F3 Knoxville

Tag: F6

The Extraordinary Salt of the Earth

THE SCENE: Cloudy, high 80s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-Straddle Hops, 5 Burpees, 10 Mountain Climbers, 4 Burpees, 10 Windmills, 3 Burpees, 10 Twisties, 2 Burpees, 10 Rockettes, 1 Burpee, Stretching from Plank Position

THA-THANG:

Mosey toward stop sign at southeastern corner of Admin Bldg.  Stop in shade for 20 Hello Dollies..

Mosey to small parking lot that is east of Utilities Bldg.   We will do elevens, starting with 10 Squat Jumps near Utilities Bldg and 1 Merkin at other shaded end of parking lot.

Mosey toward Northshore Gate and then head north on perimeter trail.  We will stop at shaded north side of Utilities Bldg to do 20 Box Cutters.

Mosey to bottom of MT. Everest.  We run up Mt. Everest but stop at three different areas (first tree, second tree, and then grove right before last climb to summit) to do 25 Baby Crunches at each tree.

Run up the remainder of Mt. Everest and go back to the bat cave area.  We will stop to get water.  We will then do 20 Flutter Kicks.

Next, we will divide into groups of three.  One man will be in shade near bat cave.  The next man will be at shade of large tree near roadway northeast of the bat cave.  While one partner runs from one location to the other, the other partners do exercises.  When partner runs to the location, the next partner runs to the other.  Here are the exercises at each location:

  • In shade near bat cave:  Squats
  • In shade near tree:  Squat Jumps

Rinse and repeat with Lunges at bat cave and Iron Mikes at tree.

Money to AO.

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

Proverbs 31:26

“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”

The news we watch on television is more often than not a reflection of the worst kinds of actions amongst humans:  murder, mass shootings, war, political showboating, disparaging statements amongst politicians and world leaders, angry comments about how the other side is acting, fraud, deceit, and purposeful or negligent actions that lead to the harm or death of others.  By reading or listening to the news, one would think that the world is full of terrible people.  Fortunately, that is not the truth.  There are plenty of good people out there doing things that we never hear about.  These people aren’t famous.  They aren’t boasting and saying, “hey everybody, look at what I have done!”  They are just doing God’s will, being the salt of the earth.

Let me give you an example of a female patient in my psychology practice.  I want to keep her name confidential so for the purpose of talking about her, I will just call her “Sally.”  Sally isn’t a perfect person by any means.  She has been seeing me because she needs help with anxiety.  What does she worry about?  Mostly, her kids.  How many children does she have?  She has two biological children that are fully grown adults.  She also has 24 foster children that are primarily adults now.  You read it correctly, 24!

Some people may claim that she and her husband have done it for the money.  After all, the state does pay for families to provide foster care to children that are under the protection of the Department of Children’s Services or DCS.  However, having got to know Sally, she isn’t in it for the money.  Her husband has always had a full-time job.  She has loved the kids she has fostered.  It isn’t an easy job.  DCS got involved with the kids because they came from families of neglect or emotional, physical or sexual abuse.  Some of the kids had terrible behavioral and emotional issues because of the former environments they were raised in.  Sally and her husband had to be loving but firm with them.  Sally and her husband get close to these children.  They adopted one of them who is now 14 years-old and a straight A student.  They almost adopted three others but the boys were placed back in the care of their biological father before the adoption occurred.  Those boys are now adults.  Two are serving in the United States Armed Forces and the third is applying since he recently graduated from high school.  All three keep in continual touch with Sally.  In fact, most of her foster children do.  None now live with her except the girl she adopted.  At their ages, Sally and her husband have decided to no longer provide foster care.  But they have plenty of “children” to keep up with – their former foster children and the children of those foster children still come to visit Sally and her husband.  And when they do visit, Sally makes sure she has some fine cooking on the table for them.

Sally is a saint, but she isn’t some Renaissance Artist’s depiction of a saint.  In her sessions with me, she is usually wearing a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers.  A woman who likes to stay busy, she now works as a cashier at a convenience store.  The work keeps her mind off her worries.  And, she worries about all those kids she has raised.  When you have been involved in raising 24 children that came to you through DCS, some of them are going to struggle when they are adults.  She keeps in touch even with the ones who have difficulties, who get into trouble.  And, her home is always open to them for a good meal and some loving words.

This is news that I wish we could hear more about on television or read about on our cell phones.  I guess it isn’t “breaking news.”  But it is good news and people like Sally are doing things like this all over our country.  The Lord is working in wonderful ways through what some may call ordinary people.  But when you get to know them, like I have got to know Sally, you find out that they are extraordinary.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Abacus’ mother who will need another surgery.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Workday at Cerebral Palsy Center on August 6

I Am Mine

THE SCENE: Cool.  If you call 90 degrees cool, which, given recent temps, it actually kind of felt like.  Sunny. Nice puffy clouds.  Slight breeze.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Done.
WARM-O-RAMA:

-20 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Cherry Pickers (4-ct), in cadence

– 20 Moroccan Nightclubs

– Michael Phelps

– 10 Plank Jacks (4-ct), in Cadence

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Stop Sign to northeast of admin building.  Do 30 seconds of the following 4 exercises (AMRAP).  Rinse and Repeat.

  1. Froggie Jumps
  2. Rocky Balboas
  3. Bobby Hurleys
  4. Smurf Jacks

Mosey to grassy hill area by side of Everest.  Battle buddy up.  Do 5/10/15s:

  • PARTNER 1 RUNS to top of hill does 5x two exercises, runs back while PARTNER 2 does a slow mosey back and forth in the “bull pen”. Switch. Rinse and repeat two more times, increasing the reps to 10x and 15x.  (* = exercise is a 2-count)
    • Round 1 Exercises: PLANK JACKS AND SHOULDER TAPS *
    • Round 2 Exercises: FLUTTER KICKS* AND BOX CUTTERS

Mosey to Everest.  RUN UP EVEREST to base of Summit

Do 30 seconds of the following 4 exercises.  Rinse and Repeat.

  1. Bottle Openers
  2. Pickle Pounders
  3. Mountain Climbers
  4. Shoulder Taps (changed to Merkins on the second round due to PAX complaints about repeating an exercise)

AYG with Battle Buddy up the Summit, in pairs, cheering on the next pair when we get to the top.  Mosey to AO

MARY:

  1. Crunchy Frogs x10, 4 ct IC (Man, these are hard!)
  2. E2K x 20 4 ct IC left
  3. E2K x20 4 ct IC right

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
18 Strong
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

There’s a line from a Pearl Jam song that I love.  The song is called “I Am Mine”, and the line that has been sticking in my head recently is:

“I know I was born and I know that I’ll die.  The in between is mine.”

The song was written by Eddie Vedder after the tragedy at the Roskilde festival in Denmark, where several members in the audience were trampled and killed at a Pearl Jam concert in 2000.  The song has an existential feel to it, and what I appreciate about the lyric I mentioned is that 1.) it acknowledges that we only have a finite amount of time on this earth, and 2) it issues almost a challenge to oneself to make the most of this beautiful gift of life we’ve been given.  Even the title of the song, I AM MINE, declares that the narrator is taking ownership and responsibility for that time in between birth and death.  It’s almost defiant.  I can choose what to do with it.  The in between is mine.

The problem is… we don’t know how long we have to make it ours.  We don’t know exactly how long we have to fully craft the tapestry of our lives.  I had a sudden reminder of that last week with my car accident.  If just one safety feature in my car had failed, I might very well be dead.

Have I lived my life to its fullest?  Have I told those I love how much they mean to me?  Have I made peace with my enemies?  Have I taken that trip that I’ve always wanted to take?  Have I served others enough to have made a difference? Have I fully committed to my Faith and my God?  Fellows, the end to our beautiful gift can come at any moment.  The “in between” is yours.  Use it well.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for an 8 year old boy who lost his mother in a car accident, and is also paralyzed from it.  Prayers to Jan, Lilydipper’s wife, who was one of the first to talk to the boy following the crash.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
F3 Work Day Aug 6!

St. Francis and the Birds

THE SCENE: Partly Cloudy Skies, about 92 degrees.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Plank Jacks, 10 Squat Jumps, 5 Burpees, 10 Twisties, 10 Windmill, 10 Tempo Merkins, Michael Phelps
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the stop sign by the Northeastern Corner of the Admin. Bldg.  We will stop under the shade of the large tree to do 20 Hello Dollies.

Mosey to the perimeter trail and take it as if going to the bottom of Mt. Everest.  We will stop, however, in the shade by Lyon’s Bend to do 20 American Hammers.

Next, we will run up Roadshow Run, stopping to do Ten Calf Raises at each set of the three sets of stairs and 3 Burpees above each set of stairs on up to the top.  At the top, we will do 20 Flutter Kicks and 25 Baby Crunches.

Mosey past the Space Needle to the steps at the Admin Bldg.  There will be a water cooler and cups to stop for one minute to have cold water.

Mosey to the sidewalk that goes underneath the shade to the stop sign at the Northeastern Corner of the Admin Bldg.  There will be 6 cones set up along the sidewalk and along the roadway that comes back to the Coliseum.  We will run in a clockwise motion down the sidewalk and back up the road, stopping at each cone to do 10 Merkins.

Rinse and Repeat with 10 Big-Boy Sit-ups at each cone.  Rinse and repeat with 5 Hand Release Merkins.  Rinse and repeat with 10 Star Jumps.

Mosey back to steps of the Admin Bldg for another one minute drink of water.

Next, we will run in a counterclockwise circle around the loop stopping at each of the following locations to do the following exercises:

  • 12 o’clock:  20 Bench Dips at the steps of the Admin Bldg.
  • 9 o’clock:  20 Carolina Dry Docks
  • 3 o’clock:  20 Box Cutters

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
Boat Canoe.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
17 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

God, Nature, St. Francis and the Birds

St Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic Friar, deacon and mystic.  He founded the Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order of St. Clare, the Third Order of St. Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land. He was canonized patron saint of Italy by Pope Gregory IX.  He is one of the most venerated religious figures in Christianity.  He was known to be a man of grace and a great lover of God’s creation.  He loved animals.  Legend has it that birds would fly up to him and alight on his shoulder.  On one journey he took with fellow monks, it was told that he stopped to preach to his sisters the birds.  Legend has it the birds became still and silent while he preached.

An Irish Poet, Michael Longley, wrote the following poem about St. Francis which is a beautiful depiction of the patron saint marveling on God’s creation and speaking to birds.  By the way, Michael Longley is not a Christian although he is obviously an admirer of St. Francis.

St. Francis to the Birds by Michael Longley

And, summing up, I think of when
With cloud and cloudburst you confer,
By God’s sheer genius lifted there,
Lighthearted starling, nervous wren.
It is perfection you rehearse –
God placed the limpet on a rock,
He dressed the primrose in its frock upside down with its leg showing
And closed the chestnut in its purse:
Creating one more precedent,
With no less forethought, no less care
He gave you feathers and the air
To migrate to his best intent.
To useful angles well aligned,
At proper heights compelled to tilt,
Across kind landscapes yearly spilt –
Birds, you are always on his mind.
Quick emblems of his long estate,
It’s good to have you overhead
Who understand when all is said,
When all is done, and it is late.
May my sermon, like your customs,
Reach suddenly beyond dispute –
Oh, birds entire and absolute,
Last birds above our broken homes.

Thank you God, for your creation.  Thank you for the birds in the sky that sing to us each day.  Help us to protect the blessings you have bestowed upon us.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Doubtfire who has an ailing back – prayers that he heals quickly; prayers for Dawg Paddle whose wife has told him that he wants to divorce him – prayers for her as well.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
We will have a F3 Knoxville 2nd F gathering after our Asylum PM workout this Thursday.  We will meet at Union Jacks.

15 Strong at Asylum

THE SCENE: Hot, humid and overcast
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER 
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH IC – 21
Arm Circles up IC  10
Arm circles dow IC  10
Michael Phelps a/r
Cherry Pickers 11
Mosey to bottom of stairs and around the cones and back up
Grady Corn IC 20

THA-THANG:

Mosey to stop sign
11’s – Rocky Balboa – Squat – to cone
Pause
Mosey to wall
Peoples Chair against wall for 60 sec
Mosey to second wall
Peoples Chair against wall for 60 sec
Mosey to Admin Bldg
Get Partner
Heal dips – partner runs to tree on lawn,  does 1 squat
Step up, partner does 5 squats
Bench dips , 15 squats
pause, rinse and repeat
LUnges, 1 squat
Freddy Mercury, 5 squats
Imperial Walker ,15 squats
Ring of Fire – 3 rounds
Mosey back to AO with cooler
Down Stairs
Bear crawl around cones, then run back up stairs
20 2 count american hammers
LBC – 30 IC

MARY:
no
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Following up on the 5 things that Steam mentioned on Tuesday,  one of the 5 is habits with the T in habits = Time . The time factor is huge when you look at things you are doing. Simplifying your life will open up your available time and make room for high impact activities. Simplify

Personally, as an engineer I tend to over complicate things in order to make whatever I am doing the absolute best.  Often times that the effort ends up taking longer and really wasn’t worth the extra effort. Look for the simple solutions that are good enough.

I recently was notified by Google that my storage was at the max, so I needed to buy more space or reduce storage.  I had over 14,000 emails in my primary box.  Over the years I had subscribed (intentionally and unintentionaly) to various companies and they kept sending me email some sent something once every few days or more. I don’t even open 99% of them and took me forever to reduce these and I realized why in the heck did I subscribe since I did not read any of them.  I also don’t delete the uncritical ones after I read them, so I ended up where I am today- 14.5 Gb of  emails because I didn’t file them and delete them correctly to begin with.

Facebook – I don’t post but I check it once a day.  This is time that I can never get back

News feeds on my phone, 95% of what I read is pretty much worthless

TV- I watch the morning news while I have been doing my physical therapy exercises daily since Feb 10, pretty much every day.  I can get the essentials in less that 10 minutes and can use the rest with better input.

Paying someone to do the tedious tasks.  I change the oil and do most of the maintenance on my vehicles.

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak (Hans Hofmann)

Point is, these things can suck your time and keep you from finding your higher level purpose, keep you away from those in your life that need your time and of course from doing Gods’ work. So take a close look at the things or habits that have made your life un necessarily complex and find a way to simplify.

MOLESKIN:
Pray for @Bluebird in his upcoming trip to Greece
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
August 6 – Work Day at Cerebral Palsy Center – need help!

God Our Father

THE SCENE: Thunderstorms, temps in high 70s and muggy.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
We started out under the Pavilion because it was raining like crazy with lightening and thunder.

25 Side-Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10m Cherry Pickers, 10 Twisties, 10 Little Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward, Little of This and That

THE THANG:

Run around the Pavilion 5 times.

Next, we did a Ladder with 30 seconds each of the following exercises, going up ladder than down while cutting first exercise out etc. so that by the end we did each exercise for five periods of 30 seconds.

  • Burpees
  • Bench Dips
  • Decline Merkins off Benches
  • Iron Mikes
  • American Hammers

Lunge around Pavilion one time.  Next, we did 30 second Al Gore with backs to wall.

Run around pavilion 4 times.

Elevens starting with 10 Picnic Table Pull-ups and 1 Bench Step-up.

With the rain subsiding we moseyed to the parking lot just north of the Pavilion.  We ran to the four corners doing the following exercises.  After the exercises we ran all the way around the parking lot one time.

  • Corner 1, 10 Smurf Jacks
  • Corner 2, 10 Star Jumps
  • Corner 3, 10 Bobby Hurleys
  • Corner 4, 10 Squat Jumps

Mosey back to Pavilion to do 20 Bench Step-ups.

Mosey back to the same parking lot.  We circles the parking lot again, stopping at each corner to do the following exercises, then running all the way around the parking lot when finished:

  • Corner 1, 20 Hello Dollies
  • Corner 2, 20 Big Boy Sit-ups
  • Corner 3, 20 Flutter Kicks
  • Corner 4, 20 Bicycle Kicks

Next we went to the curb on the eastern side of the parking lot.  We did the following types of runs the eastern curb to the western curb:

  • Half speed sprint to western curb.
  • Bernie Sanders to the eastern curb.
  • Karaoke Right to the western curb.
  • Karaoke Left to the eastern curb.
  • Butt kick run to the western curb.
  • High knees run to the eastern curb.
  • Sprint to the western curb.
  • Sprint to the eastern curb.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Eight men, no FNGs.  Mr. Jinxy joined us for the BOM and went to Coffeeteria with us.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
God Is Our Parent

Romans 8: 38-39 says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

1 John 4:16: “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

In the Bible we are told to call God “our father.”  We are also taught that there is no greater love than that of God for us.  We are His children.  When I take time to dwell upon that, it gives me great comfort.  Because those of us who are fathers know how incredible our love is for our children.

I found that out after my oldest child, Faith, was born.  I remember going to work the few weeks after she was born and sometimes hearing babies cry in the clinic I worked at.  I had heard similar cries before Faith was born.  But those same types of cries now stirred up something in me, as if I was hearing her cry and needed to comfort her by instinct.

As parents we ache for our children.  My son, Bennett, played on the freshman basketball team at West High School.  He was a good player but found himself sitting on the bench in most games.  I remember the tears on the rides home from the games, his frustration and anger at not being able to play for even a few minutes in a game.  I ached for him, I hurt for him, I felt tears myself on those long rides home.  I remember Faith going through a time of depression in high school, worrying about her, hoping that each day she would just be ok.  She was such a hard working and efficient student yet would get so down on herself.

And I recall such happy times as well, moments when I felt so overjoyed and proud of my children.  I remember Faith having the primary role in a musical at Bearden Middle School and the ovation she got from the audience.  I took a walk that night by myself, dreams of Faith performing on Broadway in my head.  I remember Bennett winning the Geography Bee at Bearden Elementary School.  My son Bennett, shockingly winning over these other smart kids who seemed to always get the accolades.  I recall Jan and I going to Starbuck later that morning, just to share a cup of coffee and giggle with pride.

Those little moments as parents when we ache, when we hurt, when we laugh, when we bask in the happiness of the actions of our children may seem so small to someone else.  But it is so huge for us as parents.  If Jan and I can have that kind of love for our children, how great must God’s love be for us.  Think of God watching your own hurts, your own victories.  Think of Him hurting for you.  Think of him shouting for joy with your own victories.  Is that really possible?  If God is all powerful, if God is our creator, if God is Love, then the answer is yes.  Think of that when you go through the rest of your day.  Think of that when you go to sleep to night.  God, your loving father, is with you.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Mr. Jinxy and his wife as they come to an important real estate decision regarding his wife’s business operation.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Service opportunity at the Cerebral Palsy Center on Saturday, August 6.