Frozen Ultimate

Frozen Ultimate
QIC: Semi

Warm-a-Rama
Side shuffle around circle, switch directions halfway
15 seal jacks i/c
10 screaming lunges per leg oyo
15 seal waves i/c
10 mountain man pooper i/c
High knees around circle, switch to butt kickers halfway

3rd F
Play The Man • Devotional

Will Power!

Mosey to field by the church

Ultimate frisbee
3 bombjacks for team with dropped disc
Scored exercises were;
Screaming lunges
Diamond merkins
Merkins
Frog burpees
Burpees
Flutter kicks

Mosey back to the circle
25 gas pumpers i/c, slowed tempo from 15-20

Number-Rama
NAME-A-RAMA
COT

15 HIM showed today; Semi, Fireplex, Chattahoochee, Quattro, Gee-EYE, Bubba, Whirlybird, Pick, Bolt, Yukon, Wildwing, Probe, Pedals, Ruxpin, Chauffer

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Moving Parts, Too Many?

Date: 1/12/23

QIC: Chappie

YHC jumped in to fill the gap as requested by Bunt who was out of town. 23 PAX won #thatfirstbattle and posted for yet another multi-station workout, which YHC confesses may have had too many moving parts. Nonetheless, those who did the work got “gassed”–says Quattro. Several PAX dressed in red to honor Cardinal from F3Knoxville, who actually collapsed and died during his VQ just yesterday, 1/11. (Forgive Streudel’s laughter in Name-O-Rama, he wasn’t aware why the PAX next to him announced “Cardinal!“) Cardinal leaves behind his M, Andrea, and 2 young children, Clay and Evie. Our hearts go out to the family and F3 PAX who were with him when he died. There are no guarantees that we’ll have our next breath…let’s live like it! And let’s be prepared for eternity!

As mentioned, there may have been too many moving parts. Still, here’s how it all went down…

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH – 51 IC
  • Imperial Squat Walker – 15 IC
  • Tempo Merkins – 10 IC
  • Italian Night Club – 51 IC
  • Cherry Pickers – 15 IC

>>>>>>Mosey to H.O.B.

THE THANGITY THANG: (WORKOUT RULES below)     

PAIR UP for Stations: Run counter-clockwise aroun stations, stopping to do the workour (if bags are available)

CONE #1 • 40lb sandbags – 40 OH Presses, then go to next station; if there’s no sandbag, keep running all the way around…

CONE #2 • 40lb sandbags – 40 Sandbag Curls, go to next…

CONE #3 • Long Sit/Cross Legs – 30 reps, Single Count (Grab a card, do exercise, before moving on. KEEP YOUR CARDS!)

CONE #4 • 40lb GORUCK BAGS – 10 Sandbag Burpees (clean & toss), go to next…

CONE #5 • 20lb Medicine Balls – 10 OH Squat Thrust & Catch or Slams, go to next.

CONE #6 • X’s & O’s – 25 Single count (Grab a card, do exercise, before moving on. KEEP YOUR CARDS!)

CLOSING GAME OF WAR:  2 lines/2 teams: I. De. Clare. War! Winners: No exercise Losers: Exercise on winning card.

OVERALL WORKOUT RULES:

  1. Move in Pairs
  2. Spread out among 6 stations/directions are in chalk at each CONE.
  3. GOAL: Keep moving! Rule: If you see a PAX walking you may Grab a card from the deck, charge them with it (they do exercise) AND you get to exchange it with and keep the highest card from their hand (no exercise charged to you!)
  4. If there’s no bags at a station, rock on! (Keep running till you’re able come around and complete all stations.)
  5. After each time at the ab stations (3&6), grab card from deck, do the exercise, but keep your cards to the end. Try to get 3 cards.
  6. Once you’ve done a station you’ve completed that station. By-pass it if already done. DO NOT throw down actual sandbags!

Bonus: RETURN TO AO WITH ALL THE COUPONS, AND WITH WATER IN MOUTH (Spit it out/Swallow it no Burpees!) Due to time no Burpees were rewarded, however, several PAX did them after BOM. Growing success—most of the PAX succeeded at this crazy exercise invented by the Apache Indians (who ran great distances while holding water in their mouths)

Wait a second! 23 PAX/24 Waters…who didn’t drink up?

3rdF shared prior to the round of I Declare War:

Navy Seal, Admiral McRaven, told this training story during a commencement address:

He said, “Every day during training you were challenged with multiple physical events. Long runs. Long swims. Obstacles courses. Hours of calisthenics, something designed to test your mettle. Every event had standards, times you had to meet. If you failed to meet those times, those standards, your name was posted on a list. And at the end if the day those on the list were invited to a circus.

A circus was 2 hours of additional calisthenics, designed to wear you down, to break your spirit, and to force you to quit. No one wanted a circus. A circus meant for that day that you didn’t measure up. A circus meant more fatigue, and more fatigue meant that the following day would be more difficult, and more circuses were likely. But at some time during training everyone, everyone, made the circus list.

An interesting thing happened to those who were constantly on the list: Over time those students who did 2 hrs. of extra calisthenics got stronger and stronger; the pain of the circuses built inner strength and physical resiliency.

Life is filled with circuses. You will fail. You will likely fail often. It will be painful. It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core. IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR WORLD—don’t be afraid of the circuses!”

In 1 Cor. 9:24-27 Paul used this kind of physical training as an illustration to tell of something of greater importance—living for Christ.

Don’t you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such way that you may win. And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. (More important.) Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I beat my body [discipline] and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.”

The Bible gives this allegory to tell us that to cross the finish line effectively it’s going to take work. Not to earn it, but it just takes work AND because, like any athlete or any man, there will be times when we just don’t feel like putting in the work [out]. T.D. Jakes reminds us, “Your feelings will never cooperate with your dreams. Beat your feelings into captivity. Because when you beat your feelings into captivity, that is what discipline is!”

This sounds like Admiral McRaven, except that it stretches across the spectrum from physical training to the things we face in our everyday world… “Life is filled with circuses. You will fail. You will likely fail often. It will be painful. It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core.”  IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR HOME, YOUR WORKPLACE, YOUR COMMUNITY, AND YOUR WORLD—IF YOU WANT TO BE A H.I.M., don’t be afraid of the circuses!” [Anticipate and expect to do the extra work]

COT:

  • Name-O-RAMA – 23 PAX
  • Announcements: SLT Meeting tonight @ Tequila Real, 6:30 pm; Roving RuckF3st Friday stepping off at Georgetown Circle in the Gloom; Quattro need girls clothing and school supplies for trip to girls orphanage
  • Prayers: Quattro as he’s preparing for mission trip to El Salvador; Cardinal’s M and children and the PAX with Cardinal when he died during the workout.

Honored to stand in for Bunt in his absence, thankful for the opportunity to Q

Chappie, out!

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That’s Not a Hill

Date: 12/08/2022

AO: CHOP, Milton, DE.

QIC: Fireplex

Warm up

SSH – 20 IC

Windmills – 15 IC

Bolt 45’s – 15 squats full up to halfway down, 15 squats halfway down to full down, & 15 squats full motion.  All completed IC as a 4 count.

Hydraulic Squats – 17 IC (6 Count)

Mosey @.5 miles to Holy Hill and took a brief break for the F3Message…see below

The Thang

1st & 10 Routine per the Exicon…Well sort of….:)…..Perform 10 merkins and 1 burpee.  Nur up the hill and run down.  Perform 9 merkins and 2 burpees.  Nur up the hill and run down.  Perform 8 merkins and 3 burpees.  Nur up the hill and run down.  You recognize a pattern developing here.  Rinse and Repeat until you complete 1 merkin and 10 burpees followed by your final Nur up the hill and a run back down.   

Mosey @.5 miles back to CHOP. 

Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust.  Prayers were offered for multiple needs within the attending PAX, but please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.   

F3 Message 12/08/22

REMOVING A MOUNTAIN, MAKING A ROAD – #8714

June 4, 2020

The Ozark Mountains of Arkansas and Missouri are known for their rocks. They make for some hard farming, some beautiful views, and some challenging road building. Like this one stretch of highway from Branson, Missouri, to Springfield, Missouri, that they widened. As you slowed down through those construction zones, there were some pretty impressive changes that were taking place. Some places were nothing but solid-rock mountain, but somehow they managed to blast away at those mountains and they literally made a road where a mountain used to be!

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Removing a Mountain, Making a Road.”

Now if human engineers can do that, don’t you think God can? In fact, God’s mountain-moving ability may be your only hope right now.

Let’s remember the miracle Jesus promised to us, as recorded in our word for today from the Word of God. In Mark 11:23, He says, “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Obviously, it’s not the power of your word that removes mountains; it’s the power of God. The words immediately preceding these dramatic promises are these: “Have faith in God.”

But we have a God who does remove mountains that appear as if they could never be moved – in answer to the faith-believing prayers of His children. This might be one of those times when the only way there’s going to be a road for you is if God blows away the mountain that stands in the way. But you can ask Him, you can trust Him to do just that, within the boundaries of His perfect will of course.

Our mountains don’t usually come in the form of some huge rock formations. For you, what blocks the way might be a person whose heart is hard; whose heart needs a miraculous change. God does those. According to Proverbs 21:1, “The heart of the king is in His hand.” Maybe your mountain is seemingly impossible financial obstacles.

That’s the kind our ministry has faced a number of times, and we were facing that as it became clear that God wanted us to build our own headquarters to better carry out His orders. We didn’t have one dollar in a building fund. We had no reserves and no clear idea of where an amount like that would come from. But in less than a year, there was the headquarters, totally debt-free. There was this mountain, and then by God’s power and grace, there was a road.

Maybe it’s going to take a change of leadership in order for there to be a way, a miraculous recovery, or seemingly impossible breakthroughs. But God does all of those. God’s allowed you to run up against this mountain so you would run to the end of you. All our lives, we underestimate and under trust the God we have. There’s way too much of us and way too little of God. And then there it is – that massive mountain looming in the way, so huge there’s nothing you can do to move it. There’s nothing any human solution can do to move it.

Well, praise God! You what? Yeah, praise God! You’ve just reached the end of you and possibly you are at the beginning of unleashing your Lord as never before. I love the promise in Ephesians 3:20, “He is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine according to the power that works in us.” I call that a 320 in Ephesians 3:20.

Looking at that mountain, you’d have to say, “No way.” But looking at your all-powerful God, don’t you ever say, “No way.” He blows away mountains and makes a road where you could have never dreamed there would be one, and then you know what? He gets all the glory!

Respectfully Submitted,

Fireplex

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Bean 1, Bean 2

DATE: 10/18/22

QIC: Chappie

Kudos to Beeker (Hospital name: Corbin Bean) for getting in his VQ Warm-O-Rama. Great job brother; it was awesome for YHC (Hospital name: Todd Bean) to tag-team with you and get you into the Q rotation.

Here’s how it all went down this Gloom:

WARM-O-RAMA:

Um…yeah, YHC has little recollection of everything we did, but it was well executed and sufficient for getting our heart rates up and warming up the PAX for the following

THE THANG:

Had to start with a Bearcrawl across the freshly resealed parking lot. Boom! After years of complaints by those who have soft and supple hands, it has to be said: That thing is clean. PAX just couldn’t wait to use it!

PAX grouped up in gaggles of 5–couldn’t have planned it better; there were 20 PAX and we needed 4 groups for 4 stations:

  • Station #1: At this station groups had to Prison Break to Willow St, and Mosey back. This was the time-setter station, as after PAX went down a back groups would move to the next station.
  • Station #2: Swerkins AMRAP. How about that? 5 PAX in each group and 5 swings for Swerkins.
  • Station #3: Curb-Stop Leg-lifts AMRAP How about that? 5 PAX in each groups and 5 curb stops for Leg Lifts
  • Station #4: The follow done w/our girl Cindy: Curls AMRAP, Round 1; Overhead Press AMRAP, Round 2; Overhead Squat Press, Round 3.

Back to station #1, Rinse & Repeat AMRAP. PAX rotated through the stations 3x, taking a 3rdF breather mid-way, after which YHC got in the old stand-by Side-Straddle-Hops, then Seal Jacks, before resuming the workout. Somewhere in there we snuck in a Chairman Lap, before closing out with a short round of Mary: 4-Count Freddies – 25 IC, courtesy of YHC, and Superman/Banana, courtesy of Quattro

The following 3rdF shared by our Q, Chappie:

In the year 1519, Hernán Cortéz arrived along the Yucatan Coast off of Veracruz, Mexico with 600 (300?) men and, upon arriving and disembarking their ships, Cortés sounded the order to “burn the ships!” Before moving inland Cortéz destroyed 10 of his 11 ships, cutting off he and his men’s only hope of retreat and leaving them with no option but to conquer.

We can use this as a metaphor today to venture into new territories, to explore the unknown, and to take what we might see as potentially hazardous risks (followers of Christ cannot help but to take faith-filled risks). Sometimes, even when there is uncertainty we must burn the ships, we must lead others to burn the ships. I.e. we need to eliminate the off-ramps in our own lives, or maybe in our workplaces, our churches, our teams, etc., so that we can make certain we’re not avoiding the challenges, and make certain there is no turning back. (That’s a great hymn btw.)

In whatever the case may be the story of burning the ships is as relevant a metaphor as ever; for in many cases if you leave the ships in the harbor, you’re not fully committing to whatever the task, or mission, or vision might be.

We workout at O-Gawd-Thirty just about every morning because it’s part of the physical, mental, and spiritual challenges we’ve accepted. Why? Because F3 workouts increase your ability to be an asset in your home, your workplace, and the communities in which you serve. We do this “fitness, fellowship, and faith” stuff so that we’re more capable physically, mentally, & spiritually to lead our families & solve problems, etc. If we live in accordance with the mantra “burn the ships” it will serve as a metaphor for eliminating the excuses we’re prone to, and the backup plans we usually have in place. “Burn the ships” says the only option is to conquer, the only option is victory, the only option is to succeed! Burn the ships and you will have no other option!

There’s another man who said that. Well, actually, He said it a little differently: In Luke 9:23 Jesus said “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” You know, right after that in vv. 57-61 Jesus actually turned 3 people away, who said they would follow Him wherever He’d go. Each had excuses and Jesus called them out on it: One realized they’d be without a place to lay their heads, another wanted to wait until his after father died, and the third wanted to spend some time at home first. The context tells us they took the off-ramp; it implies they turned back instead of following Jesus. Then in v. 62 Jesus said, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Gentlemen, HIM put their hand to the plow and never look back! (Ask the farmers…)

HIM take up their cross daily and follow Jesus.

Gentlemen, HIM “burn the ships!” Excuses are not an option.

YHC is always grateful for the opportunity to lead at @f3firststate. We have more and more PAX being added to the Q list (men are stepping up), so opportunities are becoming more sparse–a good problem to have! Hey, that’s what we’re about…planting, growing, and serving.

COT:

  • Announcements: Shirt order down to last day, 10/19 at midnight. 2.0 Workout this Saturday at the Aegis AO.
  • Prayers: Semi’s 2.0 traveling back to college; Quattro’s family fighting “the big green monster”; Fireplex’s Dad; and Ruxpin’s M; etc.
  • BOM

Chappie, out!

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We kept running and running

QIC had his chance to bring it on this beautiful Gloom for the 1st time in a few months. IT was a great morning and thank you to all the HIM thgt made it out.

Warm o Rama

20 ssh

20 cherry pickers

15 windmills

The Thang

  • Mosey over to HOB front parking lot for a little bit of Running

10 burpees 1 lap

10 burpees 20 merkins 1 lap

10 burpees 20 merkins 30 Bobby Hurleys 1 lap

Insert 3rd F message here details below

10,20, 30, 40 squats, 50 LBC 1 lap

Return back to AO for COT Announcements and prayer requests

3rd f message

QIC GUMP announced that last week he and his M celebrated their 20th anniversary. There is no real secret to the success in this endeavor. Basic Biblical principals have led to years of success in our marriage. Beginning with forgiveness. QIC shared that 26 years ago his father found out that his mother was cheating on him and in a jealous rage turned a gun on his family and shot us. Years later, and a restored relationship with his dad, QIC gump needed some advice and asked his dad what he would have done differently, other than not picking up a gun of course. His father replied, ” I would have forgiven her and let her go in hopes that she would return”. With this said every successful relationship needs a foundation in Christ. Both partners need to practice forgiveness, and grace in order for the relationship to work and mature, and once you get thru the tough times the relationship is stronger than ever. Here are a few scriptures I found to back up my message:

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;

bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

Colossians 3:12- 13

Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.

Colossians 3:19

Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was

brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and

came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

Matthew 18:21-35

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Dirty Mac Deuce

QIC Chattahoochee

21 PAX posted at the CHOP on 15 Sept. 2022 for a little fun in the gloom.

Warm-up 30SSH, 20 CHERRY PICKERS,15 TOY SOLDIERS and 15 Windmills all IC

The Thang consisted of a mosey out the rear entrance and around to the front meeting back in the center of parking lot for 12 reps of 3 excercises most in cadence

12 merkins, 12 squats, 12 hello dollys

repeat mosey

12 diamond merkins, Bobby Hurleys, 12 dying cockroaches

repeat mosey

12 wide merkins, 12 lunges, 12 american hammers

reapet mosey

12 squat burpees, 12 monkey humpers, 12 flutter kicks

repeat mosey

12 ranger merkins, 12 reverse lunges, 12 box cutters

repeat mosey

12 dirty hookups on wall of pain

plank in front of wall left hand to wall right hand to wall left hand to ground right hand to ground is 1

Number-Rama

name-o-rama

COT

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Being the person I ought to be

Warm-up
• The SSH – 20 IC 4
• Mountain Man Pooper 15 – IC
• Hairy Rocketts – 20 IC
• Imperial Squat Walker – 20 IC
• Moroccan Night Club 40 – IC
• Low Lateral Skater – 10 IC
• Burpees – 10 OYO

The Thang:
Mosey to HOB
• Burpees – 10 OYO
• Lt. Dan to first light pole, NUR to pick up the six until everyone finishes
• Mosey to next pole
• High knees
• Butt kickers
• Carioca
• Mosey
• Jail break
Circular Bench on playground
• Burpees – 10 OYO
• Balance lunges – 25 each leg
• Plyo Merkins – 25
• Mosey aroung playground
• The American Hammer – 26 IC
• Burpees – 10 OYO
3rd F: Being the person I ought to be
• Single leg squats – 10 each leg
• Dips – 50
• Burpees – 10 OYO
Mosey to CHOP
• Number-rama
• Name-a-rama
• COT


Message: Excerpt from Bob Richards A Heart of a Champion book
Being the person I ought to be

We need a method, a technique, a means to help us accomplish our goal. People want to be great, they want to be successful, they want to accomplish great things, but the tragedy is that they stress what they want to be so much more that they forget the how technique. You’ve got to go out on the field and hurt, and take the bruises, the bumps. The sports world is a realistic world of tough competition. You’ve got to analyze yourself, recognize your weaknesses and work on them. Some of the greatest stories are stories where men have recognized their weaknesses, dealt positively with them, overcome them and gone on to tremendous heights.

You’ve got to welcome competition. There is a tendency within us to level off, to accept a certain standard as being good enough. The idea of competition is being criticized today, but you cannot escape it, you cannot avoid it, it is indispensable to progress. Competition is someone setting a standard for you that you ought to set for yourself; it is that outside stimulus or impetus that forces you to set your own standards higher and to achieve a higher mark. It pulls out the best there is in a man and the best in those around him. Competition forces you to re-evaluate your own ability, to set your standards higher, to lift your horizons so that you can accomplish greater things. If anyone is going to become great in life he has to welcome competition. Most people do not compete enough, they give up too easily. You need to be willing to put out a little more. The more I watch great men, the more I see the processes by which men achieve their goals, the more I am convinced that it is the willingness to put out just a little bit more that makes the difference. There isn’t a gigantic difference between victory and defeat, it is usually by the smallest margin. It’s that extra chin-up everyday and that extra push up, its that extra lap around the track, that extra 5 minutes a person puts into his workout, into his schoolwork or into his home life or business that makes the difference in his life. In the good creative things, you need to put out a little more, and in the negative things that tear you down, you’ve got to be willing to indulge a little bit less. This is what makes greatness in living.



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Bombjacks, Blimps & A Crap Load of Burpees

Date: 08/04/2022

AO: CHOP, Milton, DE

QIC: Fireplex

Warm up

SSH – 20 IC

Burpees – 10 OYO

Cherry Pickers – 20 IC

Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down.  15 squats halfway to full down.  15 full squats.

Jiminy Crickets – 10 OYO

Windmills – 20 IC

The Thang

Pax completed the Hindenburg BLIMPS routine from the Exicon at the CHOP.  We modified the sprint portion to a straight line across the CHOP Parking lot approx. .02 miles apart.  Sprint from the Church to the field behind CHOP and perform 1st exercise, sprint back to Church and perform 1st exercise, sprint back to the field and perform 1st exercise.  Sprint back to the Church and perform 1st exercise.  Plank it up until all PAX are in.  That completes one round.  Rinse and repeat for the remaining exercises as identified.  Round #1 – 10 Burpees. Round #2 – 20 Lunges (10 each leg).  Round #3 – 30 Imperial Walkers.  Round #4 – 40 Merkins.  Round #5 – 50 Plank Jacks.  Round #6 – 60 Squats.

F3 message –The 3rd F was shared after completing round #4.  See Below….  

PAX finished the beat down strong with more burpees OYO & AMRAP.

Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust.  Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.    

F3 Message 08/04/22

THE TROUBLE WITH SELFIES

January 9, 2017

Jim cracked me up with the story he told in his recent family newsletter.

He and his honey were enjoying some personal time at the Atlantic Ocean. Which is really big. Jim decided to take a picture of himself and the ocean. Which is really big.

Later, he made a disturbing discovery – which he reported this way. “I think I missed the ocean!”

Which is really big.

Oh, he’s in the picture, all right. But the Atlantic is nowhere to be seen.

Now how can a smart guy miss something as big and beautiful as the ocean?

By totally focusing on himself.

I’ve made that mistake. Missing the big thing because I was so focused on myself. I suspect I’m not alone.

When we’re hurting…when we’re grieving…when we’re grappling with a big problem – we tend to go inward and become all about ourselves.

We miss the person we married because we’re so focused on our frustrations with them. Before we married them, we magnified what we loved and minimized what bothered us. Now we’re all about our frustrations with them, forgetting all we loved about them.

So it’s selfie time. All about me. Losing sight of the one we once could not live without. So we stop loving like we did, and they start responding to the change.

We can miss our kids the same way. By dwelling on how they’re disappointing us, defying us, distancing themselves from us. So we’re sucked into a cycle of seeing – and talking about – only what they need to change. Not seeing – and talking about – the big picture of their strengths and their potential. We focus the lens on our hurt and fear and frustration – and miss the big stuff. The masterpiece God made and entrusted to us.

I know how much my picture can become a selfie when I’m going through a hurting time. Pain tends to make us selfish. Self-centered. Self-pitying. All those nasty self words.

But my Bible tells me that there’s always something bigger going on than the immediate situation. “All things work together for good to those who love God,” it says (Romans 8:28). And it quotes God as saying, “I know the plans I have for you, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

There’s a Big Plan. For my good. But I’ll miss the big and beautiful part if all I focus on is my pain.

When my precious Karen was suddenly gone last May, my natural tendency was to be all about me – my grief, my life without her, my future.

But, thankfully, God quickly rescued me from my selfie. And began to show me what I could become through this greatest heartbreak of my life. I can honestly say my heart is more open than it’s ever been – open to God’s voice, open to letting my journey help others on their journey, open to the broken and breaking hearts all around me.

What’s scary is that our “selfie” focus can actually cause us to miss the biggest and most beautiful sight of all.

The God who made us.

We so want to have life our way that we live as if we’ve dethroned Him from the throne of our life. In the Bible’s words, “Each of us has turned to His own way” (Isaiah 53:6). And those “God, You run the universe, but I’ll run me” choices have “separated you from your God” (Isaiah 59:2).

All about me. Missing the God who’s the reason we’re here. Whose love we’re made for. Who thought we were worth sending His Son to die for.

The Ocean is right there, within my sight. Unless I’m blocking the view.

Respectfully Submitted,

Fireplex

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Burp to School Bash

Date: 8/2/22

QIC: Chappie

YHC took liberties to request being today’s Q for two reasons: 1) He wanted to jump start August’s Burp to School Challenge, and 2) He wanted to bring in his double-nickel birthday by serving up a stout offering of Burpees. However, not to be out-done Wildwing chimed in for his first “Triple Respect.” The guy is amazing! He’s been posting with a busted up ankle and a newly fused back that resulted from a head on collision in which he lost the love of his life (5/29/22). Tclaps and prayers, brother.

So here’s how it all went down:

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH – 10 IC
  • Crab Flipper – 10 IC
  • Windmill – 15 IC
  • Lanco Special – 10 IC
  • Merkins – 55 OYO

To-Go Order: The rest of Warm-O-Rama was done on the way to H.O.B. Elementary. Since our mouths were full of water, the trick was to watch the Q and do what he was doing since YHC could not talk with his mouth full (that’s what mama said). On the way YHC led with Mosey, Nur, Butt Kickers, Karaoke one way, Karaoke the other, Mosey, High Knees, Toy Soldiers and Mosey. Those who reached the destination with water still in their mouth were awarded with 18 Burpees (freebies for PAX to withdraw from their August Burpee account). Shout out to all the victors, especially to Fireplex for the first-time win! Here’s a glimpse at what August will look like for F3 First State…

And now…

THE THANG:

After winning PAX did their 18 Burpees, YHC shared his 3rdF message (see below). Then PAX paired up and did the infamous “Burp Back Mountain” on the side hill of the storm pond: Partner 1 runs to the bottom then Nurs back to the top, while Partner 2 is doing Burpees. Rinse and Repeat until all PAX pairs reach a cumulative 100 Burpees. Keep moving; as the sign said, “No Stopping, No Standing, No Parking. (To this point PAX potentially completed a total 68 Burpees.)

Wosey to the school entrance. Mosey back to the AO.

Once back the PAX took to the parking lot lines for Line Dance Burpees: Did 5 Burpees, jumping across the line between each rep. 2 Rounds of 5 (5-5) totaling 10 Burpees. Shout out to all the PAX who brought school supplies; keep up the good work men!

Total Burpees on the day = 83. PAX get to withdraw the amount equivalent to the school supplies they brought. The 2nd Annual Burp to School Challenge is on!

The Shirt Says It All

That’s a wrap! PAX circled up…

COT:

  • Number-Rama : 19 PAX (including FNG Blue Box)
  • Name-O-Rama
  • Announcements/Prayers: Prayers for Fireplex’s dad, battling cancer; for Blockbuster, facing a big test today referred to as “the widow maker.”
  • YHC stood in for Semi today to transfer the CHOP shovel-flag today to new Site-Q Whirlybird. Welcome to the leadership circle, brother! And Tclaps to Semi for doing a great job as Site-Q and planting the shovel-flag for the last 2 years. Thanks brother!
New Site-Q Whirlybird (r)

Always a privilege to Q, especially when celebrating a berfday AND when launching the 2nd annual Burp to School Challenge. Great Coffeeteria followed as YHC’s M threw down with some of the best coffee cake on the planet!!

Chappie, out!

For today’s 3rdF, see the following…

Shared Pain Builds Trust (DREDD, Q Source, 137)

“About my 3rd week of Ranger School the instructors marched us to a pond in the outback of Ft. Benning. There in the water was a narrow ladder that ascended 40′ to a 4×4 Plank that spanned 40′ above and across the pond. The idea was to climb the ladder, walk the Plank and drop from the rope into the water, which was nasty and cold. There was no safety line–if you fell, you fell. It was dirty and dangerous. And, although it would’ve been an easy thing to do were it only 5′ off the ground, walking that forty feet of Plank forty feet above the water was one of the most difficult things I had ever done at that point in my life. It only took about 2 minutes to walk that Plank, but it felt like two hours.

In truth, I didn’t want to do it. I’m certain that very few of my fellow Ranger School students wanted to do it either. And some men, maybe 5%, didn’t do it. They wanted to graduate from Ranger School just as much as the rest of us, but something within them just would not let them climb that ladder, walk that plank and drop into that water. The stress was too much.

But the others, the ones who were able to overcome the dirt, danger, and difficulty, we learned something about ourselves and each other that dramatically strengthened the TRUST between us. It only took 2 minutes, but such is the power of dirty, dangerous, and difficult things to bond men together. Shared pain builds trust.

F3 has an acronym for the dirty, dangerous, and difficult things we do to build Trust. We call them CSAUPS, which stands for…. This satirical on our part because a CSAUP is neither stupid nor pointless, it is a very efficient way to share pain. A CSAUP can be an obstacle race, a GORUCK challenge, or a GROWRUCK weekend or anything else that provides the opportunity for dirt, danger, and difficulty. Completing it together tells the participants something about themselves and each other–that they are men upon whom others may safely rely. The nature of the event is not important. What matters is that the Q uses the CSAUP to apply stress to his Team to build the Trust-relationship between its members.”

YHC’s addition: I’ve never been one of those who teaches that if you just accept Jesus, your life will be perfect. The Scriptures say too much about suffering to think that way.

1 Peter 1:6-7 say, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Though this month’s Burp to School Challenge may seem Completely Stupid And Utterly Pointless it is neither stupid nor pointless: It’s a way for F3 First State to share pain AND to do something good in the midst of it (provide school supplies)…plus, we’ll all get stronger.

Spur:

  • Trust is an essential element of shared leadership
  • Stress testing build reliance
  • Shared pain builds trust.
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Aiming for the Top

Warm-up
• The Happy Jack – 4 IC 4 rounds
• Mountain Man Pooper 20 – IC
• Hairy Rocketts 20 – IC
• Moroccan Night Club 40 – IC
• Low Lateral Skater – 10 IC

The Thang:
Mosey around the block stop on grass opposite of the church
• The Pump Jack – partner up one partner does 5 merkins the other holds plank switch and complete until failure, then walking lunge around group until the final group fails.
• Heels to Heaven – 25IC
• Flutter Kicks – 25 IC
Mosey to AO
• The Sketch – 10 IC
• Rockett Dips – 50 OYO
• Squat Walk Rocketts parking line to parking line
• Toy soldier set 50, 25, 15
3rd F: Aiming for the Top
Chairman Lap
• Diamond Merkins – 10 IC
• Iron Mike – 10 IC
• The American Hammer – 30 IC
• Number-rama
• Name-a-rama
• COT


Message: Excerpt from Bob Richards A Heart of a Champion book
Aiming for the Top

Why do they keep aiming for the top, taxing their bodies, minds and spirits to the ultimate? Why do men try to accomplish the impossible, risking life and limb itself in order to attain peaks? Man is endowed with an instinctive impulse to get to the top. Many people tell me that the only reason businessmen work is for money. I don’t believe it. I think many of them are trying to accomplish something tremendous with their lives. The scientific mind keeps reaching out, grasping for new ideas in a continuing search for new truths. Deep in the heart of every person are great goals that he wants to accomplish. In some people it is a burning desire, an obsession. Man cannot be content, no matter how high he has gone he wants to go higher, no matter how much distance he has traveled he wants to go longer, no matter how fast he has gone he wants to go faster.

Qualities to reach the top
Self-control
Most of the great champions in the world learn to hold their emotions in check; they have a certain amount of emotional stability. At least 50% of success depends on the mind; what you think, your goals, your faith, your determination, and the creative imagination of your mind.

Every problem that man has could be solved if only man would think. You’ve got to aim for the top. Many people limit themselves by the failure to comprehend what they could really do. They had a little goal they wanted to accomplish, but it wasn’t really big enough to challenge them, nor great enough to pull out the deepest within them. You never know what potential you’ve got within you until you reach out for the highest.

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