Guatemala Photo Of The Day – Faith Moves Mountains

When I went to Guatemala the first year in 2012, I went with my daughter Hannah and our church high school youth group.  I left Leanne and Isaac at home.  It was an amazing trip, but it was also a very hard trip.  Being so far apart was difficult, and it was especially difficult to fully translate the experience to Leanne.  I had fallen in love with a place and a people an hour and a half outside of Guatemala City, and Leanne was stuck at home.

A year later, I was able to take Leanne and Isaac with Hannah and I back to Santo Domingo Xenacoj, and they had the opportunity to see and experience what I had just one year before.  On Leanne’s second trip in 2014 in which this photo was taken, her passion for the people of Xenacoj has only grown.  She has been taking Spanish classes and lessons to improve her communication with the natives.  She is actively considering ways to help and to go back.  And she is telling the story of God’s love and redemption.

With this mountains in the background, I am reminded that all we need is faith the size of a mustard seed and God will move mountains.  For me, getting Leanne to Guatemala required faith.  I look forward to seeing how God will use Leanne (and me) to impact the lives of others in Xenacoj and at home.

Guatemala Photo Of The Day – Unshaken Love

This is the view we had on our second morning in Xenacoj last summer.  You can’t tell in the picture, but there is often smoke coming from the peak on the far left.  It’s an active volcano.

This can be pretty scary for people like me from the United States, but it’s a reality that people in Guatemala are used to seeing every day.

As I look at this picture the following verse from Isaiah comes to mind:

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.  Isaiah 54:10

Guatemala Photo Of The Day – Working Into The Night On The First Work Day

If it looks like it’s getting close to nighttime in this photo, it’s because it’s getting close to nighttime when this picture was taken.

Our typical work day started on the job site between 8 AM and 8:30 AM.  We would usually take a break for lunch and siesta around 1:00 PM.  We started back to work between 3:30 PM and 4 PM, and we worked until we couldn’t see very well any longer – typically 6:30 PM to 7 PM.

In this picture we’re trying to install the last few pieces of wood on the wood side of the house.  The natural light is actually being blocked by a coffee plant which is right on the side of the house.  The close proximity of the coffee plant to the house coupled with the handmade ladder made it a challenge to navigate the side of the house.

Ice Breaker – Skip Day

(I’m always looking for Ice Breaker question ideas.  If you have an idea, send me an email at jon@jonstolpe.com.  If I use your question, I’ll give you credit and share your links.)

I don’t know if you noticed or not, but the Stretched Ice Breaker has been missing the past two weeks.  I’ve been busy with a few other commitments, and the Ice Breakers were one of the things to go as I had to prioritize.

It’s time to bring the Ice Breaker back.  Today’s question is inspired by the last two weeks of skipping the ice breaker.  It just so happens that many high school seniors (or is it all high school students) take the opportunity at this time of year to take part in the annual tradition called Senior Skip Day (or Senor Cut Day).  They intentionally miss school and go somewhere fun with their fellow classmates.

I’m pretty sure this is not a legal activity or event (which is why I chose not to participate it in when I was a senior in high school); nonetheless, many seniors chose to skip school this one day of the year.

Question:  If you were going to take a Skip Day from work or school, what would you do (and what would you use for an excuse)?

My Answer:  I’m actually planning to take half a day off today, so I can stain my deck this afternoon.

If I were going to take a Skip Day now, I’d probably sleep in (a little).  I’d head to the gym or to the trail for a walk, a run, or a bike ride.  I’d possibly go to the shore (this is what we call the beach in the Philadelphia area), and I’d bring a book and a comfortable chair.

I don’t think I would need an excuse.  I work hard, and my boss is generally pretty understanding when I decide to take a day off from work.

Answer this week’s ice breaker question by leaving a comment. I look forward to reading your response! (As always, feel free to share links.) And keep Stretching!

Guatemala Photo Of The Day – A Unique Perspective

Going to Guatemala provides a unique perspective like the one shown in today’s photo.

This picture shows the side wall of Betty’s house from an interesting angle.  As you can see, it takes many hands to put up a house.

You don’t have to go to Guatemala to get a unique perspective (although I highly encourage a trip to Guatemala to anyone reading this).  There are opportunities for unique perspectives all around you today.  Here are a few ideas to give you the opportunity for a unique perspective right where you are:

1. Stand on your desk or chair and look around you.
2. Drive a different way to work or back home.
3. Lay on the floor and have a look around.
4. Put on someone else’s shoes and walk a mile.

Finding The Positive When Life Leaves You Broken

We had a melt down this week at our house.

Our refrigerator has been making noises for over a year.  I knew it was only a matter of time before it quit.  This was the week it decided to stop working.  Monday night, I came home from work to a puddle of water in front of the freezer door.  Leanne and the kids mentioned that the ice was not coming out of the ice maker right.  I opened the door to the freezer, and I immediately realized the freezer was not working.  It was still cold, but things in the freezer had begun thawing out.

Leanne called a friend, and we were able to find a temporary home for our frozen food.  And we spent the evening in search of a new refrigerator.

The next morning, our refrigerator stopped working and I filled our coolers with the food from the refrigerator and several bags of ice.

The great melt down of 2015 has been an inconvenience for our family this week.  Purchasing a new refrigerator and living out of ice chests was not on my agenda for the week.

Despite the unexpected costs and the inconvenience, I have tried to maintain a positive perspective this week.

Life has a way of sneaking up on us.  We are thrown for unexpected loops all the time.  We get sick.  We get into an accident.  We face a change in jobs.  When things like this happen it’s easy to become discouraged.

I remember nearly five years ago when my wife faced an unexpected hospitalization.  Honestly, this was one of the hardest things I have ever had to go through in my life.  I remember asking God “Why?”  This is a natural response when things don’t go as planned in our lives.

As my wife was recovering, we both decided to find the positives in the craziness we were facing.  We didn’t know what it would look like, but we were convinced that God would use this experience in our lives for good.  Since then, we have seen countless times when we have been able to help others who are navigating similar predicaments in their lives.

I don’t know what you are situation you are facing right now.  Maybe you’re refrigerator stopped working, or maybe you are facing something much more serious like an illness or hospitalization.  I challenge you to find the positive in the midst of the trial you are facing, and I challenge you to look past the current pain or suffering you might be enduring.

God can use the junk in your life for greater things.

How have you found the positive in the midst of life’s brokenness?  Tell us about it in the comments.

Guatemala Photo Of The Day – We’re Not Here To Talk, We’re Here To Pump You Up

At first glance, it looks like El Abuelo is flexing to show off his muscles for the camera.

He’s actually inspecting a piece of wood for the house.  He did his part to help out with the house.  El Abuelo is actually holding a piece of wood he just debarked with a machete.

This picture was taken at the end of the day after he spent most of the day working in the fields outside of Xenacoj.

We may not have been able to communicate verbally, but he certainly flexed his muscles and made a huge impression on me.  This photo reminds me that faith is about words, but it’s also about actions.  We must be willing to dive in with both feet and live our faith out loud.

To borrow some words of wisdom from my favorite SNL body builders, Hans and Franz; “We’re not here to talk.  We’re here to pump you up!”

The Guatemala Photo Of The Day posts are designed to help me remember my time in Guatemala, and I hope they will also help pump you up to take action and something bigger.

The Discipline Of Focus – 5 Ways To Help You Focus

It’s so easy to become distracted and to lose focus especially in today’s world.  I was listening to a podcast the other day, and someone mentioned that the average person’s attention span is eight or nine seconds.

This means you may already have tuned out as you read this post.

WAKE UP!

Did that help?

Sometimes we need a bucket of ice water poured over our heads to get our attention.

Focus is critical to getting things done.  In fact, I believe the discipline of focus is something we all must learn to practice.

John Lee Dumas has an acronym for the word focus:  F.O.C.U.S. – Follow One Course Until Success

We live in a world that is clamoring for our attention.  The internet is a great resource, but it also a tremendous time-waster.  It’s easy to get sucked into the social media black hole of Facebook, Twitter, or elsewhere where are attention is diverted away from what really matters or from what we really want to do with our lives.

Five Ways To Help You Focus

1. Determine to pursue focus.  Focus doesn’t happen by accident.  We’re all built differently, so focus may come easier for some.  Developing the discipline of focus requires an intentional decision to pursue focus.
2. Settle on your focus.  There are many, many great things we can do in life, but we can’t do it all.  In order to be effective, we must learn to narrow down our list of priorities.  Once you decide on your focus, it will make it a lot easier to move ahead.
3. Recognize your areas of distraction.  Everything outside your area of focus is likely to become a distraction.  Some things naturally distract us more than other things.  Knowing this help you be on guard against the demons of distraction.
4. Fight like mad to eliminate distraction and to stay focused.  Practicing the discipline of focus is not easy.  It takes courage.  It takes stamina.
5. Ask someone to hold you accountable to staying focused.  Pursuing a goal is so much easier when we have someone cheering us on.  We need people in our lives who will call us out when our focus starts to fade.

I’m going to keep this short today.  Take time to practice these ways to bring more focus into your life.

How would your world be different if you made the decision to focus?  How has focus made a difference in your life?

Guatemala Photo Of The Day – Picking Up The Pieces

Nothing goes to waste in Guatemala.  (At least, this was my observation.)

Building Betty’s house required us to use a machete to shave off the layer of bark on each piece of wood used for the walls.  As we did this, we left a mess of wood chips and bark fragments on the group in Betty’s “yard.”

At the end of our first day of work, Betty and Jose took time to clean up the bark which they gathered in bags to be used later for cooking.

In the United States, many of us would have simply thrown away these pieces of wood.  We live in a consumable, disposable culture unlike our ancestors and unlike those in Xenacoj who live frugally in an effort to make ends meet.

Going to Guatemala reminded our family again and again of the blessings we have, and it reminded us to be wise in how we use these blessings.

Put Me In Coach

The past two weeks, I have spent time meeting with every one of my direct reports.  As part of our monthly one-on-one meetings, we spent time talking about training, development, and operational readiness.  We talked about the training each of them completed so far.  We talked about training they want to or need to take in the future.  We talked about how they were doing with their goals for this fiscal year.  And we talked about their long-term career goals.

I walked away from these meetings with an important observation:  my team members are looking for opportunities to be challenged.  They want the chance to demonstrate they can handle work at the next level.

It’s as if they are singing words from Centerfield by John Fogerty – “Put me in coach.  I’m ready to play.”

Over the weekend, I attended the weekly meeting for my church’s high school youth group where I am one of the adult leaders.  This meeting was special, because the four student interns had the opportunity to speak four ten minutes each to the rest of the students.  Each of the students brought an important message learned during the year as an intern.  They did a great job!

The night was another reminder of the importance of giving our younger counterparts a chance to get in the game.

If you lead people, you have the responsibility to prepare your team members for the future – to prepare them to play the game at the next level.  This means giving them a chance to stretch outside their comfort zones.  The means keeping your eyes open for opportunities to push your team members.  And it means giving up a little bit of your control, so others can learn and grow.

Putting your team members into the game at the next level will improve your leadership. improve your team members, and improve the future of the organization you lead.

What are you waiting for?

It’s time to put your team members into the game, coach!

What action do you need to take today to give your team members a chance to play the game at the next level?  How were you given a chance to get into the game at the next level by one of your leaders or coaches?  Tell us about it in the comments.