Jon Stolpe, Author at Jon Stolpe Stretched

Jon Stolpe

Author Archives: Jon Stolpe

Temporary Versus Permanent

From my journal dated 5/12/11…

“I was thinking today about how temporary things are in life. At first, I was thinking of Leanne’s new job. We are both thankful for this opportunity. But I get the feeling that Leanne would like it to be more permanent. Then, I started thinking about my parents. This Sunday, Dad preaches at a church in San Antonio where he may become their interim pastor until they find a new full-time pastor. For my parents, this could mean another church family, a new home, and new friends. But it’s only for a little while. Then I started thinking of my own job. I’ve been with Siemens for over 15 years. I like what I do, and I could see myself working there for a while – maybe until I retire. But in reality, it’s just a job and it’s just temporary. All our earthly pursuits and possessions will fade away – they are all temporary. We long for life to be permanent. We long to leave a legacy that will outlive us. We long for the day when we will be truly fulfilled. I believe that day is coming!”

These were just some of my thoughts from a couple of weeks ago.

What do you long for in life? What things have you pursued thinking they would bring you fulfillment, but when you reached this goal you were disappointed? Where have you found fulfillment?

“All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” Isaiah 40:6-8

The Power of the Next Question

A blurb from my journal dated 5/18/11…

“I made it to my men’s group at Limerick Diner after missing it the past few weeks. It was good to be back. I was reminded this evening about the importance of asking the ‘next’ question. So often we ask a basic question, but we don’t follow it up with questions that take us deeper. Either we’re too lazy or we just don’t care. I don’t want to be like this.”

Without going into specifics, one of the guys in our group seemed a bit down when we were initially going around the table at the beginning of our time together. After this initial check-in, our conversation drifted to other subject matters. My friend’s initial comment was temporarily ignored as we joked around and talked about other things. It would have been easy to let our time together end without following up. So often, I fall into this trap. For some reason towards the end of this time, I asked him what was up – why did he seem down.

It’s amazing the conversation that followed.

It was so worth asking the ‘next’ question. I think it was an opportunity for our group to rally around our friend. I think it was a chance for us to be more transparent. I think it was a chance for us all to grow. I’m thankful that my friend was willing to open up and share what was troubling him.

As I stated in my journal that night, I don’t want to be too lazy or self focused to ask the ‘next’ question.

So when was the last time someone asked you the next question? How did it work out?

ReGroup

Last night was a big deal for me.

I’ve been a “small group” junkie for a long time since John Mulpas asked me to lead a “Gel Group” many years ago. I’ve been inspired by many “group life” champions like Frank Chiapperino, Alyssa Dourte, Bill Search, Bill Donahue, Greg Bowman, Randy Frazee, Heather Zempel, Will Johnston, Dave Treat, and many others. I truly believe in the power of connection and accountability that comes through living life together with a small group of people.

For many years, I was very active in our church‘s small group ministry. I led several groups. I helped to coach small group leaders. I even led a group of coaches. I attended several conferences designed to motivate, inspire, and equip small group leaders. In many ways, I was all small groups – all the time. But a lot of that changed a couple of years ago. For reasons I don’t need to get into here, I walked away from active small group leadership. I have continued to keep up with a lot of front line small group thought and information thanks to the wonders of the internet. I have even taken a more active role as a participant in a couple of groups over the past several months, but I have shied away from taking a leadership role in anything related to small group ministry.

I thought that was going to change last fall when Leanne and I helped to set up a family based service-focused small group, but this changed in September when we were forced to focus on our family as we were faced with some unplanned health obstacles. Last night, Leanne and I finally had the opportunity to host and lead this group in our home. We shared a meal of tacos in honor of Cinco de Mayo. We gathered the kids and adults to discuss what it is like to serve and to be served. We talked about what it means to be great in the eyes of the world versus great in the eyes of God. I was invigorated as I had the chance to lead this discussion where kids and adults were able to share. We finished up our evening with a craft for hospice patients.

We had three new families last night. It was so exhilarating to see everyone talking together and sharing ideas about how they could serve others together. At the end of the evening, Leanne and I were so grateful for this opportunity. We can’t wait for our next meeting – June 7th at our house. We’ll have a BBQ/picnic, we’ll talk more about what it means to be a servant, and we’ll put our words into action. Then on the June 21st, we’ll serve our community at the Colonnade in Schwenksville.

For me this was a big deal – worth sharing!

Let me know if you’re interested in joining us.

Friendship Comes In All Ways

I have been blessed with some really great friendships. I still keep in touch with some people from my first eight years living in Illinois. And my many years in New Jersey brought me incredible friends through school and church. I’m looking forward to meeting up with a few of these friends in a couple of weeks for our annual camping trip. My time at college was also a great place for friendships. As a matter of fact, I met my best friend and soul mate at this small school in western Pennsylvania. Since I’ve been married, I’ve added to my list of great friendships through our church family, through our neighborhoods, through scouting, and through my job.

One place that has brought me a couple of interesting friendships is the internet. I’m not promoting the careless release and exchange of information with complete strangers. But I am intrigued by the value of discovering people on-line who can push you to greater heights, who can speak to your soul, who can relate to your interests, and who can give you something to think about.

I believe I have found this kind of friendship via the wonders of social media. Over the past few months, I have been sharing blogs, tweets, status updates, and chat conversations with a new friend, Michael Shaw. Michael blogs about his town, Skippack, PA, so he lives near me. Based on our shared communication, I believe we share some common aspirations for living our life to the fullest and making a difference in this world. Tomorrow night, we will have the opportunity to meet up face-to-face for what is sure to be an interesting interaction as we continue our conversation minus the technology that connected us in the first place.

I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Stay tuned.

Michael, I’ll see you tomorrow at the Cabana Bar in Skippack.

Hoping to Avoid Journal Jinx

I have tried to journal in the past, but I haven’t had a lot of success with this discipline. I’m hoping this is changing, and I’m hoping that by posting this on my blog it will not jinx the pattern that I’ve had for the past week. Since last Friday, I’ve kept a journal by my bedside. Each night before I shut the light off, I write a couple of pages reflecting on the day that has just past. (My wife is awesome at this. She has kept a journal for years.)

I have found this new discipline to be quite refreshing. Some of the things that I’ve written may make it to my blog, and many things will not make it here. It has been freeing to release my thoughts from the day onto the blank pages of my journal and to know that I can begin a new day with a new blank page.

In my journal, I’ve written about Isaac turning 11 last week, my thoughts on Apollo 13 (the movie), finding God in the mundane things of life, the joys of a weekend with my family, and my thoughts on temporary versus permanent. I’ve also used my journal to express my thanks to God along with bringing Him my burdens.

I hope this is something that will continue. In a small way, I’m hoping that blogging about it will help keep me accountable to this new discipline.

So ask me how I’m doing with my journal when you run into me in person or on the information highway.

Do you journal? If so, how long have you kept a journal? What has helped you to stay consistent with your journal? Does consistency matter? If you do not journal? Why not?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Soul Surfer

Last night, Leanne, Hannah, and I went to see Soul Surfer at a local treasure, The Grand, an old-style movie theater up in Greenville, PA. The Grand is a great place to catch a movie. There’s an organ up in the front that plays music while you wait for the show to start. The ticket prices are reasonable ($3 matinée and $5 evening). The snack prices won’t break the bank. And we only had to watch one preview. We’ve seen a few movies here over the past few years, and we’ve always been impressed by the service and show. Last night was no exception.

Soul Surfer is a movie based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton, a teenage surfing sensation who loses her arm to a shark attack. As her family wrestles with the aftermath of this accident, they must all come to terms with their faith and their future. I was very impressed how this was showcased in the movie. The movie does not back down from being bold about God’s role in this families life. As Leanne and I sat there watching, I believe we both resonated with the messages of this movie.

God has a plan for our lives despite events that seem so tragic.

God works good in everything – even though we can’t see it all.

Sometimes we don’t know all the answers for tomorrow, and we just need to wait.

When “junk” happens in our lives, we have two choices. We can sit around feeling sorry for ourselves, or we can get back up and keep going forward.

The “junk” can actually be the catalyst in our lives to give us greater opportunity.

I hold this hope for our own lives, and I’m thankful for the cinematic reminder last night. I’d definitely recommend this movie, and I’d definitely recommend a night at The Grand.

My Psalm

God, You are my God.

I come to You with all that I am.

I bring my pride. I bring my apprehension.

I bring my anxiety. I bring my desperation.

I lay all these and more at Your feet.

Take these things that weigh me down.

Take these things that cause butterflies to circle endlessly in my stomach.

Take these thoughts and cares and worries.

I come to You for relief.

Thanks!

Thanks for caring for me.

Thanks for uplifting my soul.

Thanks for giving me strength.

Thanks for giving me courage.

Thanks for giving me peace.

These things could only come from You.

God, You are my God.

I come to You with all I am.

Make me what You want me to be.

The Parable Blogs

I recently received a request to keep blogging about the parables following my last two posts. And I guess I’ll keep that under consideration, but I’m warning myself and the readers that it could get pretty convicting. I was paging through Luke just now, and some of these parables may get under our skin. I guess that’s the point though, so we’ll see what the next few days bring. If you’re interested in taking this journey with me, let me know with a simple comments back. Thanks!

Until then, Happy Friday!

The Lost Coin – The Lost Landscaping Plan

Leanne and I have been looking for a landscaping plan that we had designed for us five years ago. Sometime last summer, it went missing. We have been looking all over the place, but we can’t seem to find it. I’m sure it’s somewhere, but I have no idea where it could be. If you find it, or if you know someone who will do a new plan for us (for free) let me know.

While I’m onto the whole parable thing (see my previous post), I thought I’d go down a more humorous path to let you in on a little bit of the Stolpe house and how it relates to another parable found in Luke 15. In The Parable of the Lost Coin, Jesus tells the story of a woman who loses a coin in her house. She searches and cleans and searches some more – until finally she finds her lost coin. When she finds it, she celebrates.

In our house, we have lost something (like the landscaping plan mentioned above) every once in a while. At one point, we lost Isaac’s new bag of Nerf Gun darts. Obviously, he was upset. We searched all over the house without any glimpse of this bag. We searched in his room, we searched in the garage, we searched in the shed, and we searched in the basement. Nothing, Nada, Zilch. We couldn’t find Isaac’s treasured possession for months. Funny how things show up all the sudden. A couple of months ago, I was bringing up some lumber from our basement to our shed to construct our cold frame when I discovered the bag of darts laying beneath the pile of two by fours in the basement. When I brought them upstairs to show Isaac, you would have thought that I found the holy grail. He was so excited. His bag of Nerf darts which were lost had now been found!

I think that’s a very mild version of how God feels when we return to Him. When we’re lost and going down life’s roads without reference to God, it’s like we’re a lost coin or a lost bag of Nerf darts. But when we return to God – when we put Him first in our lives, there’s so much excitement, joy, and celebration.

So how about you? Are you a lost coin? Or is there unbelievable celebration going on because you are found?

Now, if I could just find our landscaping plan!

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