Category Archives for "blogging"

The Stretched Blog Visits I’m Just Thinkin’ (@ChrisVonada)

Today, I’m guest posting as part of The Network for Chris Vonada at his blog, I’m Just Thinkin’. In my post (When Words Sting), I share 5 suggestions for responding to insults. Here’s an excerpt to get you started.

When Words Sting

“If I get a 1,000 compliments and one insult, guess which one I listen to?

The insult, of course.

I have an unbelievable ability to ignore a swarm of positive words and camp out on the one negative.” Jon Acuff (http://www.jonacuff.com/blog/quit-giving-the-haters-phds/)

It’s probably happened to all of us at one time or another – someone says something to us that absolutely stings.

Maybe they call you names. Maybe they are just rude. Maybe they insult you.

Words can hurt!

Words can sting!

Words can leave a gash on our hearts!

So how can we respond when this happens? How can we move past the pain of words?

If you’re visiting from Chris’s blog, I’m glad you stopped by. I hope you’ll check things out and become a regular part of The Stretched Community. You can sign up to receive daily blog updates by adding your e-mail on the main page (I promise not to send you spam). To help you get a taste of my other writing, here are a few of my favorite posts:

How do you deal with words that sting? What step do you need to take today to get past wounds that have been caused by words?

The Stretched Blog Visits The Daily ReTort

Today, I’m guest posting as part of The Network for Tor Constantino at his blog, The Daily ReTort. In my post (5 Reasons To Go On A Missions Trip With Your Family), I share some thoughts about faith, family, and missions. Here’s an excerpt to get you started.

5 Reasons To Go On A Missions Trip With Your Family

Early this month, our family traveled to Guatemala to serve the orphans and widows in and around the village of Santo Domingo Xenacoj.

Deciding to go in the first place was a pretty significant leap of faith.

As a father and husband, did I think we would be safe in a strange land removed from many of the luxuries we currently enjoy?

Did I really want to spend my vacation time working instead of relaxing somewhere?

How were we going to come up with the money necessary to make this trip a reality?

These were just some of the questions that troubled me for weeks as we processed this decision last fall.

Having arrived at the other side of this mission trip, I can tell you that we made it. We were safe. The vacation time from work was well spent. And God provided the funds for this trip in ways that far exceeded our greatest expectations. (Click here to keep reading.)

If you’re visiting from Tor’s blog, I’m glad you stopped by. I hope you’ll check things out and become a regular part of The Stretched Community. You can sign up to receive daily blog updates by adding your e-mail on the main page (I promise not to send you spam). To help you get a taste of my other writing, here are a few of my favorite posts:

You can also click here to link to more about my experiences in Guatemala.

Have you ever taken a mission trip with your family? If so, how did it impact your family? What’s holding you back from going on a mission trip?

Introducing The Stretched Newsletter

I’d like to introduce a NEW Stretched newsletter.

The newsletter will highlight some of the things going on at Jon Stolpe Stretched, and it will hopefully give you content that you can’t find on the blog. More than anything, I hope that STRETCHED (the newsletter) will be a place to keep you and me stretching.

To sign up, go to the main page and enter your e-mail address in Newsletter sign-up box at the top of the right sidebar menu.

Thanks in advance for subscribing!

I’m Back…

I just arrived back from a week and a half of vacation. Our family journeyed to the Midwest to visit with extended family. It was a great trip in general, and it was especially refreshing to unplug (for the most part). I’ll share more details in upcoming posts. Before I get back into blogging, I want to send out a special thank you to those who guest posted for me while I was on vacation. If you missed it, here are the four guest posts:

Monday, July 8, 2013 – The Truth About Unconditional Love (Catherine Lee Daugherty)
Tuesday, July 9, 2013 – The Impact You May Never Know (Matt McWilliams)
Wednesday, July 10, 2013 – How To Respond When You Are Stretched To The Limit (Zak Schmoll)
Thursday, July 11, 2013 – Call Me Gumby (Carol Peterson)

In three weeks, I’ll be heading out of the country for a missions trip to Guatemala. I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to blog while I’m away, so I’m looking for more guest bloggers who would be interesting in sharing their STRETCHED stories and ideas here on the Stretched Blog. The dates I’ll be away are August 3rd thru the 11th. If you can help out, please drop me a line.

Stay tuned for a new post tomorrow. Also, I wanted to mention that I’ve been considering the possibility of posting on my old blog (jonstolpe.wordpress.com) to test out some new blogging ideas and material. Some of the material may be a little “rougher” than my normal posts, and I can’t guarantee that it will be consistent in themes or in timing. You are welcome to check it out.

Is your family taking any vacations this summer? If so, where are you going? Is there anything or anyone special you plan to see? If you’re a blogger, how are you handling your blog and other social media outlets while you are away?

Ice Breaker – How Did I Get Here

Image by VerseVend (via Flickr – Creative Commons)

Each week on The Stretched Blog, I 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.

Tomorrow marks the 6th birthday of The Stretched Blog. With this in mind, I hope you’ll answer this week’s Ice Breaker Question. You can listen to my response by clicking the video link below.

Question: Tell us how and when you started following The Stretched Blog (Jon Stolpe Stretched).

My Answer: You’ll have to watch the video below.

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!

One-On-One Meetings – A Powerful Leadership Tool

Today, I’m visiting Matt McWilliams for a post about the power of one-on-one meetings. Here’s an excerpt from my post:

Several months ago, Matt encouraged his readers to establish and maintain weekly one-on-one meetings with their direct reports. At the time, I was contemplating what I could do to connect with my team on a deeper level.

As an operations manager in the construction industry, I’m challenged to balance my time as I’m responsible to make sure my group is operating as planned. I meet with my team members monthly on an individual basis to review their projects to review their projects from a financial, resource, risk, and customer perspective. These monthly meetings, which typically last about an hour, provide a pretty good snapshot of things from a business perspective, but they don’t provide a lot of time for diving deeper personally.

I’m also responsible for participating in other department and company meetings. Again, these meetings are important for certain aspects of our business success, but they typically don’t provide opportunity for connecting on a more personal level.

I’ve heard it said that “It’s business, it’s NOT personal.” Well, I disagree. As a Christian leader in the workforce, I have a responsibility (and privilege) to represent Christ well. For me, this means our relationships in the business world are meant to be personal.

How can we take time to connect with our team members with all the different demands on our time?

You can click here to read the rest of the post. While you’re there, check out Matt’s blog. He writes a lot of practical posts about life and leadership.

If you’re visiting from Matt’s blog, I’m glad you stopped by. I hope you’ll check things out and become a regular part of The Stretched Community. You can sign up to receive daily blog updates by adding your e-mail on the main page (I promise not to send you spam). To help you get a taste of my other writing, here are a few of my favorite posts:

7 Ways To Come Up With Blog Ideas

I’m often asked how I come up with things to write here on my blog every day. Honestly, sometimes it comes easier than other times. Sometimes an idea is fresh on my mind, and sometimes I really strain to come up with a topic. Since I started blogging several years ago, there are a few things that have helped me to capture the inspiration of life.

7 Ways To Come Up With Blog Ideas:

Journal. I’ll confess that I’m not always the most consistent when it comes to keeping my journal, but I must admit that when I do keep a journal it helps be capture the memories and thoughts of each day. It provides a rough draft of things that may one day appear on the pages of Jon Stolpe Stretched.
Become a student of the every day. Life is always happening around us. It’s easy to let life race by without paying attention to the details and without taking time to reflect. There are blog topics happening all around you. It’s just a matter of paying attention. Keep your eyes and ears open, and take notes. Keep a note-book in your car, on your desk, and on your nightstand.
Ask around. Don’t be afraid to ask your readers what articles they like the most from your blog. Also, ask your audience to tell you what they’d like to read from you. I have learned a lot by simply plugging into The Stretched Community.
Read other blogs (and books). It’s important to be original, but it can sometimes be healthy to read what others are writing. This can be that catalyst or springboard for your own ideas. I read between 75 and 100 blogs on a fairly regular basis. It’s exciting to see the creativity and writing genius of other bloggers.
Plan ahead. Many of my posts are created the night before or the morning they are published. But many of my ideas have been brewing for a while. I often plan 2 to 4 weeks ahead leaving spaces for momentary inspiration. Sometimes I deviate from my plan, but the plan helps me stay on track and avoid times of writer’s block.
Collect guest posts. Guest bloggers can be a great assistance when you need a break, when you’re on vacation, or when you simply want to interject the thoughts of others into your blog. I’m so grateful for the posts that others have shared here, and I’m always excited to share The Stretched Community Platform with others who want to share their STRETCHED story.
Take regular breaks. Over the past couple of months, I have taken Saturday and Sunday off from blogging. This has provided a greater opportunity to spend time with my family, to take a break, and to cultivate new ideas for the week ahead. Many bloggers think they will fail if they take a day off. I understand the importance of writing consistency, but consistency doesn’t help if the content quality is poor. Breaks provide an opportunity to improve content quality.

How do you come up with ideas for your blog? What kind of Stretched posts do you like most?

The Stretched Blog Visits Lynn Mosher – Out of Control

Today, I’m guest posting as part of The Network for Lynn Mosher at her blog, Lynn Mosher – Devotionals That Encourage. In my post (Out of Control: Faith Lessons From Flight), I share some thoughts about letting go and enjoying the ride. Here’s an excerpt to get you started.

This week, I’m traveling for business to the Chicago area. Last Monday, I took a flight from the Philadelphia International Airport to Chicago O’Hare Airport. I have always enjoyed flying, but I have to admit it’s become a little more challenging to fly as I’ve gotten older. I don’t like the turbulence, and I don’t enjoy the butterflies in my stomach I used to like.

While the plane was coming in for its landing, I was sitting in the back seat of the plane looking out the window. My natural tendency was to grab onto the arms of the seat and to force my feet into the pretend brake. But something made me change my mind and loosen up the tension flowing through my body.
(Click here to read the rest of this post.)

If you’re visiting from Lynn’s blog, I’m glad you stopped by. I hope you’ll check things out and become a regular part of The Stretched Community. You can sign up to receive daily blog updates by adding your e-mail on the main page (I promise not to send you spam). To help you get a taste of my other writing, here are a few of my favorite posts:

What are you holding onto too tightly? How could loosening your grip and giving up control make your flight/life more enjoyable?

On The Go…You’re Invited

This week is a reminder that I will have several busy weeks over the next couple of months. With that in mind, I’d like to invite you to share your stretch story here. That’s right – I’m looking for guest post submissions to help keep things going while I’m out for a couple of weeks this summer. In early July, I’ll be heading out-of-town to visit family in the Midwest. And in early August, I’ll be in Guatemala. I’d love your help, and I’d love to share your guest post here. Leave me a comment to let me know your interest.

Thanks!

What’s one of the best guest posts you’ve read recently? Share your link in the comments.

The Stretched Blog Visits Joseph Lalonde – Leading From Our Hands And Our Knees

Today, I’m guest posting as part of The Network for Joe Lalonde at his blog, Joseph Lalonde. In my post (Leading From Our Hands And Our Knees), I share some thoughts about servant-based leadership. Here’s an excerpt to get you started.

How are your hands and knees?

For so many, leadership is all about a position of authority. When most people think of leadership, they think of someone sitting in the plush corner office. They think of someone sitting on a throne. Or they think of someone who stands tall above everyone else.

Authority is an important aspect of leadership, but there is something else leaders should consider.

Leaders lead best when they lead from their hands and knees.

(Click here to read the rest of this post.)

If you’re visiting from Joe’s blog, I’m glad you stopped by. I hope you’ll check things out and become a regular part of The Stretched Community. You can sign up to receive daily blog updates by adding your e-mail on the main page (I promise not to send you spam). To help you get a taste of my other writing, here are a few of my favorite posts:

How could servant-based leadership impact your leadership effectiveness? What is one thing you can do this week to lead from your hands and knees?

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