Fitness. Fellowship. Faith.
THE SCENE: 38 and clear
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
This would have been a good idea, slow ruck to decide where to do WOD, moved bleachers to flat area
THA-THANG:
Pretty simple,
Do that twice. Dump sandbags and get a little extra mileage in until time is up
THE SCENE: Cool morning. Ice and snow still lingering about
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Did a nice thorough warm-up to include lots of little baby knee circles.
THA-THANG:
Due to slippery conditions, we decided it best to not run at all.
Alternated between lunges and bear crawls to the amphitheater. Played a little frog get across the street.
Alphabet Soup to Heaven
PAX split into 2 teams of four. We bunny-hopped up the stairs to various letters to spell the words “food,” “coffee,” and “oneness.” This was conducted relay style.
7s
Did these with box jumps and derkins with rapid-succession alternating single leg stair hops (aka ran up the stairs) in between sets).
Found our way back to the AO through a variety of bear crawls and lunges.
Ring-of-Fire Merkins x8
Ring-of-Fire Squats x4
MARY:
Put the Cherry on top with a set of flutter kicks and hello dolly’s.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
8 PAX
Soot, AAA, G-6, Trowel, Drive-Thru, Amazon, Swanson, Postman
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
In the darkest, coldest days of the year, we need to double down on the 2nd F. Pay attention to the men in our lives that may be isolating or withdrawing from fellowship. Find creative ways to reach out and be a light in the cold dark winter.
[ The Scene ]
[ Welcome/Disclaimer ]
[ Warm o Rama ]
(Bench Warm-Up)
[ The Thang ]
(Mosey to the 1st walking bridge)
(1) 10s
(Mosey to the Amphitheater)
(2) 10s
(mosey back to AO)
[ Mary ]
Half-Dollar > Half-Ass
[ COT ]
Invest + Invite
Was challenged to “invest and invite” in 2021 as a main objective, and then thought, why not start now – this month, this week, today.
In John 5:1-9 we see a perfect example of this.
“Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.
One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”
We see investment and we see invitation. I once heard a story of this passage of Scripture being preached in a Southern baptist church and when the pastor got to verse 9 the congregation celebrated joyously until the pastor said 3 words that silenced the entire church – What. A. Shame.
I’m sorry…what? What a shame? The pastor went on to say: “What a shame that we don’t know. What a shame that we don’t know whether the invalid went back to the pool to help others. What a shame that we never find out if the invalid returned to the place he was once labeled invalid to help validate others.”
I am the invalid in the story. So are you. Whatever the place is in your life that you might have been labeled (or self-labeled) invalid – Jesus came in and invested and invited you to come out of that place. By His love and grace he validated what was once deemed invalid.
So if we are to claim the term High Impact Man, how can we not invest and invite as Jesus did, does, and will continue to do. We have an awesome opportunity to help validate the invalid as HIM. Because it was first done for us.
THE SCENE: Temperature disputed during pre ruck, anywhere from 29-34. Felt great though regardless
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Pro tip, going at SSH with great form moves blood into your fingers to keep them warm…
SSH
OH claps Postman style holding a squat
SSH
Hillbilly’s
Patty-cake merkins COVID style (don’t actually clap with anyone)
SSH
THA-THANG:
Quick mosey over to the coupon pile at L&N. Three station AMRAP with station one there (AMRAP lasts duration of the workout).
Station 1 at L&N: Start with 10 reps of each exercise, then leave rock on the ground and run up the stairs between L&N and the convention center
Station 2 the top of L&N near Henley St: Start with 7 reps of burpees for first round and increase by one rep each round, elbow plank remains the same at 30 seconds every round. Once complete, run around to the front of L&N academy above where we park.
Station 3 in front of L&N near cars: Again start with 10 reps of every exercise and add two reps each round. Run down the parking lot and back to station 1.
We ended up getting through rounds of 18 reps and 11 burpees. Returned rocks to their homes and mosey back to the AO where time was up.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
13 Strong: Postman, Wedding Singer, Drive Thru, Huffy (welcome back!!), Slim Shady, Swanson, Triple A, Magic Mic, Livestrong, Amazon, G6, Bulldog, Abort
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I overheard a conversation between two friends that really got on my nerves and made me consider if I say these things or think this way. Friend one has a college degree, has had family support his whole life, and while he all hit bumps in the road he generally has had it pretty easy. Friend two has no degree and works tons of hours every week, has had struggles with addiction and various other things. During this conversation, Friend one tells the struggling guy it “must be nice” when hearing about how his job was going.
And that really aggravated me, but also got me thinking about how we view our choices and try to absolve ourselves from things we deem are outside our control. That is the cowardly way out, and I hope that I am not guilty of that very often. Things will absolutely happen that we can’t control, its inevitable. But our reaction to those trials determines whether they’re actually positive or negative. We all need to be aware that we have much much more control over our lives than we want to admit. We control it, if things are not going well then we need to look internally to fix them rather than place blame elsewhere.
“Chocolate Milk Monday”
[ The Scene ]
[ Welcome/Disclaimer ]
[ Warm-o-Rama ]
[ The Thang ]
KISS — Keep It Simple Superstar
(Mosey to Rock Pile)
(1)
— 10s
(All PAX execute 10×4 rock flutter kicks before next evolution)
(10 count)
— 8s
(All PAX execute 10×4 rock flutter kicks before next evolution)
— 6s
(All PAX execute 10×4 rock flutter kicks before next evolution)
(10 count)
[ Mary ]
(Quarter Pounder)
[ COT ]
“What Happens Next”
So why these 3 readings?
It can feel (and has felt) like we are very much in a “What happens next?” season this year. From the pandemic shutting everything as we knew it down to one of the most divisive elections in our nation’s history, you have to wonder – well, what happens next? So in the 1st reading we see this exchange between two of the characters in Crawdad’s book – The Missionary. Maybe you yourself have asked this question at some point in time this year – what happens next? Maybe it was to no one in particular, just yourself and your own thoughts. Even outside of this year – we have all found ourselves facing this question at some point in time. And when we do – we all need a “Randy” in our lives — someone to remind us to wait, and prioritize listening over speaking. More on this in a moment.
The 2nd reading touches on “The In-between” as Jim Branch writes in The Blue Book. This particular passage was written by him in 2005. Many if not all of us know the feeling of being in between. In between jobs, seasons of life, relationships, you name it. As JB writes “it is the space before your answer has come, or your problem has been solved.” 2020 feel like that to anyone else? Going through this election feel like that to anyone else? The in between is probably a familiar space for many of us and if not – it will be, I promise. This 2nd reading builds off and compliments the 1st — reminding us that whether we like it or choose to accept it or not – we are currently in the in between. And maybe not in your immediate life right now but as a whole, we are. As JB writes “It is a space that is completely terrifying and unbelievably exciting.” When you think about it from a 20,000+ view, haven’t we always been in an “in between” ? In between heaven and earth. We are in between our first breath on this earth to meeting our Maker in Heaven someday if you believe in Jesus.
So then the question has to be asked and built upon the first: What comes next — especially when we find ourselves in the in between? The 3rd reading ties it all together.
The 3rd reading in Philippians takes the 1st two and binds them together tightly, and then gives us the playbook for how to answer the question of: What comes next — especially when we find ourselves in the in between?
The part that really gets me from this 3rd reading is the back 9: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” When we find ourselves asking the questions “What comes next?” + “What do we do in the in between? Philippians reminds us that the peace of God transcends all understanding — meaning that we can’t out-think our way through this. We can’t man-handle our way through this. We can’t plan enough, be prepared enough, be ready enough, be smart enough, and be wise enough to out-understand our way through this. This pandemic, this year, this election turmoil we find ourselves in – God’s peace transcends anything we might muster up to get through this season. Just like the reminder we get in Isaiah 55:8 — “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” We may not understand how to answer the question of “What comes next” and “What do I do in the in between?” and fully understand the situation we find ourselves in right now — but there is someone who can and does and He intercedes on our behalf every single day so that we CAN learn how to walk through those questions better as we go along. And if we can help others walk through those questions as well – well that’s HIM stuff if I’ve ever heard of it.
Keep the Faith & Fight the Good Fight!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
(1) Winter Coat Drive — We’re collecting winter coats for men/women/kids at every AO. Bring coats to your AO for your AO Q to help those in need this cold season
(2) F3 10 Year Anniversary coming up in January!