numbers into spreadsheets, balancing the checkbook, and analyzing financial data for my department. It’s still fun when there are numbers involved. While I don’t perform integrations and derivations any longer, the skills I learned in my math courses especially through high school and college prepared me for where I am today. (As for my second favorite subject, it’s probably gym or science.)
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!