You Are Here

I took this picture a couple of years ago at the Franklin Institute.  This sign was located in a stairwell between exhibits.  I just thought it was funny.  What can I say?  This is my humor, and you’re stuck with it if you’re still reading my blog.

As I think about the sign, “You Are Here,” I think it’s a good reminder for me.  Sometimes, it can be easy to get stuck in our past –  where we dwell on either our victories or defeats.  Let’s face it, we often like the way things were just because that’s what we’re used to.  Does that make sense?

On the other hand, sometimes, it can be easy to get caught up in the worries (and hopes) of the future.  I think it’s good to have hopes and dreams and to go after them.  But sometimes, we deal with anxiety because we’re so focused on what might happen in the future.  We are crippled by questions which have answers that are out of our control.

As I think about this, two passages come to mind:

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  Psalm 46:10

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that 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, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  Matthew 6:25-34

These offer great reminders to rejoice in today – this moment in time when the past is in the past, and God holds the future in His hands.

I am here.  Where are you?

One Word 2013 – Epiphany

I’ve wrestled with coming up with just one word to define my year ahead.  Last year, I jumped into theOne Word 365 Community when I selected the word transformed to define my 2012.  (You can click here to read my introductory post from last year.)  As you may recall from my December posts (click here and here), I can definitely point to several things in 2012 that transformed me.

This year, I’ve been slow to select a new word.  I thought about consistent.  As I want to stay the course that was put in place last year.  As I want to be more consistent in certain areas of my life.  I thought about focused.  I think I’m a pretty focused person, but I can see how focus in certain areas of my life could have amazing impact.

Then I wrote a simple post this past Sunday titled Epiphany.  And it dawned on me, epiphany is the perfect word for me for 2013.  Epiphany is about revealing Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in my life.  I want to experience epiphany on a daily basis.  I want to know Christ better today than yesterday.  I want my life to be marked as revealing Christ to other people.  I’m sure this will come through some words, but I especially want my actions to be marked as one who is following Christ.  I suppose I could have selected reveal as my word, but epiphany seems to provide some new and interesting angles that I’d like to pursue.

Thank you to Melanie at Only A Breath for the cool button.  To request a button of your own, please read this post: http://www.onlyabreath.com/2012/12/theyre-here-free-one-word-blog-buttons/

And so, I start 2013 with a new word.  Epiphany.  I pray that I would be open to daily epiphanies in my life.  I pray that I would help people to have their own epiphanies.  And I look forward to what the new year brings.

Did you select one word for 2013?  What word did you select?  And why?

Building Something Bigger Again – The Big Ask

Yesterday, I mentioned about another leap of faith decision that my family and I have made to return to Xenacoj in Guatemala this summer.  I wanted to share some more details about how you can help make our trip possible.  And I’m also excited to share about an opportunity to build something bigger.

If you recall from last year’s trip, The Stretched Community joined together to pay for the construction of a house that we built in Guatemala.  It was an amazing experience to see how we could join together to change the lives of one family in Guatemala.

Guatemala is a beautiful country, but it deals with incredible poverty.  Guatemala has the fourth highest malnutrition rate for children under five in the entire world.

As I’ve been communicating with Dave Sgro from GO Ministries, we came up with another idea for a way that The Stretched Community could have an impact in the town of Xenacoj.  Together we can feed children in Xenacoj.  Dave’s family is trying to set up a feeding program for 200 children in the town.  While we are in Guatemala this summer, we will have the opportunity to be a part of this feeding program.

Here’s where you come in.  Imagine with me.  GO Ministries is trying to feed 200 children lunches five days a week.  Lunches cost about $0.35 per child.  They are talking about running the feeding program for 50 weeks per year.  I’m a math/engineering guy, so I love to put this into numbers, so it makes more sense to me.  Here are the figures:

• 200 children
• 5 lunches per week
• 50 weeks per year
• $0.35 per meal
• 50,000 total meals per year
• 25,000 total meals per half-year
• $17,500 to feed 200 children lunches for a year
• $8,750 to feed 200 children lunches for half a year
• $350 to feed 200 children lunches for a week
• $70 to feed 200 children lunches for a day
• $1.75 to feed one child lunch for a week
• $87.50 to feed one child lunches for a year
• $43.75 to feed one child lunches for half a year
• $17.50 to feed 10 children lunches for a week

I’d like to do something crazy.  Last year, we raised $8,000 to build a house.  I’d like to see if we can raise $8,750 to feed 200 children lunches for half a year.  And I’d like to set a STRETCH goal.  Wouldn’t it be amazing if The Stretched Community could buy lunches for 200 children for a whole year?  I know that sounds crazy to me, but I believe that all things are possible through God.

And so here’s my challenge:  I’d like to ask you to consider making a difference for the children of Xenacoj.  Maybe it’s paying for one child’s meals for a month.  Maybe it’s paying for a day’s worth of meals for all 200 children.  I’d love for you to consider how you can get involved with reaching this goal to feed children in Xenacoj.

If you are interested in giving, it’s pretty simple.  To give to the “Stolpe Feeding Program Challenge”, go to goministries.info.  At the bottom of the page, choose option 3.  After you enter your payment information, enter a special note to the seller.  The note should read “Stolpe Feeding Program Challenge”.  This will ensure that your donation is counted towards the goal.  It will also ensure that your donation is registered as a tax-deductible donation.  (You can also give money to us, which we would turn over to GO Ministries towards this target.)

Once we start seeing money donated towards this challenge, I will post a target “thermometer” on the side of my main page to give you an idea of where we stand in meeting the goal (and the STRETCH goal).

As I shared yesterday, our family is also looking for support in funding our trip.  This trip will cost us approximately $5,000.  Of this, $2,600 goes to GO Ministries to pay for our meals, our lodging, and our transportation in the country.  (We are estimating that it will cost approximately $2,400 for our airfare.)  To give towards our trip expenses, go to goministries.info.  At the bottom of the page, choose option 1.  After you enter your payment information, enter a special note to the seller.  The note should read “Stolpe Family Mission Trip”.  This will ensure that your donation goals towards our GO Ministries expenses.  It will also ensure that your donation is registered as a tax-deductible donation.  (You can also give money to us, which we would utilize for our airfare or we’ll turn over to GO Ministries to pay for our expenses in Guatemala.)

I know this is a lot to ask, but it’s also exciting to imagine what God can do through our family, through GO Ministries, and through The Stretched Community.  Thank you in advance for your generosity and prayer support.

What are you doing to leave a legacy in 2013?  When was the last time you missed a meal?

Another Leap of Faith

I’m excited to share about another leap of faith I’ll be taking with my family this summer.  You may remember last year I wrestled with a leap of faith that involved me deciding to go to Guatemala.  The decision to go on this trip was not an easy decision to make.  But I learned that it was a leap of faith decision worth taking.

While I was in Guatemala, I fell in love with the people and the town of Xenacoj.  Since I returned in early August, I have been in communication with Dave Sgro of GO! Ministries.  Dave and his family moved to Xenacoj a few years ago to establish a full-time ministry to the people of Guatemala.

As I’ve spoken with Dave and shared with Leanne about this town, it became more and more obvious that we should consider taking our whole family to Xenacoj for a family missions trip of our own.  And so today, I’m excited to share that our family is planning a trip to Guatemala in early August 2013.

Details of what we will be doing are still being ironed out (and I’ll share more specifics in the coming days and weeks).  It’s likely that our trip will have a feeding program focus, a construction focus, and a medical focus.  We will get to serve among the same streets with the same people we served this summer.

As we consider this new leap of faith, we would love your support.  First and foremost, we value your prayer support.  Please pray that the details will work out as our plans proceed.  Pray that we will have an effective ministry during our time in Xenacoj.  And pray that our family will experience growth and transformation as we serve together.  Secondly, we are getting our hands around the cost of such a trip.  We’re estimating that the trip will cost approximately $5,000 which would include our airfare.  We’re working towards saving for this goal, but we could honestly use any support possible to make this financial hurdle more obtainable.

In the coming days, I will share about others ways to get involved with this trip.  Until then, I’d like to leave you with this video that my daughter helped to produce.  It will give you a snap shot of our trip last year and a glimpse into the town and people of Xenacoj.

What leap of faith do you need to consider this year?

Epiphany

Photo by Adam Flora

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:9-11

Many churches around the world are celebrating Epiphany Sunday today.  For some, it’s the day in which church attenders celebrate the coming of the Magi to visit Baby Jesus (or Toddler Jesus).  In church tradition, Epiphany is also the day in which church goers celebrate the revelation that Jesus is the Son of God.

According to dictionary.com, epiphany is:

a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

Whether or not your church celebrates Epiphany Sunday or not (mine does not), we can all pray that this would be a year of epiphany for those around us – friends, relatives, associates, neighbors, and kids (FRANK) who don’t know Jesus.

Who around you needs this kind of epiphany?

Today, I’m hooking up with The Sunday Community and The Weekend Brew.  Hop on over here and here to see what I’m talking about.

R. C. Sproul Quote

Hope is called the anchor of the soul (Hebrews 6:19), because it gives stability to the Christian life. But hope is not simply a ‘wish’ (I wish that such-and-such would take place); rather, it is that which latches on to the certainty of the promises of the future that God has made.

R. C. Sproul

Fyodor Dostoevsky Quote

To live without hope is to cease to live.

Flyodor Dostoevsky

Ice Breaker – Favorite Childhood Toy

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 all the toys recently purchased for Christmas.  Are your kids still using them?  How many toys did you play with over the holidays?  Today’s Ice Breaker just might bring out the child in all of us.

Question:  What was your favorite childhood toy?  When was the last time you played with your childhood toy?

My Answer:  LEGOs.  My brother and I used to play with LEGOs for hours.  I used to build houses and castles with these little plastic blocks.  Perhaps, that was an early indication of my engineering future.  It has been a while since I’ve played with LEGOs.  It was probably a few years ago when my son was still playing with them.

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!

On The Receiving End – Pay It Forward Comes Back

A simple act of kindness can shift your perspective. [Click to Tweet]

Earlier this week, Leanne and I were out at lunch time as we were dealing with the aftermath of her accident.  As we entered the nearby Subway to grab a quick bite to eat, there was a lady in front of us getting ready place her order.  When we joined the line behind her, she immediately let us go in front of her which initially caught me off guard.  From there, Leanne and I ordered our sandwiches.  Just as we were about to pay for our lunch, the same young lady handed Leanne a coupon for a free sandwich.

She asked for nothing in return.  She simply provided a small piece of generosity that brought a huge shift to my perspective.  You see, we were so focused on the accident and the details related to how it impacted our family.  Honestly, I wasn’t thinking of other people at the time.  But this young lady changed my thinking.  We had an opportunity to thank her as she was getting her drink from the self-service beverage dispenser.  As we briefly exchanged words, we all agreed that the world needed more people who offered this type of simple kindness.

Late in November of last year, I wrote about starting a Pay It Forward Revolution.  I shared that the idea may be utopian, but I’d love to see it work.  The response to the post of okay, but it wasn’t overwhelming.  I suppose I had resolved myself to the fact that this idea was stupid – or just too idealistic.  Maybe I really didn’t believe it could work.  After Monday’s lunch, I changed my mind.  I don’t know if this young lady was part of the Pay It Forward Revolution or not.  I do know that it felt refreshing to be on the receiving end of such simple generosity.  It felt reassuring that it just may work.  Her simple action reminded me that I can do my part through simple Pay It Forward actions every day.  Perhaps, I can make a difference for one person today.

Describe a time when your perspective has been shifted by generosity.  How can you make a difference in someone’s life today through simple kindness?

CRASH! Accidents Happen – And God Still Shows Up

Sunday morning, my wife had an accident on the way to church.  Without going into tons of detail, she lost control of the vehicle when she hit a long patch of snow and ice as she came around a turn.  No one else was involved.  Leanne escaped with some scrapes, abrasions, and soreness, but the car didn’t fare so well (as you can see by the picture above).

What started as a normal winter Sunday morning quickly turned traumatic.  We were quickly reminded that accidents happen.  When I received a call while I was eating my breakfast between a workout and getting ready for church, a hundred thoughts went through my head.  Why am I getting a call at 9:15AM on a Sunday morning?  What do you mean my wife had an accident?  Is she okay?  She is, then how’s the car?  What do I do next?  My head spun from there.

After the call, I quickly jumped in the shower, threw on some clothes, and ran to the car.  Driving to the accident scene, I experienced a mix of other thoughts.  “Don’t drive too fast.”  “Get to Leanne and the accident scene as soon as possible.”  “Watch out for snow-covered roads.”

The rest of the events on Sunday morning were somewhat surreal.  Throughout the entire experience I was reminded that God still shows up when things get crazy.  Leanne had an accident, but it wasn’t an accident that we have friends who live two houses away from the accident scene.  These friends were amazing in helping Leanne, contacting me, and talking to the police officers.  Leanne’s parents were here at the time of the accident.  This meant that Leanne’s dad could go with me to meet Leanne, and Leanne’s mom could stay with the kids.  The accident has obviously created a wave of inconveniences and unanswered questions, but I have found peace trusting that God will provide the answers for how we should proceed – will our car be totaled and how will we pay for a replacement vehicle?

On Monday, we began to get answers as we talked to insurance people and lined up a rental vehicle while we wait for word on the car.  As the day continued, we saw God showing up in calmed anxieties and a clearer picture of the protection that He had provided to Leanne during this accident.  When we visited the yard where the car was being stored, it was unbelievable to see the amount of broken glass and damage to the car and to realize that Leanne had somehow crawled out of the vehicle and avoided more significant injuries.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:22-23

 

Over the years, I’ve learned (and learned again) that we can’t always explain why things happen.  But we can always remember that God is there no matter what.  When things are going well, God is there.  When things are mundane, God is there.  And when things get bumpy, God is there too!

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39

Accidents have happened and will happen again.  This is part of life.  I don’t think God causes these accidents, but I’m confident that God still shows up whether accidents happen or not.

How have you seen God recently?  When has God shown up for you in the rocky dtimes of life?