December 2011 Top Posts

We’ve reached the end of another month.  December was the BEST month so far at Jon Stolpe Stretched.  Traffic on the blog increased slightly by over 500 page views since November and by almost 300 page views since the previous record month (September 2011)!  Comments continued to roll-in.  And new people joined in the conversation and community.  The blog added TWELVE new subscribers, and the Jon Stolpe Stretched Facebook Page attracted a couple of new followers in its fourth month.  Here are the top 10 posts and top 3 commentors for the month:

Top 10 Posts

1.  On Fire

2.  Ice Breaker – Christmas Movies (the new #1 Ice Breaker question)

3.  Ice Breaker – Christmas Songs and Carols

4.  Surprise!!!

5.  Our Christmas Ornament Tradition

6.  Ice Breaker – On The 13th Day Of Christmas What Gift Are You Hoping to Get

7.  Ten Things Every Small Group Leader Should Know (originally posted on October 24, 2011)

8.  Ice Breaker – Favorite Toy

9.  Leaders Are Readers – Creating My Reading List For 2012

10.  It’s 40!

Top 3 Commentors (We blew by the 1,500th comment mark this month!)

1.  Larry Carter (for the 2nd month in a row!)

2.  Brandon Gilliland

3.  Bill Grandi

I now have 32 regular subscribers.  If you’d like to become a subscriber, see the “Join the Stretched Community” window on your right.  It’s great to see this starting to take off.

Thank you to all of you for reading and contributing to the blog and to the reader community.  I continue to grow a lot through this experience.  *** This month, the top commentor will receive a copy of The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson.  Get your comments in for an opportunity to win!!! ***

As always, I love to share your “stretching” stories on my blog, so leave me a comment if you’re interested in being a guest blogger on Jon Stolpe Stretched.  As a side note, I’d love to see guest bloggers in the monthly top 10 list!

Finally, if you’re a blogger, how did your blog to this month?  What was your top post?  What was your favorite post?

Ice Breaker – Christmas Songs and Carols

It’s that time of the week again…time for an ice breaker question!  In keeping with last week’s theme, I’m going to stay with a Christmas related question again this week.  For those of you who are new or who forgot, ice breaker questions are used to help people get to know each other – to “break the ice” so to speak.  I love hearing what other people have to say and how they think.  So for today, I’m throwing out another simple ice breaker question.  I’ll answer it first, then it’s your turn.  Answer the question by leaving a comment for us all to enjoy.  Thanks!

Question:  What is your favorite Christmas song or carol?

My Answer:  Here you go….

I think I’ll answer this twice.  My first answer will be my favorite secular Christmas song, and the second is my favorite Christmas song that you might hear on the local pop radio station.  For my first song, it may surprise you to know that I really like the song, In A Bleak Midwinter.  Before you get to flustered let me explain.  I realize it’s not the most up beat song, but the words of this song speak volumes – especially the last verse:

1.	In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
	earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
	snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
	in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

2.	Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;
	heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign.
	In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
	the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. 

3.	Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
	cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
	but his mother only, in her maiden bliss,
	worshiped the beloved with a kiss. 

4.	What can I give him, poor as I am?
	If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
	if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
	yet what I can I give him:  give my heart.

And my favorite Christmas radio classic?  Bruce Springsteen singing Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.  How can you beat the saxophone solo and the part when Bruce tells Clarence that Santa might bring him a new saxophone.  How can you beat that?

So there you have it, my answer to the question.  Now it’s your turn….I can’t wait to hear what you’ve got to say!

Ice Breaker – Christmas Movies

It’s that time of the week again…time for an ice breaker question!  For those of you who are new or who forgot, ice breaker questions are used to help people get to know each other – to “break the ice” so to speak.  I love hearing what other people have to say and how they think.  So for today, I’m throwing out another simple ice breaker question.  I’ll answer it first, then it’s your turn.  Answer the question by leaving a comment for us all to enjoy.  Thanks!

Question:  What is your favorite Christmas movie?

My Answer:  Here you go….

If you have ABC Family coming to your TV, they are promoting their annual 25 Days of Christmas movie event where they show 25 different Christmas movies leading up to Christmas Day.  I don’t catch most of them, but it’s hard for me not to get a little excited about Christmas when I see some of the movies.  I’m a sucker for movies like Polar Express, The Santa Clause, and Home Alone.  But my favorite Christmas movie doesn’t usually make it to ABC Family’s list.

My favorite Christmas movie of all time…are you ready…drumroll…It’s A Wonderful Life.  I know it’s an old one, but I love the story, the humor, and the timeless message of the movie.  I love how Jimmy Stewart gets a second chance once he discovers how different life would be if he had never been born.  This movie is usually shown on Christmas Eve, so I try to catch it after we get home from the Christmas Eve service at church.

(By the way, Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story would probably make my top 5 list.)

So there you have it, my answer to the question.  Now it’s your turn….I can’t wait to hear what you’ve got to say!