F3 Knoxville

God Loves the 99

AO: asylum-daybreak
Q: Lilydipper
PAX: lebowski, Brick, Mr Jinxy, Drum Major, Waffle House (Brady Greene), Lizzy, Crash Dummy, Pusher, Kung Blue, Dain Bramage (Will Olson), Doubtfire (Nick Bond), Snitch (Cory Beilharz ), Lulu (Greg Huddy), Veggie (Rylen Huddy), Jumbo(Carter Dickens), Pele (Jon Lindberg)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 17
WARMUP: 20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Windmills, 10 Twistees, 10 Bobby Hurleys, 10 Rockettes, 10 Gas Pumps, 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward and 10 Backward.

THE THANG: Mosey up Mini Cardiac. We will stop at the top for 10 Imperial Walkers.
Mosey to small parking lot located on north side of roadway as roadway goes west. We will bear crawl across parking lot.
Mosey to stop sign at northeast corner of Admin Bldg. We will stop to do 20 Hello Dollies.
Bernie Sanders on semi-circle roadway to guard rail on north side of roadway. We will stop to do 20 American Hammers.
Lunge to Big Tree on right side of roadway. We will stop to do 20 Merkins.
Sprint to where roadway is even with bat house. Take 20 second rest.
Sprint to beginning of gravel parking lot. Take 30 second rest.
Lunge to end of parking lot.
Sprint to where the road curves to the east. We will take 20 second rest.
Sprint to tree on right down the road. We will take 20 second rest.
Bernie Sanders to end of semi-circle road. We will do 20 American Hammers
Sprint south to the circle at the middle of the intersection with the main roadway. We will stop to do 20 Rocky Balboas.
Mosey to parking lot west of ball fields. We will stop to do 10 Hand Release Merkins.
Mosey to picnic tables in baseball fields’ pavilion. We will do the following exercises stopping after each one to run around the pavilion twice:
40 Baby Crunches (single count)

40 Freddie Mercuries (two count)

20 Picnic Table Pull-ups

20 Bench Dips

Mosey to Basketball Courts. We will play Knock Out and continue until we have a champion. All those knocked out run laps around the other half of the court three times before getting back in line. Rinse and repeat two more times.
Mosey east to the circle at the intersection of main roadway and roadway that heads to the admin bldg. We will do 20 more Rocky Balboas.
Mosey to driveway that leads to Outdoor Chapel Parking Lot. We will take 20 second rest.
Alternate between mosey and gentleman moseys until we get to last speed bump before AO and then sprint to the AO.

MARY: Nada, we were behind time!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Lizzy has bachelor’s party next Saturday, 6 pm at the Orange Hat. The Banjo AO will now be an OTB

COT: Message

The Ninety-Nine are Not Forgotten

Luke 15:1–7

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

[1] Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. [2] And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

[3] So he told them this parable: [4] “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? [5] And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. [6] And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ [7] Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (ESV)

I love Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep. I have certainly felt lost in sin and it is good to know that my God will come after me when I am lost and rejoice when he takes me home. At the same time, verse number 7 can trouble me at times, especially when I am trying to be righteous. So is God going to ignore me and only rejoice with the sinner? Sometimes I feel like the brother of the prodigal son.

I think all of us can relate to that desire to be noticed. That is why kids are thrilled to see their parents in the stands when involved in a sports game. That is why sibling rivalry occurs. Sometimes, kids will act up and do something bad, just to be noticed by their parents. I used to do some consulting work on the Oncology/Hematology Unit at Children’s Hospital. Every year, they would have a one week camp for the siblings of patients with cancer. At the hospital, they realize that the siblings of patients with cancer are not only suffering the grief of their brother or sister having cancer but also suffering because their parents are required to pay so much attention to their child who has the cancer.

In the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus is speaking in hyperbole as he often did in parables. Of course he isn’t ignoring us when we are righteous. God delights in our righteous acts. And, isn’t it good to know that God wants us to walk along side of him and reach out to help sinners? He wants us to be a disciple and work with him. In doing so, we don’t have to be the focus. Others become the focus. We give up childish things.

And, if we can do that, God still loves us. He isn’t forgetting us. He is pretty damned proud.

Pele knows that one of my favorite songs is No Hard Feelings by the Avett Brothers. It is not only a song about forgiveness but is about living for God. One of my favorite lines in the song is one that captures what the writer foresees after death: “Will I join with the ocean blue? Or run into a savior true? And shake hands laughing.”

Imagine that. You are in heaven. You meet God, who knows you, who has seen you through it all, although He has seemed so far away. And, you shake hands with him laughing! God is saying yes, Brick, I saw your struggles but I also saw how much you loved and gave to others. Yes, Pele, I knew you were frustrated so many times with the conflict between others, but you hung in there with them and loved on them. Yes, Waffle House, I saw all the work you did on missions. Yes, Lizzy, I saw how you suffered through the deaths and sicknesses of family members but continued to serve others. Welcome home, welcome home! I have loved you through your sins but I have always seen and been proud of your righteousness. That message goes out to you, my brothers, for God sees the many righteous acts among you.

Prayers
Prayers for Crash Dummy’s 91 year-old grandmother, Sue, as she most likely will not be on this good earth for much longer but will join God in heaven. Prayers for Sue’s and Crash Dummy’s family. Prayers for Lebowski who strained his ankle during the Knock Out portion of our workout today. Prayers for Pusher as he travels to the Phillipines soon to see family, including his father.

A Leap of Faith

AO: asylum-daybreak
Q: Crash Dummy
PAX: Lilydipper, Crash Dummy, Crawdad (Robbi Dickens), Doubtfire (Nick Bond), Kung Blue, Mr Jinxy, Tropicana, Dain Bramage (Will Olson), High Heels, Snitch (Cory Beilharz ), Honeydew, Veggie (Rylen Huddy), Jumbo(Carter Dickens), Pac-man, Labowski
FNGs: None
COUNT: 16
WARMUP: Side Straddle Hops – 20, Cherry Pickers – 5, Good Mornings – 5, Tempo Squats – 5. Runner’s Stretch, Fire Hydrants, Donkey Kicks, Cat-Cows, Run the perimeter (facing the same direction)

THE THANG: 1st POC – Mini Cardiac: Battle Buddy Up! Partner 1, Bernie up the hill & back. Partner 2, reverse lunge. x5.

2nd POC – Cardiac: Suicides – Start w/10 Squat Jumps at bottom. Run to the 1st bend. 10 Merkins. Run back Down. 10 Squat Jumps. Run up to the 2nd Bend. 10 Merkins. Run back down to the bottom. 10 Squat Jumps. Run to the bench at the top. 10 Merkins. Run back down to the bottom. 10 Squat Jumps.

3rd POC – BSIA: Battle Buddy – Partner 1 – Burpees. Partner 2 – sprints around. 2nd lap. SSH. 3rd lap. Imperial Walkers. 4th lap. American Hammers.

4th POC – Toilet Bowl/Bidet: PAX Choice. Either Sprint up & around or head back to AO.

MARY: None

ANNOUNCEMENTS: None

COT: Growing up, my friends & I loved to drive up to Townsend, to the Wye, & jump off the cliffs into the water. The toughest part was not the jump itself but thinking about the jump. For the guys who are out here, that want to Q but might be overthinking it, I say, take that leap of faith and JUST DO IT!. It gets a little easier each time.

Run baby run

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Switchhitter (Tony)
PAX: Tenderfoot, Rooney (Carl Whipple), Kung Blue, Lilydipper, Curveball, Drum Major, Serpentine (Jason Pierce), Doubtfire (Nick Bond), Switchhitter (Tony), Crash Dummy, Brick, Pele (Jon Lindberg), Jinxy, Title IX
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
WARMUP:
Side straddle hops, 25
The windmill, 25
Imperial walkers, 25
Hurdler’s stretch, 2 minutes
Groin stretch, 25
THE THANG:
Mosey .25 miles
Run .4 miles, 25 merkins
Run .5 miles, 25 squats
Run .5 miles, 15 burpees
Run .5 miles, 2 minutes hurdler’s stretch
Run .6 miles
MARY:
Flutter kicks, 25
Plank, 2 minutes
Groin stretch, 2 minutes
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
None
COT:
I learned from my grandfather what it means to be a man. 1. Provide. 2. Don’t punch down. 3. Don’t be afraid to admit you’re weak. 4. Change if you need to.
PRAYER:
One of the fs is faith: let’s have faith in each other…and let’s earn the faith others have in us.

Like Cheese and Fine Wine

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Curveball
PAX: Lilydipper, Brick, Lizzy, Drum Major, Mr Jinxy, Crash Dummy, Serpentine (Jason Pierce), Pele (Jon Lindberg), Sparkler, Doubtfire (Nick Bond), Rooney(Carl Whipple), F3 Pluto ( Hugh Nystrom), Curveball, Crankbait
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
WARMUP:
1. Side Straddle Hops (Jumping Jacks)
2. Forward Fold
3. Imperial Walkers.
4. Windmills
5. Arm Circles

THE THANG:
Find Rock Pile. Everyone get one.
Do first listed exercise to rep count. Then run to cone (25 yds) and back. Same exercise same count again. Then to cone and back. Same exercise same count again. Then to cone and back. Same exercise same count again. While waiting for the six, do AMRAP of second listed exercise. After six finishes all 4 sets of exercises, all PAX do third exercise in cadence to rep count.
So, first exercise 4 times with Rocks, second exercise while waiting, and third exercise as group.
1, 15 CMU Merkin walk-overs, Squats, Jump Squats
2, 15 Overhead CMU Press, Big boys, Flutters
3, 20 CMU Curls, Calf Raises, Twinkle Toes
4, 30 CMU Bench Press, Hello Dollys, LBCs
5, 15 CMU Triceps, Lunge, Jump Squats – Dips
6, 15 CMU Rows OR CMU Kettle Bells, LBCs, Box Cutters.

Back to flag. Exercise then run short loop (20-30 second mosey)
1. Squats – 25 reps
2. Merkins – 20 reps
3. Lunges (10 each leg) – 20 reps
4. Plank Jacks – 30 reps
5. Big Boy Sit-Ups – 20 reps
6. Burpees – 10 reps

MARY:
30 second stretch.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
T-Claps for Sparkler and his work done for Hardship Hill.

PRAYERS:
For Drum Major’s wife and all of the family after the passing of her brother.
For Convoy’s brother who is in need.
For all the F3 Brothers battling stressful situations.
And for those prayers held in our hearts.

COT:
One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night

Ladies and gentleman skinny and scout
I’ll tell you a tale I know nothing about
The admission is free so pay at the door
Now pull out a chair and sit on the floor

On one bright day in the middle of the night
Two dead boys got up to fight
Back to back they faced each other
Drew their swords and shot each other

The blind man came to see fair play
The mute man came to shout hooray
The deaf policeman heard the noise
And came to stop those two dead boys

He lived on the corner in the middle of the block
In a two story house on a vacant lot
A man with no legs came walking by
And kicked the lawman in his thigh

He crashed through a wall without making a sound
Into a dry creek bed and suddenly drowned
A long black hearse came to cart him away
But he ran for his life and is still gone today

I watched from the corner of the table
The only eyewitness to facts of my fable
If you doubt my lies are true
Just ask the blind man, he saw it too

Embrace the Nonsense. It makes life a lot of fun.

Listen for the Whisper

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Pele (Jon Lindberg)
PAX: Pele (Jon Lindberg), Mr Jinxy, Rooney(Carl Whipple), Drum Major, Abacus, Crash Dummy, Pusher, Lilydipper, Tenderfoot, Curveball, Brick, Lizzy
FNGs: None
COUNT: 12
WARMUP: 20 SSH (4 ct IC), 10 Cherry Pickers (4 ct IC), 10 Pterodactyles (complete with mating calls) forward/backward (4 ct IC), 10 Plank Jacks (4 ct IC)

THE THANG:
Met at the New Pavilion, aka Food Court, and started off doing a Dora exercise but quickly switched to a workout under cover when the death thunder started. Moved under the Pavilion, played some music, tried not to bother other rain-shelterers, and did the following circuit workout:
STATION
1:
ROUND 1: CMU ROWS / CMU CHEST PRESS
ROUND 2: TRICEP PRESSES / CMU OVERHEAD PRESSES
ROUND 3: AROUND THE WORLDS / CMU CURLS
STATION 2:
RUN TWO LAPS AFTER EACH ROUND!
ROUND 1: AMERICAN HAMMERS / FLUTTER KICKS
ROUND 2: V-UPS / GAS PUMPS
ROUND 3: LBCs / BOX CUTTERS
STATION 3:
ROUND 1: STEP UPS / SQUATS
ROUND 2: ISOMETRIC SQUAT LEFT / ISOMETRIC SQUAT RIGHT
ROUND 3: BUTT TOUCHES / LUNGES
STATION 4:
RUN TWO LAPS AFTER EACH ROUND!
ROUND 1: SIDE STRADDLE HOPS / PLANK JACKS
ROUND 2: HIGH KNEES IN PLACE / IMPERIAL SQUAT WALKERS
ROUND 3: BUTT KICKERS IN PLACE / WALL SIT
STATION 5:
ROUND 1: PERIMETER BEAR CRAWL / PERIMETER LUNGE
ROUND 2: PERIMETER EL CAPITAN / PERIMETER INCH WORM MERKINS
ROUND 3: PERIMETER SIDE CRAWL LEFT / PERIMETER SIDE CRAWL LEFT
STATION 6:
RUN TWO LAPS AFTER EACH ROUND!
ROUND 1: MERKINS / CAROLINA DRY DOCKS
ROUND 2: HAND RELEASE MERKINS / SHOULDER TAPS
ROUND 3: OFF SET MERKINS LEFT / OFF SET MERKINS RIGHT
MARY: Nope. Ran out of time.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hardship Hill this Saturday!

COT: Quote from RALPH FIENNES as the Cardinal LAWRENCE in the movie CONCLAVE (Part Two from Daybreak’s COT Word):
“Over the course of many years in the service of the church, there’s one sin that I come to fear above all others. Certainty. Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance. Even Christ was not certain at the end, in his agony, on the ninth hour on the cross, crying out MY FATHER, MY FATHER, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME? Our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand in hand with doubt. If there was only certainty, and no doubt, there would be no mystery and therefore no need for faith. Let us pray that God grants us a Pope who doubts.”

Indeed, the newly elected Pope, Pope Leo XIV is a man who has felt abandoned by God, who has had doubts. Recently he said the following: I speak to you, especially to those who no longer believe, no longer hope, no longer pray, because they think God has left.
To those who are fed up with scandals, with misused power, with the silence of a Church that sometimes seems more like a palace than a home.
I, too, was angry with God. I, too, saw good people die, children suffer, grandparents cry without medicine.
And yes… there were days when I prayed and only felt an echo. But then I discovered something: God doesn’t shout. God whispers.
And sometimes He whispers from the mud and from the pain. Faith is a walk with stones, puddles, and unexpected hugs.

I remember Lilydipper saying in one of his Words years ago, “Nothing ticks me off quite like someone who acts like they have all the answers with Faith.” Even the Pope has felt the silence at times, and that he doesn’t present faith as a perfect journey. My own faith was challenged when I lost my mom and dad relatively young, two years apart. Where was God then? But then I saw…. Neighbors bringing over dinner, tributes from former students and colleagues, funerals that brought long lost companions together, friends that drove hundreds of miles to say goodbye and to give me an unexpected hug. God was there in those moments, He was whispering to me from the mud and from the pain. He was always there. And He will always be there for you. Just look. Just listen. For the whisper.