F3 Knoxville

Tag: High-Heels

Helping those who resist help

THE SCENE: Almost 90, rain and then humid

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

THA-THANG:
F3 Iron Pax Challenge, Week 4

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
8 men, no FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Romans 14:13  Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

Colassians 4:6  Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

 

As HIMs we desire to greet the day with energy, do good for our community, and help or brothers and sisters.  What happens, however, when the people we try to help are not receptive to the assistance we are trying to provide.  What do we do when we put in a great deal of effort to help another and we find them taking no real steps to help themselves.  When they turn down our advice with “yes buts”?  When they answer your attempts at optimism with pessimism”  When their basis stance toward your attempt at community with them is “People ain’t no damn good”?

We as HIMs must learn to have patience with individuals who are so difficult to help – and, frankly, sometimes difficult to like.  Jesus said this:  “Do not resist the one who is evil.  But if anyone slaps you on the right side of the cheek, turn to him the other also”  (Matthew 5:  39).  I don’t think that what Jesus was talking about here was to allow those who assault us to merely do so.  I believe that in this statement Jesus was talking about the approach we must take to people who resist our attempts to love them.  Sometimes we feel we are being slapped when we try to assist others.  Their resistance, their poor attitudes, their chide remarks can make us angry.  Our automatic response, which is certainly understandable, may be “To hell with you!”

But we must stand strong in the storm that hurting people throw at us.  It is the work of the devil in them that leads them to such behavior.  We must learn to keep loving.  That takes the fruits of the spirit:  Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.  We must allow the onslaught and try to understand what, in the individual’s past, leads to their negative stance.  And, we can certainly go to our kinder brothers and sisters for advice and encouragement on how to hang in there with such people.

MOLESKIN:
Prayer for Mr. Jinxy who goes tomorrow for heart catheter.

Supporting Our Bros

THE SCENE: Sunny and hot, temps in low 90’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-Straddle Hops, 10 Plank Position Sky Reaches, 10 Rockettes, 10 Baby to Wide Arm Circles Forward, 10 Baby to Wide Arm Circles Backward, 10 Cherry Pickers.

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Stop Sign at Southeast Corner of Admin Bldg.  Go to road and down hill on east side of road.  We will do elevens starting with 1 Big Boy Sit-up on bottom of hill and 10 Squat Jumps on top.

Mosey to grassy area across street from water plant bldg.  There will be four cones set up.  We will do the following exercises at each cone in sequence and move between cones as listed:

  • Cone 1:  1.  20 Smurf Jacks.  2.  20 Plank Jacks  3.  20 Sky Jacks (Bernie Sanders to Cone 2)
  • Cone 2:  1.  20 Hand Release Merkins.  2. 20 Carolina Dry Docks.  3. 20 Diamond Merkins.  (Bear Crawl to Cone 3)
  • Cone 3:  1.  20 American Hammers 4 count.  2.  20 Hello Dollies 4 Count.  3. 20 Flutter Kicks 4 Count.  (Sprint to Cone 4)
  • Cone 4:  1. 10 Shoulder Taps each shoulder.  2.  10 Mountain Climbers 4 count.  3. 10 Iron Mikes 4 count  (Bear Crawl to Cone 1)

Mosey to Area 51.  We will run up hill, stopping to do 5 Burpees at each of four landmarks, the last being the tree by the road that goes back to the Admin Bldg. Parking Lot.  We will then do 20 Bicycle Kicks at the top of the road.

Mosey to Bat House.  We will go down stairs and do 15 Baby Crunches at bottom of stairs.  We then run to piney area near top of Mt. Everest and do 15 more Baby Crunches.  We then run up to the Summit of Mt. Everest and do 15 more Baby Crunches.  Finally, we run back to Bat House and do 15 Baby Crunches.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:

20 Right side crunches and 20 Left side crunches

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Nine men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
A friend of mine who lives near Chattanooga sent me an awesome article from the Labor Day edition of the Times Free Press of Chattanooga.  The article talked about our F3 brothers in that community.  The link to the article is attached below.  The article meant a great deal to me for several reasons:

  • Us Knoxville guys helped start the first AO in Chattanooga.
  • Our brothers are doing great things in that community.  They now have eight workout groups there.
  • The article discusses how across the United States feelings of social isolation and loneliness are increasing according to the American Psychological Association.
  • The article discussed how one study, published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science found social isolation to have the same risk factors for death as obesity.
  • The article talks about how F3 helps men to be more fit but also breaks up the patterns among men of isolation and loneliness.
  • The article talks about how the Faith component of F3 gets men to think about things greater than the individual and think of ways to improve the community.

Here it the link to the article:  https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2019/sep/02/inside-mens-groabout-more-just-exercise/502599/.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Jinxy who has been found to have some matter around his heart, for Simba’s wife who has heart surgery tomorrow, and for Mr. Roger’s and his family who lost their son, Garrett.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Funeral for Garrett this Sunday.

Faith through Doubt

  1. THE SCENE: Insert info about the weather, etc.
    F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
    WARM-O-RAMA:
    10 Windmills, 10 Cherry Pickers, Little of This and That, Michael Phelps.
    THA-THANG:
    Mosey to large parking lot with gardens in middle.  We will perform Iron PAX Week 0 challenge, doing the following exercises six times:
  • 24 merkins
  • 24 squats
  • 24 lunges where both legs = 1
  • 400 meter run

Those men finishing first will do the following exercises:

  • 40 Baby Crunches
  • 30 Big Boy Sit-Ups
  • 20 Side Straddle Hops (4 count)
  • 20 Hello Dollies (4 count)
  • 20 American Hammers (4 Count)
  • 20 Mountain Climbers (4 Count)
  • 20 Bicycle Kicks (4 Count)

Mosey to AO

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Twelve men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

The whole problem with the world is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.  –Bertrand Russell

As a Christian, I get pissed off by people who are so damned sure about the bible and about God.  I’m talking about the guy who arrogantly proclaims that it is sacrilegious for us to question God.  Do these people really think about God?  With all the pain, injustice, greed, and despair in this world, don’t we have a right to question?  Are we supposed to follow God like robots, like automatons, never wondering, never doubting?

As a Christian, I have found my knowledge of God and faith in God strengthened by my questioning and doubts.  For, it is through my questioning that I seek, read, talk to others with more knowledge than I, and ultimately ponder, wrestle with, and finally converse with God.

It is nice to know that I am in good company.  Look at Christ’s disciples when he was taken to be crucified.  Look at Peter.  Christ told him that he would doubt and deny him, saying that before the rooster crowed Peter would deny his three times.  And, having done so, when the rooster crowed and Peter remember what Christ said, he wept bitterly.  But, like Paul, Peter would become a great apostle who spoke for and spread the word about Christ.  And, like Paul, he was willing to be killed to do so.  And most of Christ’s other disciples, who doubted just as Peter did, also died proclaiming Christ.

I read a 2014 Oped in the New York Times by Julia Baird.  In it, she talked about the backlash he received when Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has admitted that he sometimes questioned God.  The International Business Times proclaimed his statement was the “doubt of the century.”  The Australian atheist columnist, Peter FitzSimons, tweeted, “Victory.”  The Archbishop is a man who has reasons to doubt God.  As a teenager, he cared for an alcoholic father.  He lost his first daughter to a car accident when she was seven months  old.  But, as a follower of God, his questioning has strengthened him.  He understands others because he has suffered.  He understands doubt because he has doubted.  And, he knows that Christ, whJen he died on the cross, spoke for our doubts when He cried, “My God, Why have you forsaken me?”

As Ms. Baird aptly stated in her Oped, “Just as courage is persisting in the face of fear, so faith is persisting in the face of doubt.

So brothers, when you question this world, when you question it’s creator, know that you are in good company.  Doubt, but persist in the face of your doubt.  Persist in seeking answers to your doubts.  And have faith that God understands your doubts, but seeks you.

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

Be There

THE SCENE:

Cloudy with a chance of burpees.  No rain.  Around 70ish degrees or so.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

I’m still not an expert, so it’s still free and the usual disclaimers.


WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x 20, baby arm circles forward x 20, baby arm circles backward x 20, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, tempo squats x 10, tempo merkins x 10, cherry pickers x 5.

That was going to be it as I had just mentioned to Preacher (who was back from AZ) that we would not do burpees because they are not a warm-up, but Cheat Sheet arrived at that time, so we did 5 burpees OYO.

PAX counted off – 24 HIMS, so, when we do reps, we will do 24 of them.

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Everest via the long, windy path with all of the light posts (not sure if it has a name).  Pass a light post, do a burpee.

Carolina dry docks x 24 at the bottom of Everest

Run up to the first tree, do 24 squats

Run back to the bottom of Everest, do 24 merkins and then hold plank until the six arrives and finishes the merkins

Rinse and repeat, this time running to the second tree up Everest and back

Rinse and repeat, this time running to the tree at the top of Everest and back

Back at the bottom of Everest, we were on the wrong side of Everest, so we had to run all the way to the top of Everest to the area formerly-known-as the rock pile (we skipped the exercises on this trip)

Mosey to the monument for some family that gave a lot of money where the normally-wonderful view of the sunrise was dampened by clouds, but it did not affect the 24 American hammers that we did on a 4-count

Mosey to the CMU pile and battle-buddied up

One person runs across the parking lot, down the hill, around the Pavilon (counter-clockwise), stops at the picnic tables in the Pavilon, does 24 pull-me-up rows on the tables, and returns to the CMU pile

The other person does Mr. Spectaculars using the CMU until his battle buddy returns

Switch out and repeat – each person ended up doing each exercise at least twice

Mosey to the Cloud and find a bench

Derkins x 24

Dips x 24

Box jumps (or step ups) x 24

Only had time for one round of those before holding a plank until the six finished

While planking, right arm up, right leg up, down, left arm up, left leg up, down

Mosey to the AO

MARY:

Proton led the PAX through some flutter kicks while the Q grabbed his phone, and Proton didn’t stop until 30 (on the 4-count) for some reason (after all of those reps of 24, you would think he would have gotten it, but Proton loves exercise so much, he probably just wanted to do those extra 6 reps)

Q returned and led the PAX through box cutters x 30 and hello Dollys x 30 (both on the 4-count) since Proton went to 30

Finished out with boat/canoes until time expired (some PAX mumbled that the workout went over, but it was 8:00 by the Q’s watch, which is the only time that matters – and it matched the time on the Q’s cell phone, for what it’s worth)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

We started with 24 and ended with 25.  Assfault completed a Flyin EH on someone he knew along the way, so we were able to welcome Real Chill.  Another FNG started with us and ended with us – welcome Caitlyn.  Tank, the dog, also joined us.

Nacho and Jumbo were also there, but they did not have tags that showed up, so there are only 23 tags, but there were 25 HIMs.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Caedmon’s Call had a song out in the 90s called Center Aisle that was about the writer’s first experience at a funeral, which happened to be the funeral of his friend’s sister who had committed suicide.  It is a good song, check it out if you haven’t already.  This line from the song has always stuck with me: “There aren’t words to say/Words aren’t remembered/But presence is.”

Show up.  Hopefully, we can also say the right things and do the right things, too, but we can’t if we don’t show up first.  And, if we can’t say and do the right thing that will make everything better, then at least we can be there, which is important, both in bad times and good times.  There are moments in people’s lives that they will remember who was there and who was not, e.g., funerals and weddings, and often times we would rather not be there because it makes us uncomfortable or it is too much of a hassle or whatever.  But that doesn’t matter.  What matters is this: should we be there for that person for that moment in his/her life?  (I’m not talking about the times that you cannot because of work, family, or other commitments – I’m not suggesting that we, as humans, can be everywhere and do everything.  I’m talking about the times that you can, but you just don’t.)

The Bible has a lot of references to God’s presence in our lives, e.g., Matthew 18:20, Matthew 28:20, and John 14:18, and Jesus is the manifestation of God’s presence.  Let God be present in your life and then be there for your wives/girlfriends (as long as you don’t have both at the same time), be there for your kids, be there for your parents, be there for your other family members, and be there for your friends.

Your presence will be remembered.  Your absence may not be forgotten.

MOLESKIN:

Props to Archie for posting after being up since Friday morning.  And, he took the message to heart and attended a wedding the same day that he thought about missing.  How about that?  That is either good timing or bad timing.  Part of me wants to apologize to Archie since he probably needed to sleep.  

Good to see Preacher again as always. 

Abscess took a lot of photos and videos. 

Still praying for Junk’s wife. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Someone said something about something that was coming up, but I can’t remember what it was now.  It might have been about the IronPax Challenge and/or Truckin to the Pound on 9/14.  I do know that there is a 2.0 event coming up on 9/22, but I did not say that then.

Don’t be a JackAss- you get further in life with a positive attitude

THE SCENE: 

72* Clear 97% Humidity
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

You’re here on your own volition…

WARM-O-RAMA:
20 x Side Straddle Hop Seal Claps
THA-THANG:

  • Half of you pick up a weight(Burden) to carry to Lower Baseball Field Lot when tired pass of to your brother(lesson is we help carry our brothers’-burdens together
  • Stop at lower lot and participate in Trolly’s Grid (in honor of Trolly at JUCO) 3 Merkins at every star-Run,  2 BBS at stars-Lunge, 3 jumpsquats-bear crawls,  2 burpees- broad jump…RR
  • Mosey w weight to playground parking lot stop and do 11s w Dive Bombers/Carolina Dry Docks
  • Mosey w weight to Pavilion Wall exercise is BoKnows- do wall sits while hold weight while battle buddy does High knees for 100+ count then switch x 2
  • Mosey back to AO w weight circle up do curls/triceps/squats w weights

MARY:
Hello Dolly x 20 Box Cutters x20

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
35 Strong w 2 FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
You get more outta life by maintaining a positive attitude!
MOLESKIN:
Don’t be a JackAss cuz no one will like you!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Prayer