F3 Knoxville

In Tents Rain

THE SCENE: pouring rain, 40°
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER Delivered
WARM-O-RAMA:

Grasshopper, Baby Arm Circles, Harry Rockets, 8 Count merkins (not as good as Butterknives counting Monday)
THA-THANG:
Quickly ran for cover in the ‘circus’ tent behind the building that makes an appearance in nearly every picture.

While one HIM did a farmer carry around the building (lap 1), around the tent (lap 2) and rifle carry down the stairs and back) the remaining HIM’s did rounds of the following

Since last week there was so much moaning about abs, we did more:

Cross Knee Planks, Heavy American Hammer, Torture Tucks, Heavy Big boys. CMU paddleboats, 1 Up 2 Down (Really slow, really big flutter)

Then Legs: Heavy Squats, Wall Kicks (minus the wall), Bonnie Blair, 4 Way lunge

Then we switched to Arms: Curls, Merkins, Dry Docks, Donkey Kicks

Finally we rolled some 8 sided dice for more core, arms and legs.

MARY:
No time for it and it was really dang wet.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I am not a professional …. and that applies to this topic as well.  I am NOT a therapist.
I’m not good at Loss, Lament or Listening.  But we are out here to get better where we are weak.  No man left where he is, right?

We are good at some aspects of grief – I’m so proud of how F3 Knoxville has collectively mourned the loss of Cardinal.  We are good a doing grief. 170 show up for a memorial workout. GoFundMe climbs to 100k in a week.  We buy t shirts. Make videos.
But we are not good at verbalizing grief.  First to God. out loud. Nor are we good at sharing it with brothers.
“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”
Psalm 55:22 ESV

Next Level: be more like David.  Have the courage to ask questions we can’t answer and ask them with someone hurting.
“Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
Psalm 10:1 ESV
Can it get awkward?  Yes.  Lean into that.
What if I say the wrong things? What if I forget? that information is a burden. What if I can’t carry it?
What if I don’t have the right response – (they are not looking for a response – they are looking for connection.)
What if I make them cry? What if I cry? How do you hold it together? YOU DON’T!
We have that point of connection in Christ. Sin keeps us from being able to connect… but as we journey closer to Christ, less obstruction, more connection, more healing.
I don’t know what “science” says about growing your EQ… but in Christ, your ability to Empathize will grow. We have the Holy Spirit.
It’s what I want to work on. By God’s grace we all can become better listeners. Better at Loss and better at Lament with one another.

MOLESKIN:
Continued prayers for Andrea, Cardinal Jr and Evie.  Prayers for Jen and Rob as they have 9yr old John’s funeral Thursday

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
VQ from Trash Panda on Friday!

Reinvigorate and Replant

THE SCENE: Some of the most beautiful gloom I’ve ever seen.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Done
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • RFTS / LIH
  • Shoulder burn
  • WMH
  • Finkle swings

Partner up – grab one block per pair.  Partner 1 moseys with the block.  Partner 2 completes 20 merkins then runs to catch up and takes the block from his partner.  Keeping switching roles until we arrive at the King’s parking lot.

THA THANG:

Dora-style work

Partner 1 performs exercises

Partner 2 takes a lap around the island.

After each set is complete – both partners run up the hill and back

  • 50 SQUAT AND CURLS
  • 75 LUNGE PRESS
  • 100 CMU SWINGS
  • 125 CURLS
  • 150 HEAVY LBC
  • 125 TRI EXTENSIONS
  • 100 DERKINS
  • 75 HEAVY FREDDY
  • 50 BLOCKEES

MARY:

PAX choice for 3 minutes

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

16 men and 1 2.0

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Cardinal made his living as the pastor of a church in Harriman.  Years ago, he received two job offers on the same day.  One was a larger established church.  The other was a tiny country church that was actively disappearing.  He took his family to the smaller church.  He had a passion for “revitalizing” and “replanting” churches – that’s how he said it.

During the last week, I’ve heard this from many of you and from scores of men around the world who have reached out…I’ve also thought it myself – “That could have been me.”  It makes me reflect on how precious life is and on what my priorities are.  Sometimes my highest priorities do not always get the best of me and the most of me.

Psalm 39:4-5, “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.  Remind me that my days are numbered how fleeting my life is.”

Psalm 90:12, “Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.”

Several PAX shared how they can reset on their highest priorities to make sure they are giving their best to what is most important.  Make sure you are taking your role and responsibilities seriously (e.g., make sure your M will be taken care of if you were to die suddenly).

I think our friend Cardinal would be thrilled to know that even his death caused so many men to be revitalized and replanted in their responsibilities and priorities.

MOLESKIN:

This workout was inspired by the beatdown I suffered at the hands of Feeny on Monday.  I was still sore when we started it all again!

PRAYERS / ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Prayers for Cardinal’s family, for the Rampart men, and for Cosmo’s family

Commandments

THE SCENE: mid 30s JUCO
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Reach for the sky, merkins, squats, cherry pickers and mosey.
THA-THANG:
Warm up with the Friday challenge, modified in order to condition the body for pain Friday and hopefully avoid injury.  You’re welcome.

  • 25 Curls, 50 yd run, 1 burpee, 50 yd run
  • 25 Heavy Squats, 50 yd run, 1 burpee, 50 yd run
  • 25 OHP, 50 yd run, 1 burpee, 50 yd run
  • 25 CMU Swings, 50 yd run, 1 burpee, 50 yd run
  • 25 Thrusters, 50 yd run, 1 burpee, 50 yd run
  • 25 Blockees, 50 yd run, 1 burpee, 50 yd run
  • 25 Triceps, 50 yd run, 1 burpee, 50 yd run
  • 25 Shrugs, 50 yd run, 1 burpee, 50 yd run

5:39 – 50 yd lunge and twist, 50 yd toy soldier, 25 yd worlds greatest stretch, 50 yd sprint, 50 yd burnee

moroccan night clubs, little baby arm circles forward, back, seal claps and overhead claps

MARY:
LBCs, American Hammers, flutterkicks, hello dollies, leg circles, heals to heaven, superman tempo, superman swims.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Let’s talk about the commandments.  Actually, not the 10 from the Old Testament.  John 14:15 reads, “if you love me, keep my commandments.”  Jesus came not to abolish the law of the Old Testament, but to fulfill and since I profess to love Jesus, I’d like to know what are His commandments.  Thought about an entire journey through the Bible to discover them, but realized someone has to have thought of this too…so I googled it.  And sure enough there are 38 (39) commandments in the New Testament from Jesus.  Let’s go over all of them now…j/k.  We discussed a few, The Greatest Commandment, The Golden Rule, Mark 11:25-26 Forgive, John 3:7 Be Born Again, and John 15:4 I am the Vine.
MOLESKIN:
Thought it very cool that a person from Maryville, TN popped up from a world-wide search with a nice list and nice website.  Commandments of Jesus (trusting-in-jesus.com)
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Friday heavy max out day. Prayers for Cardinal, may he rest in peace, his family and the Rampart AO.  Memorial Workout Saturday 7am at Rampart.

Round and Round We Go

THE SCENE:  42 and clear.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Skipped!
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Push the block up
  • Let the block pull you down
  • Grady corns
  • Seal squats
  • CMU merkins
  • Stretch OYO 30 seconds

Bear crawl to line 1, 20 merkins then plank.  Bernie back

Bear crawl to line 1, 20 merkins, lunge to line 2, Al Gore.  Bernie back

Bear crawl to line 1, 20 merkins, lunge to line 2, Al Gore.  Crab walk to line 3.

 

THA THANG:

Grab a block…

16 stations.  Perform exercise at the station and move to the next clockwise.  Every 2 minutes a timer will sound – when it sounds, run a lap around the house.  Remember your location and rep and count!  When you return from your lap, pick up where you left off.

Stations were;

  1. 20 Heavy lunges (10 each side)
  2. 40 Shoulder Presses
  3. 30 Heavy LBC
  4. 20 Bobby Hurley
  5. 40 Triceps
  6. 20 BBS with press
  7. 20 Thrusters
  8. 40 Curls
  9. 20 Good mornings
  10. 10 Heels to Heaven (4-ct)
  11. 10 Burpee jumpovers
  12. 25 CMU Swings
  13. 20 Heavy Freddy (4-ct)
  14. 10 Plyo Merkins (10 each side)
  15. 25 Goblet squats
  16. Colt 45

MARY:

PAX choice for the last 2 minutes

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

When a man has the courage to talk about his struggle, we don’t owe him acceptance.  We owe him something far better – alliance.  We become his allies in battle.  There is zero condemnation – because each one of us has garbage in our heart that we are fighting against.  We don’t accept where he is – we challenge him to be better.  That is iron sharpening iron.

Proverbs 27:17, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:5-6, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend…”

MOLESKIN:

From Tooth Fairy, (paraphrased)  It’s hard to be transparent about struggles because society/culture tells us to just ‘man up’.  Let’s father our children better than that – so they can grow up to be emotionally vulnerable in a healthy way.

Aye!!

PRAYERS / ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Prayers for Mrs. and Baby Spotter.  Praise for Stitch’s mom.  Prayers for Shrubbery and Wagon Wheel.

Generosity Requires An Attitude of Gratitude

THE SCENE: 55 and the rain was gone…almost not like the gloom!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Side Straddle Hops (IC) X 10
  • Cherry Pickers (IC) 4 CT X 10
  • Overhead Claps X 10 (IC)
  • Tempo Squats (IC) 4 CT
  • Hand Release Merkins X 10
  • Mosey

THA-THANG:

CMU Work

  • 20 Overhead Press
  • 20 Tricep Extension
  • 20 Bentover Rows
  • 20 Curls
  • 20 Squats
  • Run around the block
  • Rinse & Repeat

MARY:

  • 20 Hello Dollies
  • 20 Big Boy Situps
  • 20 Flutterkicks
  • 40 LBCs
  • 1 minute plank
  • 20 Pickle Pounders
  • 20 Merkins
  • 20 Squats

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

13 men including Bagger visiting from Atlanta – Bagger is an OG from JUCO and moved 4 four years ago

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

What is Generosity?  It can be defined as “the virtue of giving good things to others freely and abundantly.” When we think deeply about this definition, three parts stand out clearly. Generosity is giving “good things”, giving “freely”, and giving “abundantly.”

We can deepen our experience of generosity by moving from acts of generosity to cultivating an attitude of generosity. When we embody an attitude of generosity, the good things we share expand out from deep within our hearts as an offering of freedom.

When we practice generosity, the “good things” that we give can take many forms. Certainly, some “things” are tangible items like toys, blankets, and food. Giving material things to help others is both a valuable and needed act of generosity. We can also give things like our time, our talents, and our full presence when we serve.

There is a very important lesson surrounding generosity: everyone connected to generosity wins – the recipient, the giver, and all who learn of it. Generous living is a wonderful way to live!

SHOW UP!!!  By showing up to make other’s loads lighter!

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.  Audrey Hepburn

Matthew 25:40-45 New International Version

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

MOLESKIN:

Some of my information I received from All-Pro Dad’s; I’m speaking about “generosity” this Friday to 225 fathers and kids at Hardin Valley Elementary School

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  • Sign up to Q/VQ
  • Christmas Party at Butterknife’s this weekend
  • Christmas Parade opportunities coming up
  • If you will be JUCO’s point person for Hardship Hill, let Butterknife know