THE SCENE: 60 and raining. Perfect for a heavy beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Administered.
WARM-O-RAMA:
- Overhead claps
- Moroccan nightclub
- Cherry pickers
- Mountain climbers
- Tempo merkins
THA THANG:
Mosey under the roof at the senior center. Ready to take on The Devils Tower.
There is a tower of 12 CMUs. Each man grabs a CMU and performs exercises per the Q. Exercises included;
- CMU Curls
- Thrusters
- Goblet Squats
- Alpos
- Shoulder press
- Flutter kick chest press
- Tri
- Upright rows
- Heavy Freddy
- Uneven Merkins L
- Uneven Merkins R
- Walking Lunge
- Heavy LBC
- CMU Curls
- Single arm row L
- Single arm row R
- Blockees
- CMU Swings
- Burpee Jump Overs
Bear crawl with the CMUs to my truck and put it away. Back to the Devils Tower – and repeat it all again!
MARY:
None
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Me and 5 of the best men I know
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Let’s talk about remembering well…
The Native American tribes of the Kiowa and Lakota have a legend… A group of girls went out to play and were spotted by several giant bears, who began to chase them. Trying to escape the bears, the girls climbed atop a rock, fell to their knees, and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them. Hearing their prayers, the Great Spirit made the rock rise from the ground towards the heavens so that the bears could not reach the girls. As they tried to climb the rock, the bears left deep claw marks in the sides.
This story is the fanciful origin of a massive butte that protrudes from the prairie in the Black Hills of Northeastern Wyoming. Some call it Bear Lodge Butte – but it is better known as the Devils Tower. This massive rock stands 867 feet from summit to base. Chaco and Whipper might tell you that it is one of the finest crack climbing areas in North America. It was on this day 114 years ago – Sept 24, 1906 – that President Teddy Roosevelt named the Devils Tower our nation’s first national monument.
The Word that I want to share this morning is about the importance of personal monuments – relics – souvenirs – mementos.
Seven times in the book of Joshua, the people of Israel erect stone monuments. They have different occasions each time, but the purpose is always the same. They build to commemorate God’s faithfulness… or as a witness to the unity that is established with another tribe….or as a reminder to serve the Lord and live in obedience with the Torah…or as a reminder of their potential for unfaithfulness… The purpose of the monuments is to prompt them to revisit those ideas from time-to-time. During the building of one of those monuments, Joshua tells the tribesmen that they are doing this; 1) so that you will always have a reminder of what happened here, and 2) so that your children will one day ask about the monument and you’ll have an opportunity to tell them the story and lessons learned here.
Monuments serve as aides to our memory. They are tangible connections to something once experienced. As life happens and memories fade, a monument prompts us to remember what was once so vivid.
Almost two years ago, I took a weekend away with two good friends. We stayed in a cabin in the Cherokee National Forest and spent three days engaging each other in very intentional conversations about life, and in prayer. We took stock of our lives and each felt a strong sense of recommitment to be better fathers, husbands, friends, and followers of Christ. I will forever look back on that weekend as a pivotal moment in my life.
One afternoon during that weekend, the three of us each decided to have some quiet time. We sat around the cabin reading and praying, and at one point we each ended up walking alone through the woods. As I walked and reflected on the changes that I was feeling in myself, I noticed a lone white rock on the ground – it stood out in a surrounding of dried leaves. I picked up the rock and put it in my pocket to be a reminder of that weekend away and what it meant in my life. (Interesting sidebar: As I sat down for dinner that evening, I pulled the rock from my pocket and set it on the table. My two friends stared at me, then at each other – then they both took a white rock from their own pocket and set it on the table. Unprompted and unbeknownst to the others, we each had picked up the same memento from our walk in the woods). To this day, this white rock and a photo of my wife are the two things that sit on my bedside table. The rock serves as a reminder of that time which was so significant in my personal journey. I can’t tell you how many times it has brought me back to that weekend and reminded me of the change that started there. Occasionally, my kids have asked me about it, and I have shared the story with them.
Here’s the punchline. When you have a significant moment in life… a MILESTONE, an AWAKENING, a RECOMMITMENT – I encourage you to commemorate that memory that with a monument. It could be a rock – or a photo – or a tattoo. Whatever it is, place it somewhere that you’ll see it often and be reminded of what was once so vivid to you. Remember and revisit that time, because, “remembering well is as important as doing well” (hat tip, Jonita Mullins).
MOLESKIN:
Good to have new daddy, Mathlete, back out in the gloom.
If your wife snorts at the idea of a tattoo to commemorate your significant moment…tell her that KickFlip put you up to it.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
IPC Week 4 available at JUCO tomorrow
Hardship Hill next Sat!