THE SCENE: Rainy, low 50s… the “Fake” gloom was sure real tonight!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
Check
WARM-O-RAMA:
-25 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence
– Leg stretch/Cherry picker things
– 10 Imperial Squat Walkers (4-ct), in Cadence
– 10 BACs forward and backward (4-ct), in Cadence
– 7 Tempo Merkins (4-ct), in Cadence
THA-THANG:
Tabata workout. Wall sits during the “rest”
7 rounds of each exercise, 20 secs AMRAP, 10 secs rest in between. 30 seconds rest (wall sit) after each set.
- Mountain Climbers
- Step ups
- Big Boy Situps
- Merkins
- Bench Pull Ups
- Bobby Hurleys
- Catalina Wine Mixer (shortened this because these are killers after so many Merkins)
- Pickle Pounders
- Bench Dips (I think we shortened these too)
- American Hammers
- Boat/Canoe (got about 1/2 way through this before time)
MARY:
Nope.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
14 Strong!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
With Valentine’s Day coming up, and given the usual plethora of bad news on the TV, I wanted to talk a little bit about love. Not romantic love, that’s mushy and gross. But about Biblical and unconditional love.
There was a poll of grade schoolers about love… one little girl wrote “If you want to get better at loving, start with someone you hate.”
Paul wrote about this kind of love in a letter to the Corinthians. As it is written in 1 Corinthians 13:1-8: If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
He talked about a brotherly and sisterly love that overcomes prejudices and hate. Because in the end, we are not loving others for them, but for God.
Paul wrote that Love is the highest Gift of All, because as the Apostle John said, “Love is from God. We love, because he first loved us. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”
I recently read something about someone who I’ve always put on a pedestal as being the embodiment of unconditional love, and that is.. MR ROGERS! The article was about a person does pro-bono work for abused children, and he met with an adult survivor of abuse who has come out on the other side and now mentors kids himself. He noticed Trolley from the Mr. Rogers show on the man’s desk and asked about it. The man described the abuse he had suffered as a young boy at the hands of his mother. After one particularly brutal beating, he turned on the TV. In his words…
“And there was Mr. Rogers. It was the end of the show and he was having a quiet, calm conversation with those hundreds of kids. In that moment, he seemed to look me in the eye when he said ‘And I like you just for being you’. In that moment, it was like he was reaching across time and space to say these words to me when I needed them most.
“It was like the hand of God, if you’re into that kind of thing. It hit me in the soul. I was a miserable little kid. I was sure I was a horrible person. I was sure I deserved every last moment of abuse, every blow, every bad name. I was sure I earned it, sure I didn’t deserve better. I *knew* all of these things … until that moment. If this man, who I hadn’t even met, liked me just for being me, then I couldn’t be all bad. Then maybe someone could love me, even if it wasn’t my mom.
“It gave me hope. If that nice man liked me, then I wasn’t a monster. I was worth fighting for. From that day on, his words were like a secret fortress in my heart. No matter how broken I was, no matter how much it hurt or what was done to me, I could remember his words, get back on my feet, and go on for another day.
“That’s why I keep Trolley there. To remind me that, no matter how terrible things look, someone who had never met me liked me just for being me, and that makes even the worst day worth it to me. I know how stupid it sounds, but Mr. Rogers saved my life.
The next time I saw him, he was talking to one of my little clients. When they were done with their session, he helped her out of her chair, took both of her hands, looked her in the eyes and said: “And remember, I like you just for being you.
That, to me, is Mr. Rogers’ most powerful legacy. All of the little lives he changed and made better with simple and sincere words of love and kindness.
What is Love? Love is God.
Fascinating Fact: He kept his weight at 143 his entire adult life. One letter to say “I”, four letters to say “LOVE”, and three letters to say “YOU”.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for the family and colleagues of the local policeman who was killed in a vehicle incident recently
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP! Feb. 27th, 8:30-9 am. Be there!