9 Questions Worth Pondering – Goal, Calling, Purpose

What is your goal?

When you reach the end of your life, what do you want to have accomplished?

What’s your calling?

What is God compelling you to do with your life?

How are you responding to this calling?

What is your purpose?

What is God doing in your life?

Is it painful?

What does it look like to be “made perfect in Christ”?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on one, some, or all of these questions.  Leave your response in the comments.

For more thoughts on these questions, check out these passages:  Mark 10:17-31, I Corinthians 9, and Colossians 1:24-29.

Ice Breaker – Athletic Claim To Fame

Today, Hannah is running at the district cross-country meet being held at Lehigh University.  Tuesday, I mentioned about her year of cross-country and her positive attitude.  Today’s Stretched Ice Breaker is inspired by her accomplishments this season.

Question:  What is your athletic claim to fame?  What accomplishment from your athletic past brings you the most pride?

My Answer:  For a while, I would say dunking a basketball was my biggest athletic accomplishment.  My answer has changed over the past several years.  I’ve run 3 marathons in the past 10 years.  The first one in Philadelphia was tough, because I didn’t really know what to expect.  The last one in the Bronx was different taking place on a narrow trail in a park in the city on Thanksgiving Day.  My second marathon in Baltimore was my slowest marathon thanks to a strained IT Band and a hilly course, but it’s the one I’m most proud of completing.  Around 13 miles into the race, my IT Band acted up leaving me to struggle with walking and running the next 13 miles of the race.  There was a part of me that wanted to give up, but there was also part of me that wanted to finish what I started.  I kept telling myself to find a way to run across the finish line, so my kids could see me finishing strong despite the pain of my injury.  I saw my kids about 300 yards from the finish line.  They were holding signs and cheering for me as loud as they could.  As I crossed the finish line, I remember tearing up.  I was proud of my accomplishment, and I was emotional with the uncertainty that I would ever be able to do this again.  If you’ve ever run a marathon before, you know it takes a great deal of training time and effort to prepare for running this type of race.

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!

Also don’t forget to sign up for the weekly Stretched newsletter.  Check out this post to find out how to sign up.

Ice Breaker – 5 Songs On Your Playlist

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.

This week, I revisit an Ice Breaker from the archives.  The cool thing about some of the ice breaker questions is that sometimes the answers will change based on your life experience.  My answers this time are a little different this time around.

Question:  Name 5 songs that you would put on your playlist right now.

My Answer: Check out this 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!

Also don’t forget to sign up for the weekly Stretched newsletter.  Check out this post to find out how to sign up.

(And here are the links to my songs:  Oceans, 10,000 Reasons, Where The Streets Have No Name, Home, and All The Poor And Powerless)

Ice Breaker – Where Did You Live When You Were Young

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.

This week, I’m back to a video blog.

Question:  Where did you live between the ages of 9 and 12?

My Answer:  Check out 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!

Also don’t forget to sign up for the weekly Stretched newsletter.  Check out this post to find out how to sign up.

Ice Breaker – Prayer

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.

While we were on vacation, we had an opportunity to visit with my Grandpa who lives in Minneapolis.  He flew down to Milwaukee to spend a couple of days with my brother and I and our families.  My Grandpa has a huge heart for evangelism.  When he meets someone new, he almost always asks them two questions.  His first question is the inspiration for this week’s Stretched Ice Breaker.

Question:  How can The Stretched Community pray for you?

My Answer:  I mentioned it in a post a couple of weeks ago.  Our family could use your prayers as we prepare for our trip to Guatemala.  Two weeks from tomorrow, we leave for Newark, NJ where we will depart for Guatemala.  There are several details that we need to finalize.  I need to finalize the financial end of things with GO! Ministries which I should take care of this weekend.  Isaac is finishing up his Typhoid medication this week.  We need to pack for the trip which includes packing up material for care packages that we will be giving to the ~200 widows who live in the village of Xenacoj.  On top of that, we would appreciate your prayers for safety and effectiveness as we travel and minister in Xenacoj.

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!

With this week’s question and answers, I would encourage you to pick at least one of the requests mentioned in the post or the comments and pray.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  James 5:16

Ice Breaker – Buyer’s Remorse

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.

Here’s the question for this week!

Question:  Tell us about a purchase that you made sometime in your life that you regret.

My Answer:  I actually have one bad lease that led to a bad purchase.  I regret both of these decisions.  My first car was a 1974 Chevy Nova.  When I started working after college, it soon became obvious that I needed a more dependable car to take me from South Jersey to North Jersey and New York City.  (I also needed a dependable vehicle to take me to western Pennsylvania to visit my girlfriend – Leanne.)

In the rush to make a decision and with the desire to have an SUV, I leased a 1994 Ford Explorer Limited Edition.  What was I thinking?  I liked the vehicle, but the payments were truly out of my league, and I put so many miles on the vehicle that led to a lot of anxiety about end of lease payment.  Before the lease was over, I had the opportunity to go back to the dealer and plead my case.

Of course, they offered to “help” me out by putting me into a more affordable car.  They took me to a 1996 mint green Ford Taurus.  The color alone was enough to make anyone puke, but the mileage was right (only 4,800 miles), and it was the “easiest” way for me to get out of the ridiculous lease and payments of the Explorer.  A few months after purchasing the Taurus, I was involved in a pretty serious accident.  I thought for sure they would total the vehicle, but they didn’t.  And I was left with a car that never quite worked the same ever again.

And I regret the lease (or fleece as Dave Ramsey calls it) and the purchase.

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!

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!

Ice Breaker – Book or Movie Recommendation

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.

I’m going to try vlogging again for this week’s ice breaker question.  I’ll be leaving my response on video.  Here goes….

Question:  Tell us about a book or movie that you recently read or watched and would recommend to the Stretched Community.

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!

Ice Breaker – Burning Down The House

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.

I’m going to try something a little different again for this week’s ice breaker question.  I’ll be leaving my response on video.  I did this a couple of weeks ago, and the response was pretty positive.  Let me know what you think.  So here goes….

Question:  If your house was burning down, what 3 objects would you try to save?

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!

Ice Breaker – Crayons

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.

Did you know that Crayola has 133 standard colors?  This week’s Ice Breaker is all about your box of crayons.  And my answer will probably get a song stuck in your head.

Question:  What’s your favorite Crayola crayon color?  Why?

My Answer:  At first, I was going to say Indigo, but I changed my mind as I paged through the list of 133 standard Crayola colors.  I would definitely go with Midnight Blue.  First, blue as been my favorite color as long as I can remember.  Second, my first car was a 1974 Chevy Nova.  It was midnight blue with a white hard top.  Finally, how could you get about Midnight Blue after hearing this song by Lou Gramm:

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!