F3 Knoxville

Author: Lillydipper

Patience of Unanswered Prayer

THE SCENE: Sunny, temp about 90 degrees
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Plank Jacks, Plank Stretches, 10 Rockettes, 10 Windmills, Little of This and That
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Stop Sign at Southeastern Corner of Admin Bldg.  We will do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to grassy area that is south of Area 51.  There will be four cones set up in a square pattern.  We will be going in a counter-clockwise route around the square four times, stopping to do an exercise at each cone.  By the end we will have done four exercises at each cone.  Following are the exercises at each cone and the method by which to get to the next cone:

  • Cone 1:  1. 20 Side Straddle Hops (4 ct)  2. 15 Mountain Climbers (4 ct)  3. 20 Star Jumps  4.  20 Iron Mikes (both legs = 1)  (After exercise, Sprint to Cone 2)
  • Cone 2:  1. 20 Merkins  2. 15 Shoulder Taps  3. 10 Hand Release Merkins  4. 20 Carolina Dry Docks  (After exercise, Skip to Cone 3)
  • Cone 3.  1. 20 Big Boy Sit-ups.  2. 20 Hello Dollies (4 ct).  3.  20 Flutter Kicks (4 ct.)  4. 20 Bicycle Kicks (4 ct)  (After exercise, Bernie Sanders to Cone 4)
  • Cone 4.  1. 10 Burpees  2. 15 Imperial Walkers (both legs = 1)  3. 20 Bobby Hurleys  4. 20 Squat Jumps  (High Knees to Cone 1).

Mosey to Northshore Entrance to Park.  We will go south then east on the perimeter trail, doing Nickel Dime Quarters with the following exercises:

  • Squats
  • Dead Bugs
  • Diamond Merkins
  • Dive Bombers

We will be near the Southern Ball Fields when we have done the above.  Mosey to the parking lot at the Southern Ball Fields.  We will do 8 count Bear Crawls then 8 Count Lunges, repeating this pattern from one end of the parking lot to the other.  

Mosey to Outdoor Chapel.  Take 15 second breather.  Then mosey up hill all the way to the new built area near the Admin Bldg.  Take 30 second breather.  Mosey to AO.

MARY:
25 Hello Dollies
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
22 men with two FNGs whom we named Whistler (Brett Marshman) and Leo Turcas (Nadia).  Nadia was a Flying EH victim!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Asking with Patience

Matthew 7: 7-8

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Romans 8:25

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

2 Peter 3:8

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

At last week’s internet streamed worship service at my church, a line struck me from one of the songs we sang.  The song is “Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart” by Croly and Digerness.  The line that struck me is “Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.”  That is certainly a line I need to hear during the time of this coronavirus and national unrest after the death of George Floyd.  I read the bible verse that says, “everyone who asks receives.”  I know that people all over Earth are asking that this coronavirus would end.  I ask, “God, when will you answer our prayer?”  Yet, I need to also ask, “God, teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.”

When I was a boy, my best friend, Neil, who lived next door, was the first family on our block to get a Color TV set.  Seven years later, most people had Color TV sets but I was still praying for our first one.  My mother was a single parent and a teacher – and, just like today, teachers don’t make enough money for all the work they do.  I remember getting excited when we went to a big store that had a television promo.  As part of the promo, people could bring in advertisements they received in the mail.  If your code number on the advertisement was one of the winning code numbers, you could get a free TV set.  My mother, of course, told me the odds were minuscule for us to have a winning number.  We went to the store and there were all these magnificent color television sets, sitting there for a kid like me to gawk at.  Needless to say we didn’t win a set.  “But, mom, can’t we even buy one of the smaller sets?”  I know my mother felt bad for me but with her lack of funds she was also teaching my about life – about limiting oneself to a budget; about not coveting; about appreciating what we have; about patience.

About six or seven months later I came home to find a portable television set sitting on a cabinet in our living room.  It was on, it was playing a television show, and the show was in living color!!!  My mother had saved for quite some time to get that portable but color TV set.  I was so happy!  It may have been small but it was a COLOR SET!

God, teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.  I think of people who have endured wars that last for many years.  Teach me to be grateful for what I do have.  I think of people who endured plagues like the Black Plague where cities of people were wiped out by the disease or indian tribes in America who were practically wiped out by diseases that Europeans brought from another continent.  God, teach me to have trust that you are there for me, for us, no matter what difficulties and even tragedies beset us.  For in You we have something that hardship, suffering, even death cannot take away.  As the famous poet, John Donne, said, in you Death Shall Die.

MOLESKIN:

Prayers for our nation at this time of unrest, prayers for Iceman’s father who will need surgery for his heart again, prayers for Thunderstruck’s mother and grandfather, prayers for Lillydipper’s wife.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
F3 Launch at Morristown this weekend.

Grateful

THE SCENE: Insert info about the weather, etc.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Motivators starting with seven, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Rockettes, 10 Windmills, 5 Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward, 5 Wide Arm Circles Forward and Backward.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the South Ball Fields Parking Lot.  We will be running from one end of the parking lot to the other.  There will be four cones set up along the run.  At each cone, stop to do ten of the first exercise listed.  Keep going in order from each end of the parking lot.  Here are the exercises:

Running south to north:

  1. Squat Jumps
  2. Merkins
  3. Big Boy Sit-ups
  4. Hello Dollies (4 ct.)

Running north to south:

  1. Flutter Kicks (4 ct)
  2. Plank Jacks
  3. Carolina Dry Docks
  4. Shoulder Taps (each shoulder)

Once done with all exercises, jog around the parking lot.

Next, starting from Cone 1 we will do a five parking lane bear crawl to 5 lane lunge all the way to Cone 4.

Next, we will mosey to soccer field.  We will do suicides on field going to first, second, and third cone and back.  Each time coming back men will do 20 Baby Crunches.  We will do a different type of run on each suicide.  They will be as follows:

  • Bernie Sanders.
  • Grapevine Left
  • Grapevine Right
  • Skip
  • High knees

Mosey to perimeter trail at the end of the parking lot.  We will head east and north on the trail doing Nickel Dime Quarters.  Here are the exercises for each stop.

  • Bobby Hurleys
  • Diamond Merkins
  • Bicycle Kicks
  • Iron Mikes (each leg = 1)
  • Dive Bombers
  • Box Cutters
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Squats

We will turn west at the Serpentine Sidewalk and continue to the Island Parking Lot.  At the parking lot we will have the Relay Race Around the Island.  Men divide up into teams with each team stationing men at an island.  The race starts with the first man running to second man, second to third, etc. until last man meets first man again (no touching, keep social distance).  The first man starts again.  The race isn’t over until the last man gets back to where he started.

Mosey to base of Mini Cardiac.  Do 20 Buzz Saws.  Next we will Bernie Sanders up Mini Cardiac to Park Sign, then sprint the rest of the way to the AO.

MARY:
Boat Canoe and ATMS
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Use the TAGS on right-side to record PAX (BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOURSELF) in attendance. Be sure to select the AO in CATEGORY above TAGS and then delete these notes!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

From John 15: 12-15.
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 
13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 
During this coronavirus epidemic I had to lay out from F3 as did you.  When F3 started meeting again, it hurt me not to be able to join with you brothers.  I was concerned about working out with you because, as you know, my wife, Jan, was diagnosed with breast cancer at about the same time the coronavirus epidemic was beginning to spread in the United States.  We hear that we can carry the coronavirus without even knowing it. I didn’t want to catch the virus by getting close to others, then unknowingly spread it to my wife.
I realized during the months away from you guys how much strength I get from just meeting with you.  I did work out alone and with my son, Bennett (aka Puddle in F3).  So, I kept in ok shape.  What I missed was the strength of the fellowship, of the encouragement we get from one another as men, of the message shared at the end of each workout, of the commitment to lock shields through the struggle, of the way we push each other forward not only in workouts but as HIMs, of the way we pray for each other, reach out to each other, hold each other in our hearts.  Man, I missed you guys.
On Thursday, May 21, Jan and I had a serious talk with her oncologist.  Jan has an aggressive breast cancer.  The chemotherapy weakens her immune system.  She can’t fight off Covid-19 the way you and I might be able to.  She was understandably scared about having me go to F3 workouts.  She doesn’t want to die and the odds would be significantly higher of that happening to her than to most if she did get Covid-19.  But, God bless her, she also saw how much as was missing F3.  On the way to chemotherapy, she said that we should talk to the oncologist about the safety of my working out with you guys.  The oncologist told me that she felt pretty good about the low risks of outdoor workouts, particularly if a social distance is kept from others.  She gave me the green light to come to F3 and so did Jan.  Sweat release!!  I can’t tell you how that felt to me.  I couldn’t believe it. With the news about the coronavirus sticking around all year long, I was wondering if I would ever to get to see you again.  And now, if I keep a distance from you, forgive me, it isn’t that I don’t want to be near you.  Heck, I want to give each of you a big ol bear hug.
Anyway, what I am saying is thank you.  Thank you for praying for me and for Jan.  Thank you for the encouraging words you have sent me. Thank you for praying for Jan and me.  And, thank you for being a greater source of strength than I even realized.

MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Insert information about upcoming events, 2nd or 3rd F opportunities, and any other announcements.

Power of the Powerless

THE SCENE: Gonna have to wake up and see!!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops, 15 Second Squat, 10 Mountain Climbers, 30 Second Squat, 10 Cherry Pickers, 45 Second Squat, 10 Windmills, 60 Second Squat, 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to a parking lot, field, or some place where you can run around for 25 yard to 50 yard stretches in four corners.  We will circle the parking lot four times, doing the listed exercises in sequence for each lap.  You will go by the written methods to the next corner.

  • Corner 1    1. 20 Squat Jumps  2. 20 Smurf Jacks  3. 20 Iron Mikes (both feet = 1)  4. 20 Star Jumps  (Bernie Sanders to Corner 2)
  • Corner 2   1. 20 Big Boy Sit-ups.  2. 20 Hello Dollies (4 ct.).  3. 20 Flutter Kicks (4 ct).  4. 20 Box Cutters  (Sprint to Corner 3)
  • Corner 3   1. 20 Merkins  2. 20 Pickle Pounders  3. 20 Diamond Merkins  4. 20 Carolina Dry Docks  (Alternate between lunges and hops to Corner 4)
  • Corner 4   1. 20 Bottle Openers (alternative stretching each arm forward from plank position)  2. 20 Shoulder Taps (each arm = 1).  3. 20 Plank Jacks  4.  20 Mountain Climbers (both legs = 1).  (Skip to Corner 1)

Mosey to a different parking lot, area or field or stay in the same one but circle it a few times.  Find an area about 25 yards in length.  You will be go the 25 yards by the listed methods, do 20 Baby Crunches, then go back by the same method.  Here are the methods you will go back and forth:

  • Bernie Sanders
  • Grapevine Left (running sideways while alternating feet, starting with left foot)
  • Grapevine Right (running sideways while alternating feet, starting with the right foot)
  • High Knees Run
  • Skip
  • Sprint
  • Lunge

Next, you will take a ten minute run and end up back at your home A0.  You can alternate your pace as needed.

At A0 grab yourself a CMU or something of similar weight.  We will do the following exercises:

  • 20 Overhead Presses
  • 20 Curls
  • 20 Rows
  • 20 Squats with CMU
  • 20 Bench Presses

After doing the above, sprint for about 75 yards, then walk back. Rinse and repeat the above.

Next, time willing, we will do elevens by steps near your home.  Start with 10 Bench Jumps and 1 Bench Dip.

MARY:
20 Tempo Squats, 20 Bicycle Kicks (4 ct), Flutter Kicks (4 ct), 20 Imperial Walkers (4 ct).  If you have time left, go back to weights and and elevens.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Use the TAGS on right-side to record PAX (BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOURSELF) in attendance. Be sure to select the AO in CATEGORY above TAGS and then delete these notes!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Power of the Powerless is a book by Christopher de Vinck

About his brother, Oliver, born with birth defects and  who lived 33 years unable to talk, walk or see, profoundly retarded, fed by family throughout his life.

The author first published a short article about the life and death of his brother in The Wall Street Journal

He talked about how this powerless person had a life that was profoundly meaningful

He made the lives of the author and his family more meaningful through the sacrifices and love that they, as humans, gave to him.

The response from around the nation and around the world was profound.

Some responses came from famous people like President Ronald Reagan, Fred Rogers, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Others came from bishops, ministers, rabbis and priests.

Others came from folks like you and me but also from people who had family members who were powerless, just like Oliver.

The article was published again, numerous times, in other newspapers and magazines.

Henri Nouwen, the famous priest, theologian, and professor met Christopher de Vinck before he wrote that article.  Christopher visited Nouwen when Nouwen was a professor at the Harvard School of Divinity.  It was after meeting Christopher that Nouwen went on to work with the mentally and physically handicapped at the L’ Arche Community.

In writing the forward to de Vinck’s book, written after the article was published, Nouwen said that Oliver’s story and the story of many others who have also been powerless (written about in de Vinck’s book)  “breaks with all human logic, all intelligent predictions, all normal norms of success and satisfaction.  It turns everything upside down. It speaks not only about the power of the powerless, but also about love offered by those who cannot speak words of love, joy created by those who suffer grievously, hope given by those whose lives are complete failures, courage enkindled by those who cannot make the slightest move on their own.”

Jesus Christ, of course, turned the world’s notions of success upside down.  In a week when we have seen images of helpless children gassed to death in the horrors of those who attempt to dominate others, we are touched, we are moved beyond the comforts of everyday living, and moved by the power of the powerless.

MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Insert information about upcoming events, 2nd or 3rd F opportunities, and any other announcements.

Marked Men

THE SCENE: Supposed to be a high of 65 degrees tomorrow, only a 20% chance of rain.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
25 Side-Straddle Hops, 10 Pinto Twists (jump in air and twist to your right so that you land facing opposite direction; then jump in air and twist to your right again so that you are facing the original way.  Next do the same thing but twist to the left in the air so that your are facing the opposite way; then jump in the air so that you are facing the original way.  You have just completed 1 Pinto Twist.  Do the same thing 9 more times!).  10 Cherry Pickers; 10 Windmills; 5 baby arm circles forward and backward; 5 wide arm circles forward and backward.
THA-THANG:
Sprint for 30 seconds down then walk for 30 seconds down your neighborhood street or wherever you are working out.  Do this five times through your vicinity.  Stop to do 20 Hello Dollies (4 count).  Turn around and sprint 30 seconds and walk 30 seconds five times back to your A0.

Grab a CMU or something of similar weight (about 30 lbs.).  You will be doing each of the following exercises with the CMU.  Between each exercise Bernie Sanders for about 50 yards and sprint back.  Do 20 Big Boy Sit-ups before your next exercise. Here are the exercises.  Remember to Bernie, sprint and do Big Boys after each one.

  • 25 Overhead Presses
  • 25 Curls
  • 25 Bell Ringers (swinging CMU between legs to height over your head)
  • 25 Rows
  • 25 Squats with CMU at chest

Next, grab two bricks or something of similar weight, one brick in each hand.  Mosey down street for 2 minutes.  Do 10 Mini Man-makers (merkins with the bricks where you lift each brick, right then left, into the air before your next merkin).  Walk back to AO for one minute then run the rest of the way.  Put the bricks away.

Find a step near your AO.  We will do elevens, starting with 10 bench jumps and 1 Bench Dip.

Mosey down street for 200 yards and mosey back.

Go to step again at your AO.  Do elevens starting with 10 Decline Merkins and 1 Bench Dip.

MARY:
10 Hand Release Merkins, one 360 degree walk around right hand plank, one 360 degree walk around left hand plank, 20 Flutter Kicks (four count), 20 American Hammers (four count), 10 Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1).  If you have time left, go back to the exercises with the CMUs.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Use the TAGS on right-side to record PAX (BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOURSELF) in attendance. Be sure to select the AO in CATEGORY above TAGS and then delete these notes!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Galatians 3:26-27

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:13

As I Christian, I believe that by my baptism I have been marked by the Holy Spirit, by God.  This “being marked”, this baptism, should change me.  I have now “put on Christ” as Paul states in Galatians, Chapter 3.  Now that I am a marked man, my behavior should also change.  I should cast off the old ways and put on “new clothes.”  I should remember that I am marked and, therefore, should act differently.  The singer/songwriter Kyle Matthews describes this “change in behavior” well in a song called “Been Through the Water.”  The protagonist in the song has been previously baptized and in a moment of weakness has a chance to cheat on his wife.  He does not, however, because he is a “marked man”:

Preacher turned them around at the altar
Pronounced the boy and his girl “man and wife”
In two years they were Mother and Father
And they built them a life
And his old girlfriend saw a moment of weakness
And she said “If you’re lonely come see me sometime…”

He said I’ve been through the water and I’ve come out clean
Got new clothes to cover me
And you don’t wear your old shoes on your brand new feet
When you’ve been through the water
And I’ve been through the water.

Are you a “marked man?”  I believe that as members of F3 we are “marked men.”  The 3rd F of F3 reminds us that we are to live in God.  We have been called to be HIMs or “High Impact Men.”  We are marked out to act differently than typical men.  We are to be charitable, virtuous, honorable and true to our families, community and each other.  We are set apart.  We should be living examples of what God wants men to be.   And, in our meeting together, we should foster this spirit in one another.  We are blessed with something special each time we meet.
Being fed on that special food, that special water, we have more strength to go out into the community and live as HIMs.

We see examples of this such as the immediate response of F3 members to the needs of a member of Cap’n Crunch’s church who had a tree fall down in high winds upon his home and car.  After Cap’n put out the notice on Group Me, a large troop of the “F3 Mafia” were at the home within hours, chain saws in hand, to clear out the mess and help the unlucky homeowners.

Gents, remember that we have been marked.  What a blessing that is for us!  Let’s remain Hims, serving each other, our families, and community.

MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Insert information about upcoming events, 2nd or 3rd F opportunities, and any other announcements.

It Shines At Me

THE SCENE: It just might rain on you!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Plank Jacks, From Plank Position do 15 second lifts each of right arm, left arm, right leg and left leg, 10 Imperial Walkers, 10 Windmills, 10 Rockettes
THA-THANG:
Mosey for 3 minutes.  Do 20 American Hammers.  Mosey another 3 minutes.  Do 20 Hello Dollies. Wave at the people on your street who are giving you strange looks.  On the way back to your driveway, sprint 30 seconds, lunge 30 seconds, and keep up that sequence until you are back.

Using CMU or another object of similar weight, do the following exercises.  Between each exercise Bernie Sanders for 25 yards and sprint back.  Here are the exercises to do with the CMU or weight:

  • 25 Overhead Presses
  • 25 Curls
  • 25 Rows
  • 25 Squats with CMU at chest

Next, we will do “Nickel, Dime, Quarters” with the exercises listed below.  You will run 20 yards and do 5 of the exercise, run 40 yards and do 10 of the exercise, and finally run 100 yards before doing 25 of the exercise.  Do the same for each of the following exercises:

  • Squat Jumps
  • Merkins
  • Big Boy Sit-ups (change direction after this to go back to your Home AO)
  • Star Jumps
  • Carolina Dry Docks
  • Flutter Kicks (both legs = 1)

Next, we will do elevens.  Find yourself a step to jump up onto.  We will be doing elevens, starting with one bench jump and ten bench dips off of the step, then going down or up in order.  Next, start with one decline merkin off the step, sprint for about 20 yards and do ten mountain climbers (both legs = 1)

Do you have any time left?  How much? Well alternate between sprinting and lunging away from your Home AO for half of the time left.  Then alternate between sprinting and lunging for the other half of the time left on your way back.  Congratulate yourself and proceed to the BOM Word.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I am in a poetry mood because in my last “Virtual Q” I also had a poem.  When reading this poem, ask yourself what the “it” is that the poet is talking about.

“Annunciation”

By Marie Howe

Even if I don’t see it again—nor ever feel it
I know it is—and that if once it hailed me
it ever does—
And so it is myself I want to turn in that direction
not as towards a place, but it was a tilting
within myself,
as one turns a mirror to flash the light to where
it isn’t—I was blinded like that—and swam
in what shone at me
only able to endure it by being no one and so
specifically myself I thought I’d die
from being loved like that.

MOLESKIN:
I send out my prayers to each of you brothers, thanking you for the bond we have and encouraging you to continue to be a HIM in this very difficult time.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Can’t wait for the next Virtual Coffeeteria!