F3 Knoxville

Project Deck of Pain Part 2: Isolated? No! Relationships in Spades!

THE SCENE: Low 30’s but dry so good to go.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER – Administered + COVID
WARM-O-RAMA:

Moroccan Night Club x 15 IC (for Erector!)
Forward Lunges x 5 ea, Reverse Lunges x 5 ea OYO
Tempo Squats x 10 IC
Tempo Merkins x 10 IC
Tennessee Rocking Chair x 10 IC

THA-THANG:
This is Part 2. Part 1 here: Soldiering Through the Project Deck of Pain

The following Spades were not done last time but we did them this time:

Location Suit Card Description Card Amt Modified Amt
Shovel Flag Spades 2 1 lap entire shovel flag parking lot 1 1
Shovel Flag Spades 3 Dips on the curb 15 5
Shovel Flag Spades 4 Bear crawl in parking lot Q’s distance Q’s distance
Shovel Flag Spades 6 Tempo squats 10 10
Shovel Flag Spades 8 Jumping Spider 10 5
Shovel Flag Spades 9 Heels to Heaven IC 20 10
Shovel Flag Spades J Stationary Lunges 10 ea leg 5 each leg
Shovel Flag Spades Q Al Gore 30 sec hold x 2 30 sec hold x 1
Shovel Flag Spades A Single Leg Calf Raise 15 ea leg 7 ea leg

From there we did the following “randomly” pulled exercises (these aren’t in order but my cards got off so I’ve just put them in a filtered list from all exercises below):

Location Suit Card Description Card Amt
Shovel Flag Spades 5 Moroccan night club (if Erector is present he must lead it IC and must be 15 reps) 15
Shovel Flag Spades Q Al Gore 30 sec hold x 2
Amphitheatre Diamonds 6 Box Jumps on low theatre wall 15
Amphitheatre Diamonds 7 Flying Squirrel 10
Amphitheatre Diamonds J Iron Mike / Bonnie Blair (ea leg) 7
Amphitheatre Diamonds Q Reach for the Sky / Let it Hang 30 sec each
Amphitheatre Diamonds K Pickle Pointer IC 20
Friendship Bell Hearts 4 Reverse Crab around bell 1
Friendship Bell Hearts 9 Leg Lifts 20
Friendship Bell Hearts A Alternating Leg single leg calf raises (single count) 40

 

MARY:
Mary-go-round (aka Rotating Dealer’s Choice) – making a normal MARY circle for Dealer’s Choice, going around the circle each PAX calls out a 4-count IC exercise . After going around, the Q or one PAX doing one of the exercises as it rotates does 10 IC reps of the exercise on the Q’s lead. PAX does the exercise the PAX to his right did. After a 3-5 sec confirmation, the Q calls out the the cadence and the PAX again do 10. Repeat for a chosen length of time or at the end during normal “MARY” part of the workout. If PAX complete all exercises in the full circle, go back to the left instead. (I made this up a few weeks ago and submitted it but it’s not on the Exicon yet)

Exercises in today’s Mary-Go-Round included the Pickle Pointer, Basilisk, LBC, Stargazer (everyone was a fan of 15 seconds of rest in!), Leg Lifts (or Heels to Heaven… the Q might have gotten these confused today!), BBS, & more!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMAPAX in Spades today!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Because of life circumstances and COVID, I haven’t attended church in person since March 2020. Lord willing, that will change on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021. There are many factors that have gone into me staying away to care for those around me, but I want to write this to encourage those who are like me with what God has taught me and worked in me while absent.

1. God has not forgotten me and He hasn’t forgotten you.
It would be easy to get fatigued and feel like I’m not being faithful, making a difference, or really growing. I feel like I’m in no man’s land, simply riding the bench while everyone else gets to play the game of fellowship and worship each week. But we know that’s not true. Each person and especially those not present in person has a role to play in our church. God has called every member of the body to work and serve its purpose. He makes it clear in 1 Corinthians 12:21-23 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,
 
Do not fear – you and I are not forgotten.
 
2. God has been working while you were ‘away’ both in you and in others.
In many ways, relationships cannot help being had in person. There are various methods of communication – email, letters, endless Zoom meetings for work and with family- but these are not exactly the same. We feel it with the drain from being in front of a screen longer than any of us knows we want to be. Even those of us who are technophiles (previously loving technology a little too much) want to join in with the technophobes (that computer is ‘of the devil’ as Bobby Bouche’s mother would say) and take a break from the endless virtual communication we get. So, for those who you haven’t seen and those who haven’t seen you for a year or so, remember that you have changed and so have they. Lord willing, you’ve both become more Christ-like and the best version of you. But if you have stumbled, if that person has not followed as straight-and-narrow of a path as you or I may think they should have, there is grace for that as well. When you see someone after not seeing that person for some time, go into it with the thought “God how can I love the 2021 (person’s name)?” Colossians 4:6 reminds us how those conversations are to be ” 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”
 
God will give you the words, just listen to what the Spirit says in that moment and not your flesh is saying. Trust Him with your relationships.
 
3. Remember true community starts and ends with fellowship with God.
Jesus condescended from perfect communion with the Father and Spirit. We do not yet have that fellowship, and it is God’s good gift to use by giving us other people who are made in His image, giving them value and dignity and making them capable of relationship. This is God’s design, but as with all things, you and I need to realize that fellowship is to point us to God. Our church family should be one of the dearest groups of people and especially many individuals there can be so edifying and encouraging to us as friends, brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers. When we gather 2 or more, God is manifestly with us. But there is no replacing time with God and communion with the Lord. Are you following the example of Mary (Luke 10:38-42), sitting at Jesus’ feet? Are you slowing down, carving time out of your “busy schedule” to make time for what trutly matters? Or have you let the feeling of isolation pull you away from making time to intentionally get alone with Jesus every day (as Jesus Himself did with the Father in the GLOOM in Mark 1:35)
 
This last point has been of particular relevance to me in the preceding few months. I’ve been lonely and anxious, struggling with seeking other things to soothe my flesh rather than pressing into the Spirit.
 
All of these are a call to press into God and not let the things and people of this world be what take the cake for you. Appropriately desire community with others, trust God to work in those relationships, and seek God first and most.
 
Proverbs 18:1Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
    he breaks out against all sound judgment.
Press into relationships, especially the one with your Creator!
MOLESKIN:
Glad to have Baby Boomer visit us!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Shamrock F3 Shirt Deadline is 3/13/2021

The Bronson 02/23/2021

THE SCENE: mid-30s cold but great day to get out
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER administered with covid warning as well
WARM-O-RAMA:

    •    Side straddle hops (IC) 4ct
    •    Imperial squakers (IC) 4ct
    •    Tennessee rocking chair
    •    Cherry pickers
    •    Stretch on your own 30 seconds

THA-THANG:

Two lines to the peace bell.
  • At the peace bell we did 7s with derkins and dips

mosey to K25 hill.

Modified Charles Bronson: place 5 cones.  perform exercise below at cone 1, run to cone 2 and do a hill sprint, run to cone 3 and do a hill sprint, bear crawl from cone 4 to 5. mosey back to cone and perform next exercise – rinse and repeat.
  • 50 SSH
  • 50 Merkins
  • 50 Burpees
  • 50 LBC’s, rinse/repeat.
  • 50 American Hammers
  • 50 squats

MARY:
Only 2 minutes for this, we did dealers choice

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Momento Mori, a note from Stoic philosophy to remember that will die. how does that change the way you want to shape you day…

MOLESKIN:
none
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
none

Faster

THE SCENE: Drippy, slushy, 35ish with a brook babbling by in the background
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • High knees
  • Projectivators
  • Tempo squats
  • Little baby arm circles
  • Tempo merkins
  • Dive bombers
  • Fence steppers
  • 5 burpees
  • Cherry pickers

THA-THANG:
3 cycles of AMRAP, 45 s on, 15 s recovery

  • Cycle 1
    • Curls
    • Overhead press
    • Heavy squats
    • CMU Swings
    • Row right
    • Row left
  • Mosey to pool wall and do 7 wall-ups
  • Cycle 2
    • Derkins
    • Block Jump overs
    • Tricep Extensions
    • Heavy freddy’s
    • Thrusters
    • Walking CMU Merkins
    • Mosey to playground for 7 pull ups
  • Cycle 3
    • Heavy Lunges
    • Heel taps
    • Good mornings
    • Heavy flutter kicks
    • Airplanes
    • Blockees
    • Return to parking lot and bear crawl the CMUs back from whence they came

MARY:
60 s tree hugger with a probably-longer-than-necessary joke
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Matthew 6:16-18

16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,18so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

fasting, Schmemann argues, “rather than weakening us makes us light, concentrated, sober, joyful, pure.

true “Christian asceticism is a fight, not against but for the body.”

In Taft’s words, penance is “not a turning in on self, not a concentration on self-discipline as some sort of spiritual athletics, but an openness to new life, and through it openness to others, the end to which it is all supposed to lead.”

Schmemann counsels a fast to “control our speech”19 so that we can recover a measure of silence in our spiritual life without which we cannot hear the voice of the Lord.

fasting, like all forms of discipline, “is not a pitting of the spirit against the flesh, but rather body and soul united together against sin, body and soul converted together to the Lord.

The body is valuable and a precious gift of the Creator—who Himself of course took on human flesh—but its value is only recognizable paradoxically when it is not pampered but denied, as in fasting: “fasting in Christianity is only truly itself when it realizes the sacredness of the body.

fasting as a physical effort is totally meaningless without its spiritual counterpart: ‘by fasting and prayer.

O Lord and Master of my life!
Take from me the spirit of sloth, faint-hearted ness, lust of power and idle talk
But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to Thy servant.
Yes, O Lord and King!
Grant me to see my own errors and not to judge my brother;
For Thou are blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.
MOLESKIN:
I have a couple of goats, and I realized yesterday that the gate to their pen was completely detached at the hinge. If they had bumped the gate, it would have fallen and they could have escaped. But they didn’t. In the long run, fences don’t work because of their strength or durability. They work because we accept them. If you ever want to get out, just keep testing the fence and one day it will fall.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
none

PAUSE

THE SCENE: 48 and wet
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Yep – all the stuff.
WARM-O-RAMA:

• SSH – IC X7
• Squats – IC x5
• Imperial Squawkers – IC x5
• Mountain Climbers – IC X5
• Tempo Merkins – IC X5
• Overhead Clap – IC X5
• LBAC (fwd/back) – IC X5 (bigger)
• Moroccan Nightclub – IC X5
• Hi Knees/burpees x3
• Projectivators x5
• SPRINTS – Parkside to Library and back
• Mosey to Parallel Bars – 5 dips/5 lunges each leg
• Mosey to Pool Wall – 5 wall-ups/5 squats
• Mosey to RC

THA-THANG:

1 CMU mosey to Tinseltown Side Stairs
• 10 single-arm rows each side – CMU stairs
• 10 lunges each leg – CMU stairs
• 10 good mornings + 10 BBS – CMU stairs
• 10 uneven merks each side – CMU stairs
• 10 kettle swings + 10 calf raises – CMU stairs
ROUND 2:
• 10 narrow merk + 10 plio-merk – CMU stairs
• 10 thrusters + 10 squats – CMU stairs
• 10 curls + 10 OHP – CMU stairs
• 10 V-up + 10 flutterkicks (4-ct) – CMU stairs
• 10 tri-ext + 10 overhead side-side (2-ct) – CMU stairs
• 6:05 – return CMU/Pool Wall (5 wallups/squats) to Parallel (5 dips/lunges)/JAIL BREAK TO SHOVEL FLAG

MARY:

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
6 MEN: Erector, Borg, Biohack, Mathlete, Rocket, and Snaggletooth

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
“Be still [again] and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Still learning the lesson from 2020 – “Be Still” – A resource that I have been using may be a helpful tool to each of us in this time is the Pause App. It’s a simple 1 minute meditation. There are options for a 3-minute, 5-minute, and 10-minute meditation that you can do anytime during the day to come back to God in the midst of the rat-race that is often our workday.

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

Five Eleven

THE SCENE:  40 and clear.  Perfect!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered
WARM-O-RAMA:
 

Squat x 11

Overhead clap x 11

SSH x 11

Imperial walker x 11

Moroccan Nightclub x 11

THA THANG:

Mosey to the fountain plaza.  Elevens on the bench – chest slap irkin + single-leg split squat

Mosey to Y-12 Hill.  Elevens – Star jack, run down, diamond merkins, bear crawl up

Mosey to the Amphitheater.  Elevens – Box jumps, bernie up, mountain climbers, run down

Mosey to the pool wall.  Elevens – Wall up (or supine pull-up) + BBS

Mosey to Friendship Bell.  Elevens – Single leg dips + burpee box jumps

MARY:

Flutter kicks x 11

E2K R x 11

Hello dolly x 11

E2K L x 11

BBS x 11

Jail break!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

9

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I love so many things about F3 workouts – the push, the variety, the comradery, and this right here – the Ball O’ Man or Circle of Trust.  These five minutes that we use to challenge each other to be better men, better fathers, better husbands, better friends…  Where else in our society do men do this?  Maybe in your church… Maybe if you have an exceptional friendship…  Other than that – nowhere do men get to do what we are doing right here and right now.  Oorah, Ball O’ Man!

Exhortation.

The Q-Source has a chapter on Exhortation – Q3.7.  But instead of reading from that, I’m going to borrow an idea from scripture.  1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV), “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing”. 

encourage one another…  The Greek word which is rendered “encourage” is parakaleo.  Many English interpretations of this verse translate the word as “exhort” rather than “encourage” (ASV, ERV, NHEB, WEB…).  I think of encourage as “motivate”, “cheer on”, or “root for”.  But, “Parakaleo” in the Greek has a legal overtone.  The word implies one who is working to compel a court’s decision (like a defense attorney) – which is more earnest and urgent than the word “encourage” would suggest.  What’s more, the word infers that the person’s judgement is based on their first-hand knowledge of a situation.  That’s precisely what we do in this circle, is it not?  We compel each other, often based on our own experiences (e.g. I’m working on this, maybe you are as well – or I made a mistake and suffered, learn from my mistakes…).

…and build each other up… In the Greek, those words are oikodomeo and literally mean “to build a house”.

If Chaco were here, he could tell us how many different disciplines are involved in building a house.  Concrete, framing, electrical, plumping, roofing, insulation, finish work, etc.  Dozens of trades and hundreds of steps.  In this circle, we cover a wide range of topics; service, forgiveness, vision, prayer, playfulness, carrying your burden, and dozens of others.  Just like a house needs a foundation and insulation and plumbing – I need all this variety of exhortation to become more of a HIM.  

I appreciate you men coming out here.  I appreciate so much when you lead!  I appreciate the words that you speak into my life and the way that you exhort me and the other men out here!

 

MOLESKIN:

Prayers for Trolley’s wife and family

Good to have Mr. Slate at the Project!

Q Source 3.7, Exhortation

ANNOUNCEMENTS: