F3 Knoxville

Tag: Lillydipper

Believe It

THE SCENE: Sunny, temps in 60s.  We met at Parking Lot at Southern Ball Fields because the Admin Bldg Parking Lot and area has a large political rally there.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Iron Mikes each leg, 10 Cherry Pickers, 7 Twists, 10 Little Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward, 10 Tempo Merkins
THA-THANG:
Mosey to parking area by residential units north of the soccer fields.  We will do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to roadway that heads to Northshore Entrance of the park.  Go left on the little drive that heads south before you go to the park entrance gate.  We have dubbed it “The Road to Nowhere.”  We will have cones set up in a flag formation.  We will run to each cone and do the exercises listed.

  • Cone 1:  10 Burpees  Bernie Sanders to Cone 2
  • Cone 2:  10 Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1)
  • Cone 3:  10 Hand Release Merkins
  • Cone 4:  20 Star Jumps
  • Cone 5:  20 Big Boy Sit-ups.  Bear Crawl to Cone 6
  • Cone 6:  20 Hello Dollies (4 ct)
  • Cone 7:  20 Merkins
  • Rinse and Repeat two more times

Mosey to Area 51.  We will do 20 Curb Dips in Parking Lot, then run up hill to roadway.  Those on roadway will do Baby Crunches until all men arrive.

Mosey past stop sign at Southeastern corner of Admin Bldg to hillside.  We will do Sevens off the hill toward the cone planted about 20 yards away in the grass.  At top of hill we will start with one Mountain Climber.  At bottom of hill we will start with six Burpees.

Mosey to AO.  We will do sprints between large light poles, starting with sprints at half speed, then going to 3/4 speed and ending with full speed.

MARY:
20 Flutter Kicks, 20 Bicycle Kicks, 10 Tempo Merkins.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
19 men with one being an FNG, Hayden Corbitt, whom we dubbed “Kermit.”
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

“Let your faith roar so loud that you can’t hear what doubt is saying.” Author unknown.

During times like this coronavirus pandemic it may be more difficult to believe in God.  How can God let this terrible thing happen to us and to the whole world?  Yet, at the end of April, when the Coronavirus was hitting us hard and so many were quarantining, a Pew Research Center survey of Americans found that 24% said that as a result of the pandemic there faith was stronger.  Only 2% said their faith was weaker.

When people say they don’t believe in God, or when we ourselves express disbelief in God, our actions usually portray something different.  People may say they don’t believe but find themselves praying for something good to occur when a loved one is ill.  People who believe that this world is nothing but chaos or that creation is random still desire and strive for order in their lives.  People who say that the world is bad still hope for good things to happen to them.  People who say there is no love in this world still hope to be loved.  Unbelievers still yearn for something more in their lives, and essentially pray for their holes to be filled.

God sees our disbelief and tells us to believe.  I think of Christ coming to the disciples after breathed his last breath on the Christ and saying to Thomas, touch my, fill the wounds in my skin.  And he felt for Thomas for not believing until he did see him, did touch him.

God, help us through this difficult time.  Fill our holes.  We pray for you, even at times of disbelief.  Let our faith in you roar so loud that we can’t even hear what doubt is saying.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Knoxville area in face of Covid-19 as there has been a recent rise in hospitalizations here.  Prayers for Romeo after his very serious motorcycle accident.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence and 3rd F at Bomb Shelter this Saturday, October 17 from 7 am to 9:30 am.

I’m Diving In

THE SCENE: Raining, temps in 60s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-Straddle-Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Windmills, 10 Rockettes, 10 Lunges, 7 Wide Arm Circles Forward and Backward, Little of This and That

THA-THANG:
Mosey to Bottom of Cardiac.  We will run up hill and do the following exercises at the following areas:

  • Curve 1:  25 Carolina Dry Docks
  • Curve 2:  25 Dive Bombers
  • Curve 3:  25 Decline Merkins
  • Benches:  25 Bench Dips

Mosey to Parking Lot by South Ball Fields.  We will do suicides running to each of 6 cones, doing 10 Merkins, and running back to do 20 Baby Crunches.  Those who finish first get a 30 second break, then rinse and repeat.

Mosey back to the main street.  Do 20 Bench Dips off of curb.

Mosey to Parking Lot with Islands (Jinxy has named it “The Caribbean” and the name has been officially sanctioned by Crawdad) that is south of the Northern Ball Fields.  We will Bernie clockwise around the parking lot the first time, stopping at every other island to do 10 Hello Dollies, 4 ct.  We will skip around the parking lot the second time, stopping at every third island to do 10 Flutter Kicks, 4ct.  We will Grapevine left around half the parking lot and Grapevine right around the other half, stopping at every fourth island to do 10 Squats.

We will High Knee to sidewalk that leads to the ball fields.

Mosey to the Pavilion at the Northern Ball Fields.  We will do 20 Picnic Table Pull-ups then run to playground to do 10 step ups at benches (five starting with one foot and five starting with other.  Then we run back to Pavilion.  Rinse and repeat two more times.

Mosey to beginning of Mini Cardiac.  Bernie to park sign then run the rest of the way to the AO.

MARY:
20 Flutter Kicks (4 ct), 50 Hello Dollies (4 ct)
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
17 men, no FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

My Christian beliefs have not come about by a sudden conversion as it has for some people.  Rather, my road to belief in God has been one full of twists and dips.  I have found it difficult to commit to God in the face of my doubts.  Is God truly there?  Did God create the universe?  Is God a good and loving god?  Why would a loving God allow pain and suffering in our world?  I have read Christian books on apologetics to help me better understand the arguments for Christianity.  But like other men with much greater minds than I, including Pascal, St. Augustine and C.S. Lewis, I have found that reason alone is not enough for me to believe in God.  One can rationalize both belief and disbelief.  I had a philosophy professor at Baylor University who once said that philosophy cannot prove that God exists – but also cannot prove that God does not exist.  God is a great mystery.  To believe, we must, as Van Morrison writes in one of his songs, “let go into the mystery.”

There is a scene I love in one of the first of the Star Wars movies, The Empire Strikes Back.  Luke, after a battle with Darth Vadar, hangs to a latter.  If he falls, it appears he will certainly die, as the crevice below seems to go on forever.  He learns that Darth Vadar is his father.  Darth Vadar offers him the chance to live, beckons Luke to take his hand and join him, proclaiming that together they can rule the Galaxy as father and son.  What does Luke do?  He lets go!  And in doing so, he plunges to the depths below.  He lets go into the mystery.  He allows the “Force to Be With Him.”  And, of course, we later learn that by letting go, he lives.

Pascal, St. Augustine and C.S. Lewis found out that joining with God takes faith – a trust that goes beyond reason, beyond rational understanding.  At some point you just have to trust what you can’t see.  So, I can make all kinds of arguments for the existence of God – but, those arguments cannot take away the uncertainty – ultimately, I have learned to say, ok God, I’m going to trust you, here I am.

There is a Christian song called “Dive” by Steven Curtis Chapman that captures the need to take the plunge if one is going to trust in God:

The long awaited rains
Have fallen hard upon the thirsty ground
And carved their way to where
The wild and rushing river can be found
And like the rain
I have been carried here to where the river flows, yeah
My heart is racing and my knees are weak
As I walk to the edge
I know there is no turning back
Once my feet have left the ledge
And in the rush I hear a voice
That’s telling me it’s time to take the leap of faith
So here I go

I’m diving in, I’m going deep, in over my head I want to be
Caught in the rush, tossed in the flow, in over my head I want to go
The river’s deep, the river’s wide, the river’s water is alive
So sink or swim, I’m diving in (I’m diving in…)

Brothers, I count to 3 and I dive in, whether it makes sense or not – I dive in hoping that Jesus will catch me like he did Peter who in his fear, started sinking in the water while Jesus stood upon it.  And like Peter, I ask, “Lord, to whom else shall we go?”  I’m diving in.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Lilydipper’s wife, Jan, who is now getting radiation for her breast cancer; prayer of praise for Choir Boy’s wife whose health is improving; prayers for young people during this pandemic, including a high school student at Hardin Valley that recently committed suicide, an adolescent that Lulu knows who is coping with anorexia, and Abscess’ son who recently got into a severe automobile accident – he is ok but definitely suffered injuries; prayers for family/friends of a friend of Pele who lost his life in a solo plane crash yesterday.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence and 3rd F on Saturday, October 17, 7 am at the Bomb Shelter in Alcoa.

Adapting with CMUesday in the Fake Gloom

[ The Scene ]

SUNNY. Little warm. Character building weather.

[ Welcome/Disclaimer ]

  • Welcome to F3: Fitness-Fellowship-Faith
  • My name is Steam and I am honored to be your Q this evening
  • I am not a professional, you’re here on your own volition, and if you need to modify anything we do this evening feel free to do so BUT push yourselves and the men around you.
  • You will not get left behind and you will not leave the same way you came in.
  • FNGs?
  • I’ll have water, med gear, and my phone on me the entire time in my ruck so if you need to put something in there before we get on the mosey feel free to do so

Before we begin tonight we’re going to have a 1 minute moment of silence in honor of our fallen brother from F3 GrandStand in Myrtle Beach.

Jacob Anchor – codename Hightower –  End of Watch on October 3rd 2020

Very active in F3 GrandStand and a true HIM that led a life of service to his family and community.

Join me now in honoring our fallen brother.

[ Warm o Rama ]

(1) SSH: 15 x 4

(2) Happy Feet: 10

– quick feet —> 1 burpee on command

(3) Windmill: 10 x 4

(4) Baby Arm Circles: 10×4 F & 10×4 B

(5) Rockette: 10×4

 

[ The Thang ]

(Mosey to CMU Pile)

  • Every stop sign = 25 up/down merkins
  • Everyone get a CMU

[ Pause for Reflection for/from the Q ]

Apparently baseball season is back. When I was planning this Q – that did not come across my mind. Which means a couple things: (1) I, as the Q, did not accurately scope out the scene pre-Q. (2) We’re going to have to adapt. Halfway through the evolution of PT that you will see below, some of the PAX running were confronted by a middle aged man who was blatantly overreacting to our presence in the specific area of the park where the morning AO meets (parking lot) and was pretty aggressive in making his feelings toward us being there clear. So what do we do when that happens. Let’s start with what we don’t need to do: We don’t need to add fuel to the fire, we don’t need to confront or engage the individual, and we don’t need to push that individual who is already upset/mad/pissed off/irrational. Frankly, it’s not worth our time in that moment. So what do we need to do: We need to be peacemakers. Being the bigger man man sometimes means choosing to walk away. We’re called to be at peace with all men. We can do this without diminishing our dignity or the other party’s. This man was being irrational and approached our men in almost a rage. Pusher made the excellent point of just walk away, it’s not worth it. However – this all could have been avoided if I, the Q, had recognized that we may have needed to avoid this certain area of the park when we were mosey’ing to it. So from me, the Q – I apologize for not using discernment when leading us there. This was a learning lesson wisely pointed out by Jinxy at the COT. 

[ End Pause for Reflection for/from the Q ]

– PAX takes CMUs to the field by the playground and lays them down in two lines facing each other

– PAX execute 25 Big Boy Sit-ups with CMUs on their feet for stability

– PAX run to CMU pile and execute 10 burpees

(Rinse and Repeat 4)

***Encounter with the upset man in the parking lot***

– Q calls audible – replaces CMUs — circle the men up — brief AAR of what just happened — Mosey back home to the PM AO

– PAX mosey back up the street to the PM AO — every stop sign = 25 up/down merkins

– PAX encounter last 2 stop signs in the same 50 feet or so = 50

– Q leads PAX in 50 up/down merkins but stops when PAX reaches 45 — tells everyone to drop down to their knees and look up — “Breathe. It’s going to be okay. We’re almost there.” — Execute the final 5

– PAX mosey back up the hill to the PM AO — wagon wheel and pickup the 6 — circle up by the flag

[ Mary ]

– 25×4 Hello Dollys

– 25×4 LBCs

– 25×4 flutter kicks

[ COT ]

  • # off = 21
  • Name o Rama
  • FNGs = 0
  • BOM

I found myself at a place I don’t find myself at very often last week.

I found myself at a place that looked exactly like a scene in Lord of the Rings where the main character drops down to his knees, realizes the place that he’s in, and utters the words “I can’t do this.”

What a place to be right?

So a couple points with this:

(1) Own where you’re  at.

  • If you’re tired – own it. If you’re struggling, own it.  I’m tired/struggling mentally, I’m tired/struggling physically, I’m tired/struggling mentally, I’m tired/struggling spiritually, I’m tired/struggling sexually (we’re men we can handle that), I’m tired/struggling emotionally – own that place.
    • What I mean by this is this: We have all been tired and struggled in all of these arenas at some point in time in our lives. For me specifically, last week I was really tired and struggling mentally. I was tired and struggling emotionally. I was physically tired. I was struggling spiritually. I was struggling sexually with lust and loneliness and losing my sexual battle with porn and felt the complete weight of that. I was exhausted. The enemy was exhausting me, because I was exhausting myself. We’ve all been there. Maybe in different forms or fashions, but nonetheless, we’ve been there.
  • I’m tired. I’m lonely. I’m stressed. I’m not where I want to be. Own it.
  • Own it. Don’t accept it – own it. There’s a difference there.

Why do we need to own it?

(2) Just because we’re in a certain place does not mean this is our final resting place. Just because we’re here doesn’t mean we are destined to stay here.

  • Life is hard. It’s dark. If you’re in a place you don’t want to be in – own it and realize this is not where the story ends. You weren’t meant to stay here.
  • Just because this is where you are right now does not mean this is where you’re going to stay.

You were created for so much more than the situations and places you find yourself in.

(Hey and guess what – you have brothers that toe the line with you in the gloom and fake gloom – that I KNOW are ready to lock shields and toe the line with you outside the COT too. Let them in and seek wise counsel from them)

Why? Because point number 3

(3) God is about to do something awesome in your life. God is about to do something AWESOME in your life.

Believe that.

Regardless of where you are, what your status is, God is on the move in your life whether you realize it to not.

We need to believe this to be true.

  • God is about to do something great in your life but it is directly tied to your obedience.

What does this look like? Something like this I think.

(Gather men around carefully)

I saw this on my morning walk as the sun was rising and I was praying just for a good day. Sometimes we just need to pray for a good day.

And I came across this gate in a field with the door opened. And I truly believe this is such an excellent picture of how much God loves us and how he calls us into freedom in Him.

And I don’t know who needs to hear this besides me but here we go:

So when I saw this this morning and took this picture — I noticed a couple o things.

  • One of the gate doors was flung wide open
  • The other side of the gate door was closed, with a trash can blocking some of it.
  • And if you were with me this morning, we could have walked right through the open side of the gate. But we would have had to make a choice to do so. However it would have cost us something as well.
  • I think this picture screams the invitation that God gives to us:
    • An invitation to walk out of or walk through whatever you’re going through or wherever you’re at.
    • There is a God above that opens jail cells, doors, and gates — but it’s going to require something of you.
    • Notice the trash can sort of in front of the closed side of the gate. When God opens a gate or a door or a jail cell – whatever that may be in our lives – we’re going to have to leave something behind and leave the place that we currently are at to enter into the place He’s calling us to be. Maybe its an identity we’ve been holding onto or a relationship we’ve been in, or an idol – anything that would prevent us from walking through the gate/door that God is calling us to. 

 

 

Here’s what I want to leave you with:

Jeremiah 1:17 – 19

Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land – against the kings of Judah, it’s officials, it’s priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord.

 

Stay in the Fight!

Steam

Scarred

THE SCENE: Light rain, temp in low 60s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-Straddle Hops, 20 Plank Jacks, 10 Windmills, 10 Rockettes, 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward, 7 Wide Arm Circles Forward and Backward.
THA-THANG:
Our AO for the day was the pavilion at the Northern Ball Fields.

Mosey to semi-circle roadway that goes by soccer fields.  We ran high knee for 10 stakes, did 10 squats, then butt-kicked for 10 stakes and did 10 squats.  We continued that pattern until the end of the semi-circle roadway.  We then returned to the start with the same pattern but this time doing squat jumps instead of squats.  We, finally, went back on the semi-circle, this time doing Bernie Sander for 20 states and 5 Imperial Walkers, repeating that pattern to the end of the semi-circle roadway.

Mosey to parking lot by southern ball fields.  We did suicides up parking lot, running to each of the large light posts along the parking lot.  When we got back from each cone we did 20 Squats.  We rinsed and repeated.

Mosey back to the street but stop at curb before stop sign.  We did 10 tempo merkins by curb.

Mosey to parking lot with the islands that is located south of the Northern Ball Fields.  We divided into three groups.  Two groups positioned themselves on islands on the opposite end of the parking lot.  While the third group ran from one end of the parking lot to the other, the groups on either island alternated between doing 10 incline merkins on curb and 10 bench dips on curb.  Once the running group got to the island then they started the exercises while the group that was there ran to the other end.  This pattern continued until all groups had run from one end to the other two times.

Mosey to Pavilion.  At pavilion, we ran to benches, did 10 bench jumps and ran back to pavilion.  Rinse and repeat.

Finish at Pavilion.

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

Galatians 6:17

From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus.

I’m going to talk a little bit about the importance of scars, the importance of wounds.  As men, we sometimes take a bit of pleasure in showing our scars to one another.  Sounds weird, but I think there are good reasons for it.  By sharing we show one another that we have been wounded and have that in common.  We also show we were tough enough to take it.

Our brother, Pusher, has told me of a tradition in the Philippines where boys are circumcised at the age of ten.  Think about how painful that is for a ten-year-old.  For two weeks after the circumcision that boy, in fact, wears a dress because the touch of pants to the circumcised area would be too painful.  Filipinos realize that they could change the age of the circumcision – to circumcise at that age is certainly not a medical necessity.  But in the Philippines it is a rite of passage.  The boy fears the moment, fears the pain, but in enduring it makes a major step toward manhood.  He can walk proudly, knowing he has endured it.

The Aborigines have an interesting rite of passage that I read about.  At the time of puberty the male or female meets overnight with the same sex members of their community who tell them stories of manhood or womanhood.  Afterwards, the male or female meets in a ceremony with their father and mother.  Both the father and the mother each take a sharp claw from an animal and cut the skin on the chest of the child.  The cuts form permanent wounds that will remain on the daughter or son’s breast for the rest of their life.  It is a symbol of recognition: “I have been wounded by my parents and I must accept that fact.  In accepting it, I can become a woman or a man.”  I love that – my parents love me but they have also wounded me and I need to man up to that.

I can remember my cousin and I talking, at about college age, about the types of women we would like to marry.  Of course we talked about physical beauty.  But we also talked about the character of the woman we wanted to marry.  We both agreed that we would rather marry a woman who had been wounded by some hardships than marry a woman who never had faced hardships and was completely innocent.  Our scars give us character.  They also help us to empathize with the pain and hardships experienced by others.

I accept that I have been scarred by life.  I cannot deny it or escape it.  I am not the Innocent Man that Billy Joel sang about.  But, as a Christian, the ultimate example of empathy for me is our Lord Christ.  I expose my scars to Him.  For, He was willing to take on the scars of the Cross to save humankind from our sinfulness.  In recognizing this, in baptizing myself to this, I am given the ultimate rite of passage.  And, as Paul states in Galatians 6:17, “from now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus.”

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Helga and his wife who is having surgery, for Steam’s father who just had total knee replacement surgery, and for Steam as he considers a new job.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hardship Hill on Saturday, October 3.

Searching for Bilbo

THE SCENE: Beautiful, around 70, low humidity.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Welcome to F3, Fitness, Fellowship and Faith. F3 is a free workout program designed to improve fitness, share some camaraderie, and foster male leadership in the community.  I’m Pele and I will be your Q today.  I am not a professional, and I do not know your fitness level or injury history.  Please push yourself, but modify the workout as necessary to avoid making any existing injuries worse.  The goal is to get better together!  Some additional COVID-19 considerations: keep your distance between you and other members of the PAX and any other folks that we pass during moseys, etc. to 6-10 feet.  We will be splitting up into groups smaller than 10 if necessary.  We need to set good examples and be good neighbors out here at this public park, especially with so many folks out and about.


WARM-O-RAMA:

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

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

– 10 BAC forward and backward

– Little of this and that

– get in a line, high knees 20 yards, butt kickers 20 yards, Karaoke left 20 yards, Karaoke right 20 yards

THA-THANG:

Today is September 22, which is Bilbo Baggins’ birthday, also known as HOBBIT’S DAY! But (as you may know from reading or watching the Fellowship of the Ring) at his 111th birthday party, he vanished into thin air! One second he was standing there giving an overblown birthday speech, and then poof! He was gone!  We need to go find him.  Hobbits like being around hills, so we need to search the hills around here to see where he’s gone off to.  Ready??  .

Mosey to shallow amphitheater area. CONES at top and bottom

  • At Top cones do an AROUND THE WORLD (plank position, rotate around 360 degrees to look around) both directions.  Run down and circle bottom cones and go back to top cones.

Mosey to Area 51 Hills. Follow the cones down and read the instructions. COUNT OFF by 2’s.

  • FIRST CONE: No Bilbo. Start the search. 1’s do Jump Squats, 2’s lunge to the right for 20 sec, then back 20 sec, then Reverse.
  • SECOND CONE: No Bilbo. Start the search. 1’s do Iron Mikes, 2’s Bear Crawl 5/ do 5 Reps of CDDs for 20 sec, then back 20 sec, then reverse.
  • THIRD CONE: GOBLINS! We’ve been captured. BATAAN DEATH MARCH back to road and down to Area 51 parking lot. 1’s and 2’s in two lines, last 2 PAX in each line do 5 Prisoner Squats then race to catch up to the front of the line.

PRISONER CAMP (Parking Lot).  After that we are put into Hard Labor, forced to build one of their forts for the upcoming war. 10 Prisoner Get ups, BEAR CRAWL to wall (because we’re being whipped), 10 Prisoner Cell Merkin Burpees (PCMBs), BEAR CRAWL back.  Rinse and repeat, but only 5 reps of the exercise, and El Capitan back and forth instead of bear crawl.  Q’s note: This was harder than it sounded on paper!!

Mosey to TREES to the west.  ELVES appear! A BATTLE ensues!

  • 1s are Elves, 2s are Goblins. Pair off and face each other.  BURPEE BATTLE! Elves are better trained, quicker. They only need to do 8 burpees, the Goblins need to do 10.  Whoever wins each pair wins the battle. If more elves win than goblins, we are free.  Otherwise we continue the death march.  Elves do two more burpees at the end to make it fair.

Mosey to bottom of Everest.  One last big Hill to search…

  • Run up Everest to Base of Summit, using the secondary path by the big cedar tree.
  • Mosey to Roadshow Run stairway. Run up to top.
    • THERE’S BILBO, RIGHT BACK AT HOME WHERE WE STARTED!
    • A celebration is in order! 111 SIDE STRADDLE HOPS WITH OVERHEAD CLAPS!

MARY:
20 Hello Dollies (4-ct, IC)

20 BBS

ATMs

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
21 strong, including one FNG, FiliBilly!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Today’s workout had a Lord of the Rings theme, obviously.  LotR is one of my favorite set of books and movies, yes, because of all the magic and dragons, and elves with pointy ears, but also because of some of the wonderful lessons that it contains.

  • Perseverance
  • Hope
  • Fighting for what’s good in the world
  • Resourcefulness

But I want to focus on two lessons in particular.  One is the concept of the FELLOWSHIP itself.  The FELLOWSHIP consisted of Nine individuals who were given an incredibly difficult task.  They were:

  1. A wizard (Gandalf)
  2. A King who was sort of a refugee and had not ascended to his throne. (Aragorn)
  3. An elf prince (Legolas)
  4. A Dwarf (Gimli)
  5. A Human prince (Baromir)
  6. And four hobbits (Frodo, Samwise, Pippen, Merry).

All of the members of this party were battle hardened and powerful representatives of their races.  They also had strong prejudices they had to overcome.  Elves and dwarves were sworn enemies.  The humans were subject to the temptations of the One ring.  No one trusted wizards.  Hobbits were just small and simple folk that can’t find their butt with two hands and aspire to nothing more than to grow a good pumpkin in their gardens.  And yet these 9 individuals bonded together, died for each other, and even the elf and dwarf became inseparable friends.  It kind of reminds me of our F3 Fellowship.  Heck, fellowship is the second “F” in our name!

The other lesson I wanted to bring up involved who stepped up and carried the Ring, which was an evil artifact that took a physical and mental toll on the bearer.  The Ring bearer was also the instant target of all the Evil minions in the land.  And yet it was not the wizard, the noble elf, the strong dwarf, the human royals that carried the ring.  It was the smallest among them, a simple hobbit who had never left his home that volunteered to carry the burden.  As the Elf Queen Galadriel tells Frodo, “Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.”  Sometimes today’s problems seem insurmountable.  No matter how helpless or insignificant you feel in such a troubled world, take comfort in the fact that God has a plan and purpose for your life, and all people, large or small, can be used for His Glory.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers of thanks for the successful surgery on Jinxy’s wife, and that our brother Pinto is gaining strength in his battle with multiple myeloma. Welcome to FNG Filibilly!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
2nd F opportunity at Abridged Wed 9/23 7 pm!