F3 Knoxville

Healing The Wounded

THE SCENE: Humid, temp in low 70’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Plank Jacks, Plank arm and leg raises, 10 Cherry Pickers, Michael Phelps, Little of This and That.

THA-THANG:
Mosey to Southern Ball Fields Parking Lot.  Do 20 Hello Dollies, four count.

Mosey to perimeter trail near the Pavilion of the south ball fields.  We will do Nickel, Dime, Quarters (run one light do five of exercise, run two lights do ten, run five lights and do 25 of exercise) all the way to the beginning of Cardiac Hill.  These will be the exercises we will go through:

  • Star Jumps
  • Merkins
  • Big Boy Sit-ups
  • Squat Jumps
  • Dive Bombers
  • Imperial Walkers (four count)

At Cardiac Hill we will run up the hill, stopping at each of the turns and finally at the benches to do the following exercises:

  • Turn 1:  20 American Hammers
  • Turn 2:  20 Flutter Kicks
  • Turn 3:  20 Decline Merkins
  • Benches:  Bench Dips
  • Rinse and Repeat

Mosey to parking lot where we keep CMUs.

We will go around the parking lot, stopping at each corner to do exercises.  We go around the parking lot four times, doing the following exercises at each corner:

  • Corner 1:  20 Carolina Dry Docks, 20 Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1), 20 Squats, 20 Diamond Merkins  (sprint to Corner 2)
  • Corner 2:  20 Mountain Climbers (four count), 20 Smurf Jacks, 20 Iron Mikes (four count) 10 Burpees (bear crawl to Corner 3)
  • Corner 3: (with CMUs) 20 Overhead Presses, 20 Curls, 20 Rows, 20 Coupon Swings (Bernie Sanders to Corner 4)
  • Corner 4:  20 Bicycle Kicks (four count), 20 Box Cutters, 30 Baby Crunches, 40 “Mississippi second count” Boat Canoe  (Lunge to Corner 1)

Mosey back to AO.

MARY:
30 Baby Crunches
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Ten Men, No FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
As HIMs, we desire to help others.  But how to we handle people that are difficult to help?  Who resist or slap down our offers of assistance with “yes buts”, turning their backs to you, snide remarks, or an attitude that says either that “people aren’t no damn good” or “to hell with you and your advice.”  In my last message I talked about the need to resist the urge to strike back with caustic words; the need to be patient with such people; and, the need to stay Strong with them hanging in there with them.

One thing that can help you is to try to understand where the person is coming from.  These are often folks who have been hurt in their pasts.  Because of that, they lack trust in others and also lack trust in themselves to overcome difficulties.  There is a song by Nick Cave that, I believe, captures well how past painful experience can lead to a tragic attitude of “people ain’t no damn good.”  Ironically, the name of the song is “People Ain’t No Good.”  I don’t think this is Nick Cave’s stance on life although I am sure that, like all of us, he has certainly felt this way.  Rather, it is the stance of the narrator of the song.

Throughout the song, the refrain is “people they ain’t no good.”  Then we find out more about the narrator.  We find out how he married his love under cherry trees and under blossoms they made their vows.  We hear how the sun would stream on the sheets of their bed, how they were awoken by the morning bird, how they would buy Sunday newspapers but never read a single word due to their love for one another.

But, then we hear about how the winter stripped the blossoms of their love.  How like a fist, the difficulties hit them.  How his wife drew the curtains, made of wedding veils, on the narrator.  And, so the narrator cries, “to our love send a coffin of wood. . . to our love a valentine of blood. . . to our love let all the jilted lovers cry “that people just ain’t no good.”

Then, we hear how others may have tried to help this narrator but how he (and, this is the gut-wrenching tragedy of the story) bitterly turned down their help.  Here are the tragic lines about the people who tried to help him:

It ain’t that in their hearts they’re bad
They can comfort you, some even try
They nurse you when you’re ill of health
They bury you when you go and die
It ain’t that in their hearts they’re bad
They’d stick by you if they could
But that’s just bullshit baby
People just ain’t no good
Through the song, we come to understand the stance of the narrator.  It is a tragic stance but we have empathy for him because we can understand the reason for his pain.  Let us, as HIMs, be patient, be loving, be kind, be strong.  Work to understand those who turn away our attempts at love.  Help those who are bitter to learn that, although all of us screw up, some people are pretty damned good.

MOLESKIN:
Prayer of thanks that Mr. Jinxy received good news from the cardiologist.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The REWARD at Panera!

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.

PM Asylum – 56 is not too Bad

THE SCENE:

about 86, mostly sunny, a bit warm
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH 15 IC
Cherry Pickers 15 IC
Windmills 15 IC
Candy Corns 30 IC
Merkins 5 IC

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Stairs by Bat House
7’s – BBS at bottom of 2nd stairs down hill and Squats at top of hill
Mosy back to AO to Partner up into 2’s and pick up a pair of brick per team
Mosey down road to stop sign in the shade.
Dora’s:
 100 Reps per team – Press with each brick, while partner Burnies up to cone – 5 Bobby Hurleys (each arm)
100 Reps per team – Curls with each brick, partner side run crossing legs to cone – 5 Iron Mikes (each Leg)
50 Reps per team – wing lifts with each brick, partner runs to cone, 5 squats
Mosey down hill to Highway 66
Every 5th light post -6 Squats and 6 Iron Mikes until we get to road
Two Rounds of 1 minute planks in Shade
Mosey to base of Everest – Pickets charge up hill to top right by small wall by road
Partner up – 7, then 6, then 5, then 4 etc of dips while partner does LBCs

MARY:
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Use the TAGS on right-side to record PAX (BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOURSELF) in attendance. Be sure to select the AO in CATEGORY above TAGS and then delete these notes!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Word of the day is get out of your comfort zone. It’s easy and comfortable to follow the same routine day in and day out- same circle of friends, same activities. But that is not how we grow. We need reach out – grow your circle of friends, add some diversity. Reach out to a different age group and strike up a conversation. Take a chance and you will be enriched. This will enhance our ability as F3 leaders and to live as God wants us.
Joshua 1:9 ESV
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

MOLESKIN:
Pray for Mr Jinxy who is dealing with a heart issue and Dieter Marstadt family- Dieter recently died of a brain tumor
ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Necessary Falling

THE SCENE: Cloudy, low 80s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

This a Week 3 of the Iron Pax Challenge so we will stretch for one minute then get straight to the work out
THA-THANG:
We will do the following exercises for Week 3 of the Iron Pax Challenge for 43 minutes.  After 43 minutes, each man will see how many reps he did of the exercises.  Each man will rinse and repeat after he goes through the round of exercises until the 43 minutes are over.  Here are the exercises:

  • 10 Pull-Ups
  • 15 Cross-Over Burpees
  • 20 Coupon Curls
  • 25 Coupon Squat Thrusters
  • 30 Gas Pumps (reverse crunches)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Five men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Have you ever watched infants trying to walk?  They pull themselves up via a nearby item or a parental hand.  They take a step and . . . fall. They try it again, wobble and . . . fall.  The falling doesn’t deter them.  They keep after it, fall after fall.  Infants learn to walk by learning to fall.  

My son, Puddle (Bennett Neece) loves to ski as do I.  I observed him the first day he learned to ski.  I didn’t give the lesson . . . he was involved with other Boy Scouts in a group lesson.  I skied for a while and came back to observe him later.  He was covered in snow but going for it down the mountain, speeding along, trying to make a turn and falling like a madman, ski poles flying, skis going in opposite directions.  He laughed, tromped through the snow, got the gear back, put his skis on and went right back at it down the mountain.  I knew after that day that he was going to be a good skier.  Why?  He was willing to fall.  Others in his group were much more tentative.  Bennett didn’t mind falling.  And because he didn’t mind falling, he learned rapidly.  Good skiers learn to ski by learning to fall.

You have figured out where this message is going.  In any important endeavor we take on in life, we learn to succeed by learning to fall.  Screwing up at the task is not a failure.  It is simply a necessary fall that we must be willing to learn from.  We don’t learn well by winning all the time.

Movement, growth and success involve falling.  This is true in everything.  And, it involves the willingness to risk falling.  If you want to move up the ladder vocationally, it involves the risk of messing up on more difficult tasks. If you want to date that beautiful girl, it involves the risk of being rejected.  If you want an audience to hear your message, it involves the risk of embarrassment when you speak.  If you want to sell a product it involves the risk of being hung up or having the door slammed in your face.

God knows that we must fall.  Ironically, we become stronger spiritually through falling.  The falling brings us closer to Him for we yearn for his help when we fall.  We also learn more about ourselves when we fall.  And, we relate more to people, understanding them better when they fall.  Blessed our those who mourn.  And blessed our those who get back up, shake themselves off, and try it all over again.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Thunderstruck’s mother, father and grandfather.  Prayers for the mother of Squirtle’s coworker.

Serenity Now!

THE SCENE: Low 90s… again…

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER  Check!  Still not a professional.  Shame spiral…

WARM-O-RAMA:

– 25 SSH (4ct, IC), 20 Moroccan Nightclubs (4 ct, IC), 15 Windmills (4 ct, IC), 10 Imperial Squats (4 ct, IC), 5 PCMBs (12ct, OYO)

THA-THANG:

  • Mosey down Roadshow Run to close to the base of Everest, in a shady spot. EVEREST PYRAMID :
    • Do the exercise, then run 1/3 way up Everest 5 times. Exercises will be the following (all single count)
      • 20 Iron Mikes
      • 20 Iron Mikes, 20 Mountain Climbers
      • 20 Iron Mikes, 20 Mountain Climbers, 20 Merkins
      • 20 Mountain Climbers, 20 Merkins
      • 20 Merkins
  • MOSEY to Intersection of Trail and perimeter road (all 4-ct, IC).
    • 20 American Hammers
    • 20 Flutter Kicks
    • 20 Bicycle Kicks
  • MOSEY to stop sign at northeast corner of Admin building drive.
    • 20 American Hammers
    • 20 Flutter Kicks
    • 20 Bicycle Kicks
  • DORAS: Partner 1 Bernie Sanders to end of Guard Rail, then runs to tree, 3 Burpees for extra credit, then runs back. Partner does the following:
    • 100 Big Boy sit-ups
    • 100 Bobby Hurleys
    • 100 Merkins

MARY:
No time.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
8 Strong.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Ronald Niebuhr: Niebuhr was one of America’s leading public intellectuals for several decades of the 20th century and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. Graduated from Elmhurst College, which was in the town I grew up in in Illinois and where my dad taught for 35 years.  He was a public theologian; he wrote and spoke frequently about the intersection of religion, politics, and public policy.  He was also one of the founders of the theory of Christian realism, which had three biblical presumptions: 1) the sinfulness of humanity, 2) the freedom of humanity, and 3) the validity and seriousness of the Great Commandment, which was a combination of two Bible verses that expressed the requirements to Love Thy Lord With All Thy Heart, AND, Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself. These form the core of the Christian lifestyle.  He also believed in the importance of balance of power and political responsibility.

Niebuhr believed that the perfection of the Kingdom of God cannot be realized on earth because of a corrupt society and the innate sins of man. Human perfectibility is an illusion. How can there be heaven on earth when there is so much corruption, poverty, etc.?  This was not a man who wore rose tinted glasses.  He saw the flaws and sins of humans both politically and in society, and he realized that although we should always do our best to contribute to solutions, that the imperfections of humanity would never allow paradise during our mortal lives. He is credited with writing the Serenity Prayer, which has always connected with me.

SERENITY PRAYER

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for several PAX and their family members who are going through challenging times.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
None.