F3 Knoxville

Say Hello To My Little Friends

Shamrock

THE SCENE: Low 70’s & clear
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER Normal disclaimer + Covid 19
WARM-O-RAMA:

Motivator from 5
High Knees
Cherry Pickers (SLOW)
Baby Arm Circles forward/backward x 10
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the abnormally large pile of CMU’s, and everyone was instructed to grab 2 each.  We farmer carried the blocks around campus while stopping to do exercises, all exercises included the use of at least one CMU.  The exercises included the following: Shrugs, curls, tri extensions, deep merkins pushing the chest below your hands while on the blocks, blockees, wall squats, squats, lunges, calf raises, dips, squat thrusters, big boy sit ups, hello dollies, flutter kicks, bent rows, and maybe a few more, but you get the gist.  After carrying those CMU’s everyone was exhausted and most forearms were shot.

MARY:
No specific mary, as we made it back to the AO at 0615, but the flutter kicks in cadence to 40, with a cinder block over your head made up for the lack of mary at the end.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
21 HIM’s would be the record in attendance for Shamrock.  We had 21 for an OTB before we became official.  Add tags for GI Jane & Curry.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Popovich, 71, said it’s up to white people to step up — “no matter what the consequences” — and help lead the charge for change.

I read the full article over the weekend, click the text above for a link to the full article.  The quote I shared this morning gave me lots to think about over the weekend.  Too many times in my life, I witnessed things and decided, that is not my fight, I am staying out of it.  Simple things like an off color joke at work, where it is easier to laugh, than the say that is wrong.  The inequality in the way women are treated, the way acquaintances talk down about others, whatever the example, and there are many, its easier to go with the flow.  With a little maturity, and a stronger backbone, I am tired of letting things go.  I still have to decide which battles I want to fight, but as a father, I want to set an example for my kids, I want to teach them to stand up to bullies, and to not be afraid to take a stand.

I shared two stories from last week.  One, where my Muslim neighbor called my black neighbor the N word.  Both kids are in 4th grade, and surely the aggressor didn’t understand the gravity of the use of that word in general, but especially in the current climate surrounding the protests that have risen up from the George Floyd murder.  In my mind, this wasn’t my fight, but I have to say, I love my neighbor.  He wasn’t home and I would want him to stand up for my daughter, so I went in search of the boy.  The boy and I have had a total of three of these conversations over the course of a couple of years, and I tried to explain, firmly, why his behavior was unacceptable.  Who knows what the future holds, but I anticipate having many more of these conversations in the future, by the way talking to the parents doesn’t help sadly, I have tried that too.  The point is, my kids saw me set the example of what is right and wrong, my neighbor saw that I had his back and was willing to defend his daughter, and this boy was reprimanded and held accountable to his actions.  I am not saying I was right, but I determined that being silent was the wrong action.

Later in the week, I had one co worker tell another coworker that she owed him a lap dance.  They have known each other a long time, and it was an obvious joke, but again, it isn’t right.  That was also something that for a myriad of reasons can not be ignored.  So, on a Friday afternoon, I had to call out a 60 year old man for being out of line.  As a leader, we have to set the example and call out those whose actions are reprehensible.  I am not the fun police, but sometimes that is the consequence.  Somethings just aren’t funny.

Being silent is being complicit.  If you witness these situations and do nothing, then like George Floyd’s death, the bystander police officers allowed a man to die by taking no action.  It is time that we as HIM’s stand up to injustice.  That doesn’t mean you have to go to rallies and protests, but simply taking a stand opposed to taking no action speaks volumes.

Galatians 3:28, NIV: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” …   We are all the same in the eyes of Jesus, and he lived that.  He was radical, in his appeal to Jews, Greeks, women, outcasts, the unclean, etc.  There was no demographic that was untouchable to Jesus.  If he is our example, then we need to follow him and be the voice of Jesus.  It is simply about loving others, let’s don’t over complicate things.  As Popovich says let’s lead the charge for change.

MOLESKIN:
Pray for Nicole, Anchorman’s friend, Pray for Cheat sheet’s daughter Willow, and pray for the world.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Sign up for Q’s