[ The Scene ]
SUNNY. Little warm. Character building weather.
[ Welcome/Disclaimer ]
- Welcome to F3: Fitness-Fellowship-Faith
- My name is Steam and I am honored to be your Q this evening
- I am not a professional, you’re here on your own volition, and if you need to modify anything we do this evening feel free to do so BUT push yourselves and the men around you.
- You will not get left behind and you will not leave the same way you came in.
- FNGs?
- I’ll have water, med gear, and my phone on me the entire time in my ruck so if you need to put something in there before we get on the mosey feel free to do so
Before we begin tonight we’re going to have a 1 minute moment of silence in honor of our fallen brother from F3 GrandStand in Myrtle Beach.
Jacob Anchor – codename Hightower – End of Watch on October 3rd 2020
Very active in F3 GrandStand and a true HIM that led a life of service to his family and community.
Join me now in honoring our fallen brother.
[ Warm o Rama ]
(1) SSH: 15 x 4
(2) Happy Feet: 10
– quick feet —> 1 burpee on command
(3) Windmill: 10 x 4
(4) Baby Arm Circles: 10×4 F & 10×4 B
(5) Rockette: 10×4
[ The Thang ]
(Mosey to CMU Pile)
- Every stop sign = 25 up/down merkins
- Everyone get a CMU
[ Pause for Reflection for/from the Q ]
Apparently baseball season is back. When I was planning this Q – that did not come across my mind. Which means a couple things: (1) I, as the Q, did not accurately scope out the scene pre-Q. (2) We’re going to have to adapt. Halfway through the evolution of PT that you will see below, some of the PAX running were confronted by a middle aged man who was blatantly overreacting to our presence in the specific area of the park where the morning AO meets (parking lot) and was pretty aggressive in making his feelings toward us being there clear. So what do we do when that happens. Let’s start with what we don’t need to do: We don’t need to add fuel to the fire, we don’t need to confront or engage the individual, and we don’t need to push that individual who is already upset/mad/pissed off/irrational. Frankly, it’s not worth our time in that moment. So what do we need to do: We need to be peacemakers. Being the bigger man man sometimes means choosing to walk away. We’re called to be at peace with all men. We can do this without diminishing our dignity or the other party’s. This man was being irrational and approached our men in almost a rage. Pusher made the excellent point of just walk away, it’s not worth it. However – this all could have been avoided if I, the Q, had recognized that we may have needed to avoid this certain area of the park when we were mosey’ing to it. So from me, the Q – I apologize for not using discernment when leading us there. This was a learning lesson wisely pointed out by Jinxy at the COT.
[ End Pause for Reflection for/from the Q ]
– PAX takes CMUs to the field by the playground and lays them down in two lines facing each other
– PAX execute 25 Big Boy Sit-ups with CMUs on their feet for stability
– PAX run to CMU pile and execute 10 burpees
(Rinse and Repeat 4)
***Encounter with the upset man in the parking lot***
– Q calls audible – replaces CMUs — circle the men up — brief AAR of what just happened — Mosey back home to the PM AO
– PAX mosey back up the street to the PM AO — every stop sign = 25 up/down merkins
– PAX encounter last 2 stop signs in the same 50 feet or so = 50
– Q leads PAX in 50 up/down merkins but stops when PAX reaches 45 — tells everyone to drop down to their knees and look up — “Breathe. It’s going to be okay. We’re almost there.” — Execute the final 5
– PAX mosey back up the hill to the PM AO — wagon wheel and pickup the 6 — circle up by the flag
[ Mary ]
– 25×4 Hello Dollys
– 25×4 LBCs
– 25×4 flutter kicks
[ COT ]
- # off = 21
- Name o Rama
- FNGs = 0
- BOM
I found myself at a place I don’t find myself at very often last week.
I found myself at a place that looked exactly like a scene in Lord of the Rings where the main character drops down to his knees, realizes the place that he’s in, and utters the words “I can’t do this.”
What a place to be right?
So a couple points with this:
(1) Own where you’re at.
- If you’re tired – own it. If you’re struggling, own it. I’m tired/struggling mentally, I’m tired/struggling physically, I’m tired/struggling mentally, I’m tired/struggling spiritually, I’m tired/struggling sexually (we’re men we can handle that), I’m tired/struggling emotionally – own that place.
- What I mean by this is this: We have all been tired and struggled in all of these arenas at some point in time in our lives. For me specifically, last week I was really tired and struggling mentally. I was tired and struggling emotionally. I was physically tired. I was struggling spiritually. I was struggling sexually with lust and loneliness and losing my sexual battle with porn and felt the complete weight of that. I was exhausted. The enemy was exhausting me, because I was exhausting myself. We’ve all been there. Maybe in different forms or fashions, but nonetheless, we’ve been there.
- I’m tired. I’m lonely. I’m stressed. I’m not where I want to be. Own it.
- Own it. Don’t accept it – own it. There’s a difference there.
Why do we need to own it?
(2) Just because we’re in a certain place does not mean this is our final resting place. Just because we’re here doesn’t mean we are destined to stay here.
- Life is hard. It’s dark. If you’re in a place you don’t want to be in – own it and realize this is not where the story ends. You weren’t meant to stay here.
- Just because this is where you are right now does not mean this is where you’re going to stay.
You were created for so much more than the situations and places you find yourself in.
(Hey and guess what – you have brothers that toe the line with you in the gloom and fake gloom – that I KNOW are ready to lock shields and toe the line with you outside the COT too. Let them in and seek wise counsel from them)
Why? Because point number 3
(3) God is about to do something awesome in your life. God is about to do something AWESOME in your life.
Believe that.
Regardless of where you are, what your status is, God is on the move in your life whether you realize it to not.
We need to believe this to be true.
- God is about to do something great in your life but it is directly tied to your obedience.
What does this look like? Something like this I think.
(Gather men around carefully)
I saw this on my morning walk as the sun was rising and I was praying just for a good day. Sometimes we just need to pray for a good day.
And I came across this gate in a field with the door opened. And I truly believe this is such an excellent picture of how much God loves us and how he calls us into freedom in Him.
And I don’t know who needs to hear this besides me but here we go:
So when I saw this this morning and took this picture — I noticed a couple o things.
- One of the gate doors was flung wide open
- The other side of the gate door was closed, with a trash can blocking some of it.
- And if you were with me this morning, we could have walked right through the open side of the gate. But we would have had to make a choice to do so. However it would have cost us something as well.
- I think this picture screams the invitation that God gives to us:
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- An invitation to walk out of or walk through whatever you’re going through or wherever you’re at.
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- There is a God above that opens jail cells, doors, and gates — but it’s going to require something of you.
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- Notice the trash can sort of in front of the closed side of the gate. When God opens a gate or a door or a jail cell – whatever that may be in our lives – we’re going to have to leave something behind and leave the place that we currently are at to enter into the place He’s calling us to be. Maybe its an identity we’ve been holding onto or a relationship we’ve been in, or an idol – anything that would prevent us from walking through the gate/door that God is calling us to.
Here’s what I want to leave you with:
Jeremiah 1:17 – 19
Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land – against the kings of Judah, it’s officials, it’s priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord.
Stay in the Fight!
Steam