F3 Knoxville

Tag: Choir Boy

Giving in Thanks

THE SCENE: Beautiful and sunny day, temps in low 60s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Plank Jacks, 10 Pinto Twists, 10 Windmills, Gobble Trot around the parking lot, 7 Baby Arm Circles forward and backward, 5 Wide Arm Circles forward and backward.
THA-THANG:
Mosey on trail toward Mt. Everest but stop halfway for 20 American Hammers.

Continue mosey to base of Mt. Everest.  We will do 10 Tempo Merkins and 10 Tempo Squats.  We will then run to top of Everest.  At top we will do 30 Baby Crunches, 20 Hello Dollies and 10 Shoulder Taps.

Mosey to Shaded Parking Lot across street from Northern Ball Park Entrance Parking Lot.  We will do 20 Flutter Kicks.

Mosey to Caribbean Parking Lot.  We will run a U shape around parking lot stopping at every 3 islands to do exercises.  Those getting to end of U first will sweep men back.  Here are the exercises:

  • 20 Smurf Jacks
  • 10 Hand Release Merkins
  • 20 Bicycle Kicks (4 ct)

Mosey go grassy area by first ballpark off of Northern Ball Fields entrance.  We will play a game of 10 second huddle football (no more than a ten second huddle between plays).  The game will be touch with one blitz allowed per four down and only mid field being a first down mark.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
29 men/boys with one FNG, 5-year-old Jack, son of Lunch Money.  Jack now has the F3 name of Turkey Gobbler!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I had the opportunity to look at some quotes from Presidents that each made on Thanksgiving Day.  I was struck by how many, in giving gratitude for the way our nation has prospered, also gave attention to the need to give to others, particularly the less fortunate.  I will quote from two of those presidents:

Calvin Coolidge 1925:

 “As we have grown and prospered in material things, so also should we progress in moral and spiritual things. We are a God-fearing people who should set ourselves against evil and strive for righteousness in living, and observing the Golden Rule we should from our abundance help and serve those less fortunately placed. We should bow in gratitude to God for His many favors.”

Ronald Reagan 1981:

“In this spirit, Thanksgiving has become a day when Americans extend a helping hand to the less fortunate. Long before there was a government welfare program, this spirit of voluntary giving was ingrained in the American character. Americans have always understood that, truly, one must give in order to receive. This should be a day of giving as well as a day of thanks.”

To give to others is an American call and certainly a call for F3.  I am proud of F3 for the principal we attempt to follow of giving to the community and those in need.  I have been struck by the way are N’antans, currently Judge Judy and formerly Abscess and Cap’n Crunch have made that a mission of F3 Knoxville.  Let us keep the spirit of giving in our hearts as we give thanks for our blessings.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Pinto, for Ribbed’s wife as she goes through surgery for removal of tumor by spine on Dec 14, for Curveball and his wife as they head to Florida on Saturday for surgery she will have there early next week, for the wonderful woman that F3 helped clean shelves in her garage last week, and for the lonely and isolated in our country on this Thanksgiving Day.

Earn that pie

THE SCENE: low 40’s…about perfect.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x20, Imperial Walkers x10, Windmills x10, Tempo merkins x10, cherry pickers x10, little bit of this and that.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Playground for 7’s

  • Pull-up at playground and v-ups at the flag.

Mosey to splash-pad

20-minute AMRAP of:

  • 50 Squats
  • 50 SSH
  • 40 Lunges (total)
  • 50 SSH
  • 30 Merkins
  • 50 SSH
  • 20 Big Bois
  • 50 SSH
  • 10 Burpees
  • Run to outhouse and back
  • Rinse and repeat until 20-minutes was up.

Route 66 of merkins at each light until we got back to AO.

MARY:
No time for dat.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 HIM’s
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Psalm 103 — a psalm of gratitude and blessing the Lord for his goodness in our lives.  He does not treat us as our sins deserve!
MOLESKIN:
Next time, I’d switch it up and do the same number of SSH as the exercise we are on (so decrease it by 10 each rep)

Don’t Look Back

THE SCENE: Sunny, temps in low 40s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Y 20 Side-Straddle-Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Cherry Pickers , 32 Grady Corns, Left Leaner (Liberal), Right Leaner (Conservative), Little of This and That.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Coliseum. We will do 20 American Hammers and 10 Tempo Merkins.  Mosey to parking lot below Coliseum.  Each man gets a partner for Doras.  While partner runs up stairs and to driveway coming back to parking lot the other partner does exercises.  Here are the exercises that each two-man team completes:

  • 100 Squat Jumps
  • 100 Iron Mikes (both feet = 1)
  • 100 Hello Dollies (4 ct)
  • 100 Flutter Kicks (4 ct)
  • 200 Baby Crunches

Mosey to stop sign at southeastern corner of Admin Bldg.  There will be cones planted along the roadway.  Men will stop at each cone to do exercise listed.

  • Cone 1:  10 Hand Release Merkins.  Sprint to Cone 2.
  • Cone 2:  Ten Burpees.  Bernie to Cone 3.
  • Cone 3:  20 Big Boy Sit-Ups.  Bear Crawl to Cone 4.
  • Cone 4:  Run to front of Admin Bldg to do 25 Calf Raises at Steps.  Then run back to Cone 5 which is on roadway at other end of parking lot.
  • Cone 5:  Hop to Cone 6.
  • Cone 6:  Run down stairs by bat cave, head left to grove and run up top of summit to come back to this cone.  Then Bernie to Cone 7.
  • Cone 7:  20 Dive Bombers.  Butt Kick to Cone 8.
  • Cone 8:  20 Bicycle Kicks (4 ct.)  Sprint to Stop Sign.  Alternate between Big Boys and Merkins until rest of PAX arrives.

Mosey to Haslam Boulder.  30 Second Gander at River Area below.

Mosey to Parking Lot with CMUs.

Each man grabs CMU.  We will do the following exercises then run to Pavilion to do 15 Picnic Table Pull-ups between each exercise:

  • 20 Overhead Presses
  • 20 Bell Ringers
  • 20 Curls
  • 20 Rows
  • Note:  We just happened to team up and play a little game called “Encore” while in the midst of the CMU exercises.  Losers had to do some Burpees.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
22 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Philippians 3:13:  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. . .

From Lyrics to “Don’t Look Back” by Boston:

Don’t look back
A new day is breakin’
It’s been too long since I felt this way
I don’t mind where I get taken
The road is callin’
Today is the day.

A patient of mine told me of a quote he heard that he wanted to apply to his own life.  The quote is, “There is a good reason why the front window of a car is bigger than the rear view mirror.”  I love that quote.  If we spend too much time looking at the rear view mirror what happens?  We crash.  We are injured.  We are not dealing with what lies ahead.

I see another patient who is frankly stuck in the past.  It keeps him from moving on in the present.  He made a decision to leave a job he hated, retire early, leave the expensive city he lived in up north, and move to the mountains of East Tennessee.  His life has not been what he had dreamed about when he made the decision.  He has struggled financially and doesn’t have as many friends here as he would hope to have.  He now regrets the decision he made to quit the job he had and move here.  He keeps thinking of how much more money he would have if he had stayed with the job.  Trouble is, he was miserable at that job and treated unfairly in it.  He had good reasons for making the decision he did.  And, he could make his life better here.  He has opportunities to meet new people, meet friends.  He could get a part-time job to bring in a little extra income besides his retirement income.  But he lives in regret, looking at the past through that rearview mirror.

Even if we do make mistakes in life, we cannot go back and fix it.  We can only learn from our mistakes and move on.  That is the key to finding what we need.  I think this is what Jesus meant when he said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62) He means that if we keep looking back we will miss out on God’s heavenly blessings, on the opportunity He gives us to live in Him.

Gents, don’t look back.  We all make mistakes.  Put your hand to the plow and move forward, trusting in God to be with you along the way.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers that racism would end in our country, our melting pot; for the victims of Covid-19 around the world; of praise for Lily’s wife, Jan, being cancer free; for Abscess’ sister who will be getting a biopsy to see if she does have breast cancer; and for Ribbed’s wife who has surgery near the cervical area of her spine to remove a tumor.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Bring coats for the collection we are gathering for charity.  Come on out to Panera this morning for the book signing by a fellow named Robertson Dickens (aka Crawdad).

Crabs & Stargazers

THE SCENE: Cold. Dark. 

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Cherry Pickers IC | Grady Corns IC
  • Baby Arm Circles IC | Rockettes IC

THA-THANG:

Broken Elevator: 5 Pull-ups at Starting Line

Run to Farthest Cone (#5) and perform 25 each Squat Jumps, Merkins, and BBS

Back to Start Line: 5 pull-ups, Cone #4 (20 reps)

Rinse & repeat | Al Gore to wait for the six

Lunge Parking Lot | Squat each line

Bear Crawl Lot | Diamond meek each line

Single leg pickle pointers IC

Stargazers x10 OYO

11s with Dips & Step-ups w/ Leg Raise

MARY:

  • LBCs IC | Fkutter kicks IC

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA: 8pax

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Prov12:15 – “A fool’s way is right in his own eyes, but whoever listens to counsel is wise.”

“These Go to 11.”

THE SCENE: Mid-30s and clear, but it seemed colder after all of the warm weather
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x 25 (4 ct)

Windmills x 10 (4 ct)

Little baby arm circles forward x 10 (4 ct)

Little baby arm circles backward x 10 (4 ct)

Overhead claps x 10 (4 ct)

Seal claps x 10 (4 ct)

Little bit of this, and a little bit of that

Some Michael Phelps

Burpees x 5

THA-THANG:
Mosey to the tennis courts

11s – from one sideline of the tennis courts to the far sideline of the other tennis courts – merkins and squats

Mosey to the rock pile

11s – from the rock pile to the dock – curls and CDDs

Mosey to the Bermuda Triangle

11s – from the triangle to either the bathrooms or the playground – burpees and pull-ups

Mosey back to the tennis courts

Jack Webbs to 10 in honor of Waffle House’s epic Q at the Asylum on Saturday

Mosey to the AO

MARY:
Flutter kicks x 20 (4 ct)

Side crunches x 20 each side (single ct)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 PAX, which fit perfectly with today’s theme and was completely unplanned

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I had two experiences this weekend that brought me face to face with my arch-nemesis, Time.

On Saturday, I picked up my 1993 Mustang 5.0 that I bought brand new at 16 that I hadn’t driven since 2001.  After 19 years in a garage (including about two years of getting tuned up and detailed), she drove just the same as she did when I was 16 or when I last drove her in 2001.  It was as if those 19 years that she sat in the garage hadn’t passed at all.  With one turn of the ignition, I was 16 again.  Take that, Time.

On Sunday, my oldest child went through his confirmation service at church.  Just like that, 13 years were gone in the blink of an eye, and I was 43 again.  You suck, Time.

As they say, Time is undefeated.

Here is my favorite advice for/description of parenthood: “The days are long, but the years are short.”

Fact: Time does not stop and goes by too fast.

Fact: You will have regrets, no matter how much you try to avoid them.

Here is one of my personal mottos: “If you’re happy with where you are, then you can’t complain about how you got there.”

If you are not happy with where you are, then make a change.

2 Peter 3:8 – But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

So, Time is not undefeated after all.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Ribbed’s wife and people who are struggling with addiction, depression, and other problems, especially in these times

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Coat drive