Gump

Abicides

, , , , , , , , , , , , , / Leave a Comment / CHOP, Milton, DE / By

QIC: Chappie

DATE: 03/10/20

14 HIM beat the lag from the new hours of Daylight Savings Time and posted at CHOP in Milton, DE for some ab work. Plus, the PAX got in their fair share of Merkins for March Merkin Madness (actually only 147 total).

WARM-O-RAMA: (Intended for Phyfe but he couldn’t make it because of working the Blue Light Special today – no worries, we’ll get him on the schedule again.)

  • SSH – 18 IC
  • Swartzjack – 18 IC
  • Smurfjack – 18 IC
  • Plankjack – 18 IC
  • Crabflippers – 18 IC

THE THANG:

PAX lined up single file at the edge of the field which had 6 cones lined up evenly from one end of the field to the other (lit up with chem-lights – you gotta admit it was cool looking!)

  • RR Tracks to the far cone (approx. 175 yards)
  • Cone #1 – COP Hello Dolly – 50 IC (…and the mumble chatter begins)
  • Mosey to parking lot – 6 Merkins OYO
  • First 3 guys back to lot had to grab a Restrictor Plate (Sandbag)
  • Mosey out to Cone #2 – COP X’s & O’s – 18 OYO
  • Mosey to parking lot – 12 Merkins OYO (from here on Restrictor Plates were voluntary, at least for the most part. Well, see what happened was…instead of mumble chatter there was some “mumble yelling” by the enforcer, Leatherman, to get everyone to step up and shoulder 1 of the 3 sandbags (i.e. some guys appeared to be bypassing the bags)
  • Mosey out to Cone #3 – COP 4-Count Freddies – 25 IC
  • Mosey to parking lot – 18 Merkins OYO
  • Mosey out to Cone #4 – COP Box Cutters – 30 IC
  • Mosey to parking lot – 24 Merkins OYO
  • Mosey to Cone #5 – COP Dying Cockroaches – 30 IC
  • Mosey to parking lot – 30 Merkins OYO
  • Mosey to Cone #6 – COP American Hammers – 30 IC

This is how it went…back and forth like suicides, only for abs instead.

PAX circled up for 3rdF:

One of the more popular Bible verses referred to in F3 circles is Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

Most of us have shared that verse as part of a 3rdF, and if not, all of us have at least heard it because it’s been shared regularly.

Iron sharpening iron is a pretty simple concept. We all get it—I think that’s why its included in the Book of Proverbs—its masculine practicality speaks to the hearts of all men!

I’m referring to it today in terms of the leadership principle/practice of ACCOUNTABILITY. By very definition, without accountability there’s no iron sharpening iron. Having no accountability makes you about as useful as the file hanging by itself on a hook in my shed. (P.S. – proper use is critical!)

The question I want to pose is this: In an age when there is so little accountability (i.e. men refuse accountability) do you have someone to whom you’ve MADE YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE—willingly? I’m not talking about your workplace, where you’re subordinate to a supervisor or to someone who holds your paycheck. But I’m talking about a brother in the Lord, a brother in this circle, or another man, who, in any given circumstance can not only encourage you but call into question a decision, a motive, a response, a reaction, or a path you’ve taken? Have you made your heart receptive to the counsel of someone who might even wound you so that you’ll continue to grow and mature as a man, a husband, a father, and friend? Earlier, Proverbs 27 also says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend…” (27:6). If you don’t have that other piece of iron in your life (I think Mr. T’s words might be for you: “I pity the fool!)

The term ACCOUNTABILITY as its defined in our F3 lexicon is: “Submitting to a standard through enforcement and consequence. To practice Accountability, there must be a STANDARD (and objective measure of performance or behavior…p.s., you’re NOT it!), ENFORCEMENT (an external force to apply that Standard), and CONSEQUENCE (the result of the Enforcement of the Standard). This is certainly a larger definition by context than just a friendship with a brother from another mother, yet it still applies to iron sharpening iron.

That verse means that when iron is rubbed against another piece of iron it SHAPES and SHARPENS it. Similarly, we as men, can help each other become better by our discussions, criticisms, suggestions, ideas, and accountability. As HIM we should not only provide that kind of influence, whether good or bad, but we MUST welcome it as well!

The verse implies both the pleasure and advantage of accountability. Accountability means you have wise and profitable discourses by which you sharpen and are sharpened. I.e. something is added—you are filed, made smooth, or are given a good edge by accountability with another High Impact Man (HIM)…or other High Impact Men (plural). One last question: Do you have the MORAL COURAGE to make decisions for which you will be held accountable?

(Sources: QSOURCE by DREDD, F3nation.com Lexicon, & TBKC)

THE THANG #2:

PAX moved to the wall for a short game of Merkin Dice. PAX took turns rolling the BIG dice to determine the number of Merkins to be done between 10-Count BTTW’s. It went a little something like this:

  • Roll #1 – 10 reps
  • BTTW – 10 Count
  • Hand Release Merkins – 10 OYO
  • Roll #2 – 5 reps
  • BTTW – 10 Count
  • Tempo Merkins – 5 IC
  • Roll #3 – 6 reps
  • BTTW – 10 Count, courtesy of Leatherman. Recount courtesy of Doubtfire
  • Prison Cell Merkins – 6 OYO

Times up…and good thing because somebody’s pain was starting to become “special.” Lol. Plus, PAX had to have time to name our FNG>

COT/BOM:

  • Number-Rama
  • Name-O-Rama
  • Naming of FNG – Welcome FNG Jeff Chorman, now known in F3 circles as Woodstock
  • Announcements:
    • Softball games Saturday in Milton to raise support for Delaware Food Bank: Bring your non-perishable food items to the ball fields (Suggestion: You could ruck them to the ball fields.)
    • 2nd Annual Shamruck: Family Ruck this Sunday (3/15). Stepping off from the Big Lot’s parking lot in Milford at 3:17 p.m. Rucking 1 mile to McDonald’s for Shamrock Shakes. Rucking 1 mile to return to parking. Bring a ruck (40 lbs if you weigh over 150, 20 lbs if you weigh under 150. If the kids can’t ruck pull ’em in a wagon, bring friends, etc. Let’s just enjoy some time together under ruck and having some quality 2ndF and giving our families the opportunity to get to know one another.
  • Prayers: Stafford Family, effected by cancer. Family of Trion’s M’s uncle, Roger. YHC’s friend, undergoing brain tumor removal tomorrow. Other PAX’s families battling for the marriages, etc. P.S. – don’t forget to pray for Quattro, who is sick.

Grateful for the beautiful weather and the amazing full moon to workout under. More than anything, YHC is grateful for the HIM who posted and the accountability that is available (for all who are willing) through this special esprit de corps among F3 brothers. Thanks for posting men!

~ Chappie, out!

Super 21 Cycle

, , , , , , / Leave a Comment / Aegis, DE, Georgetown / By

Date: 02/15/2020

AO: Aegis, Georgetown, DE

QIC: Fireplex

Warm up

SSH – 30 IC

Cherry Pickers – 15 IC

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

Windmills – 15 IC

Dips – 30 IC

Mosey to Ball Park @.5 miles.

The Thang

The Super 21 Cycle.  1 Merkin to 1 Big Boy Sit up.  2 Merkins to 2 Big Boy Situps.  3 Merkins to 3 Big Boy Situps, etc., etc., etc.  But wait there is a twist….after each completed set of #1 though #5, PAX will complete 21 Imperial Walkers.  Bear Crawl to 1st base.  After each completed set of #6 through #10, PAX will complete 21 Mountain Climbers.  Bear Crawl to 2nd base.  After each completed set of # 11 through #15, PAX will complete 21 Monkey Humpers.  Bear crawl to 3rd base.  After each completed set of #16 through #20, PAX will complete 21 Prisoner Squats.  Bear Crawl to Homeplate and PAX will complete the final set of #21 Merkins to #21 Big Boys, then finish strong with 21 Burpees. Q took a break for the 3rd F after all PAX completed the 2nd base exercise set. See below for the word provided from Ron Hutchcraft Ministries.

Mosey back to Aegis @ .5 miles.

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

F3 Message 02/15/2020 – From Ron Hutchcraft Ministries #7641 – 04/25/16

HOW TO BUILD A LOVE THAT LASTS A LIFETIME – #7641

Monday, April 25, 2016

Valentine’s Day! That’s the season when all of us think about the love we found, or the love we lost, or the love we’re looking for. And, man, people are looking! Did you know there are over 5,000 dating websites, including Match.com, OKCupid, along with SeniorPeopleMeet, Farmers Only and DateACowboy.com?

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “How to Build a Love that Lasts a Lifetime.”

Love is where we place our greatest hopes. It’s where we experience our greatest fears and our greatest hurts, and make our greatest mistakes. It’s a treasure, for sure, but it’s a fragile treasure. Like a fragile plant, love has to be watered and protected with some basic love-nurturing steps.

Let me give you some. First of all, handing out goodies – emotional goodies that is. Love thrives on affirmation, encouragement, compliments, praise, “atta-boys.” But love is torn down by critical words, angry words, sarcastic words; on our lips momentarily, in their memory forever. The Bible so wisely says, “The tongue has the power of life and death” and “reckless words pierce like a sword” (Proverbs 18:21; 12:18).

That’s why the Bible’s challenge to “encourage one another daily” (Hebrews 3:13) is glue for a love that lasts. Because everybody needs a cheerleader, and all of us need to be one.

Secondly, unpack your suitcase; the suitcase where we carry the junk from our past into the present. The abuse. The betrayal. The neglect. The injustice. And the anger and negativity and bitterness that go with it. Unless we face it, we can’t fix it. And if we don’t fix it, we’ll spread it. The poison will spill into lives that don’t even deserve it. And they will poison love.

That’s why God tells us in Hebrews 12:15, “See to it that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” If we harbor resentment and unforgiveness, it’s just going to keep growing into a monster that invades every close relationship.

Unpacking this suitcase we’ve carried so long has a name. It’s called forgiving, which sometimes seems like humanly impossible. But it’s not supernaturally impossible, because the One who forgave His crucifiers will download His forgiveness into any struggling heart and He’ll pour His healing into every broken heart.

Thirdly, relinquish the wheel, because controlling people hardens their heart and pushes them away. Control freaks are fixers. We’re always trying to fix and change what we love. But when you hold onto something too tightly, you crush it – including love.

I’ve found a lot of freedom in five words John the Baptist spoke long ago, “I am not the Messiah.” When you realize that it’s your job to love people and it’s God’s job to change them, you can experience the wonderful freedom of releasing what you’ve been controlling.

I guess most importantly, to build a love that lasts a lifetime, anchor your heart. See, there’s a problem with love. It’s “loseable.” Betrayal. Divorce. Death. No human love can truly anchor a human heart, a lonely heart. So how can that aching hole in our hearts ever be filled? How can we finally know that we’re safe in a love we can’t lose?

Our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 8:39, “Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That’s God’s ironclad guarantee to every person who belongs to His Son, who proved His love in blood poured out on a cross for the very sins you’ve done against Him.

This is love that comes looking for us all the way from heaven to the cross. And He’s come looking for you today through our time together. So, let today be the day to let His love in. Let Jesus in and say, “Jesus, the life you died for, that you paid for with your life is yours beginning today. I am yours.”

Our website is to help you get there – ANewStory.com. Would you go there? The love of a lifetime is within your reach right now.

1 Corinthians 13 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Greatest Gift

13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,[a]but have not love, it profits me nothing.

4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Respectfully Submitted,

Fireplex

21’s & 4 Years

, , , , / Leave a Comment / Milford, The Grit Mill / By

DATE: 02/13/20

QIC: Chappie

The Grit Mill was 5 solid this morning with HIM who won THAT FIRST BATTLE by overcoming the fartsack, dropped the DRP, and posted in some soggy weather. It was a celebration beatdown at the hands of YHC for a 4-year “Manniversary.” (Details will follow in the 3rdF below…read on!)

WARM-O-RAMA:

If you don’t know Jack, you do now…

  • SSH (a.k.a. – Jumping Jacks) – 18 IC
  • Smurfjacks – 18 IC
  • Swartzjacks – 20 IC (forgot to stop at 18!)
  • Plankjacks – 18 IC
  • Splitjacks – 18 IC
  • Sealjacks – 18 IC
  • Sorry Fireplex…no Crabjacks.

Mosey to Arena’s parking with 2 sandbags being swapped between PAX along the way. Here’s a freebie: YHC explained along the way that parking at the Milford Senior center was completely filled last night, as were surrounding streets, and the entire lot at Arenas. YHC had to park a block-and-a-half away to get to the NRA-ILA meeting held at the Senior Center–proud that it was very well attended!

Upon arriving at the Arena’s parking lot (now all but empty) YHC explained the concept of “21’s”. At one end of the lot PAX would perform 20 Merkins, at the other end PAX would do 1 Gas Pumper. Rinse and repeat all the way down to 1 Merkin and 20 Gas Pumpers.

  • EXTRA RULE: PAX could not pass a sandbag. If a bag is free carry it to the other end of the lot. If you carried one there, you didn’t have to pick one up. Good tool to extend the suck a little. Here’s what it looks like on paper:
  • 20 Merkins – mosey to other end of lot – 1 Gas Pumper
    • mosey back picking up sandbag…
  • 19 Merkins ………….2 Gas Pumpers
  • 18 Merkins…………..3 Gas Pumpers
  • 17 Merkins…………..4 Gas Pumpers
  • 16 Merkins…………..5 Gas Pumpers
  • So on and so forth to we got to…
  • 1 Merkin…………….20 Gas Pumpers
  • When PAX got to 10 Merkins and 11 Gas Pumpers YHC called for a breather to share the following 3rdF about his Manniversary:

3rdF:

Four years ago I walked onto the parking lot at an AO called “The Dragon.” It was the parking lot of the York Comprehensive High School near where I lived in SC, and I’d showed up for my first F3 workout, after being EH’d by my buddy Wade — whom I would come to know by his newly minted F3 nickname, Nunchuk.

Wade had called me after his first workout and said, “You gotta come check this out!” He told me, “It’s a military style bootcamp workout. They do a lot of the exercises in cadence, etc. and it’s a great group of guys.” He was actually EH’ing me. Though I didn’t know it then, I would come to learn that an EH is called an Emotional Headlock. If you want to see F3 grow right here in Milford, the most effective way to make that happen is for you to make contact with other guys you know and invite them personally.

So anyway, I posted with my buddy Nunchuk and I was hooked! And it’s true: The fitness brings men out, but the fellowship is the glue that keeps them coming back.

That first time I was lost! I was familiar with exercising in cadence because I had served for nearly 12-years in the Army National Guard, but a lot of the exercises/names really threw me off (for instance, the Imperial Walker), so I spent a lot of time watching guys next to me in the COP’s.

That first day after the warmup, our Q ran us around to the other side of the high school where in a long alley-like concrete stretch between two wings of the high school we did 21’s!. It was tough! I wasn’t out of shape but I certainly wasn’t in shape either. In fact, I never finished the 21’s that day because the Q finally moved us on to something else. Thank God! I was gassed! Yet I was invigorated at the same time.

Here’s the thing that got me: The whole time guys were running past me going in the same or the opposite direction, they kept encouraging me by saying things like, “You got this! Good job! Keep it up! DFQ! Hang tough.” I knew in that moment I’d found a special brotherhood because they demonstrated that they’d never leave anyone behind. I’d found out they called it “picking up the 6.” That Saturday…I WAS THE SIX!”

Somewhere mid-workout the Q circled us up and shared a brief devotional message. Then he shared a little bit more about F3 mission, which is: “To plant, grow, and serve small workout groups of men for the invigoration of male community leadership.” Every aspect of what I was experiencing was exactly what I was looking for as a man! The physical fitness, the camaraderie with other men who are striving to be a better men and better leaders at home, in the workplace, and in the communities in which they serve, and the opportunity to lock shields and be strengthened and sharpen one-another in our faith “as iron sharpens iron” (Prov 27:17). And the Coffeeteria that followed was as awesome with about 10-12 guys.

So this week marks my 4 year manniversary! I’d only been in F3 for 4.5 months before I’d move here to Delaware, but for that period F3 became such a part of my life that I knew I had to bring it to Delaware where it didn’t exist yet. The group of guys I was leaving behind threw me and my wife a going away party, at which time they also gave me a shovel-flag and said, “Go plant that thing in Delaware!”

Here we are 3.5 years later, with 4 AO’s and a day dedicated to rucking: Roving RuckF3st Friday. F3 First State has touched the lives of more than 50 guys so far, we are seeing nearly 20 guys working out regularly, and we’re growing because HIM like yourselves continue to value the fitness, fellowship, and faith. We’re growing because HIM like you continue to own the mission by striving to be better leaders at home, in your workplaces, and in the communities in which you serve. F3 First State exists because of HIM like each of you! So keep up the good work! DFQ! Keep EH’ing guys around you, not necessarily so that F3 First State will grow (it will), but because you know that through F3, MEN will grow and become better leaders. “Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you found him!” LET’S KEEP PLANTING, GROWING, AND SERVING, MEN!

After the 3rd F, PAX got back to it and continued 21’s through to 1 Merkin and 20 Gas Pumpers.

Mosey’d back to the AO.

COUNT-O-RAMA

NAME-O-RAMA

BOM/COP:

Announcements: Annual “Shamruck” will take place on Sunday Afternoon. March 16. Details to follow but this is a family ruck to a nearby McDonald’s to get Shamrock shakes for St. Patty’s Day.

Prayers: PAX circled up and prayed for Chairman, Doubtfire, and Chauffeur and their “home fires”… Prayers also for Leatherman and for everyone else to stay healthy.

YHC appreciates all the PAX who posted in the sogginess of this Gloom; humbled by the opportunity to lead! Thanks men!

~Chappie, out

P.S. – Following the workout, YHC did Eh the Milford Police Officer who was observing our workout from across the street. He took a few cards to share with his peers, said he was watching us, and that it sounds good!

For the Love of Abs

, , , , / Leave a Comment / Primis / By

F3 Lewes 2/12/2020

QIC- GUMP

Warm-o-Rama

  • 20 ssh
  • 20 crab flippers
  • Grady Corn-Four-count exercise that begins in a standing position with your arms together, straight out in front of you. Swing your arms back to a “T” formation, then over your head to form a triangle, then back down to a “T”, and then back to the starting position.

The Thang

  • Hurricane Hoedown Flutter kick circuit performed in cadence: 7 IC Seated Flutter Kicks with hands raised in Hallelujahs. Move immediately to hands behind you. 7 IC slightly reclined flutterkicks. Move immediately to 7 IC normal flutter kicks. Move immediately to 7 IC LBC Flutter kicks. Rinse and repeat as needed. The real crowd pleaser is to work your way down the cadence ladder 7,6,5..
  • Bear Crawl 1-2-3 Partner up, perform 100 flutterkicks (50 each) 200 American hammers (100 each) 300 lbc (150 each) as a team. While Partner 1 is doing the 1-2-3, Partner 2 Bear Crawls across tennis courts and crawl bears back then they switch as an added bonus QIC Gump added a #40 GORUCK sandbag to the mix and one person who stayed back to do the ab exercises had to perform the exercise with the sandbag. Once the partner returned the partner used the sandbag, then we gave the sandbag to the other group and continued swapping the sandbag until we were all completed with the exercise

F3 Message:

  •   Valentine’s Day, also called St. Valentine’s Day, when lovers express their affection with greetings and gifts. The holiday has origins in the Roman festival of Lupercalia, held in mid-February. The festival, which celebrated the coming of spring, included fertility rites and the pairing off of women with men by lottery. At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I replaced Lupercalia with St. Valentine’s Day. It came to be celebrated as a day of romance from about the 14th century. Although there were several Christian martyrs named Valentine, the day may have taken its name from a priest who was martyred about 270 CE by the emperor Claudius II Gothicus. According to legend, the priest signed a letter “from your Valentine” to his jailer’s daughter, whom he had befriended and, by some accounts, healed from blindness. Other accounts hold that it was St. Valentine of Terni, a bishop, for whom the holiday was named, though it is possible the two saints were actually one person. Another common legend states that St. Valentine defied the emperor’s orders and secretly married couples to spare the husbands from war. It is for this reason that his feast day is associated with love. Formal messages, or valentines, appeared in the 1500s, and by the late 1700s commercially printed cards were being used. The first commercial valentines in the United Stateswere printed in the mid-1800s. Valentines commonly depict Cupid, the Roman god of love, along with hearts, traditionally the seat of emotion. Because it was thought that the avian mating season begins in mid-February, birds also became a symbol of the day.

The Bible tells us all that we need to know about love, I pulled just a few scriptures that tell us about Christian Love.

  • Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the  gift  of  prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the  poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there  are prophecies, they will fail; whether there  are tongues, they will cease; whether there  is knowledge, it will vanish away.
  • I Corinthians 13:1-8

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, Ephesians 5:25 NKJV

Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 22:37-40 NKJV 

  • Finished off the Gloom with some Mary exercises (because you know we didn’t get enough
    • 2 BBSU 10 airpresses, 4 BBSU 20 airpresses, 6 BBSU 30 air presses, 8 BBSU 40 airpresses, 10 BBSU 50 airpresses (Gump)
    • 20 4 count Freddie (Phyfe)
    • 15 bocutters (wildwing)
    • 20 hello dollie ( Ruxpin)
    • Hold 6 inches and go around the circle each HIM giving 10 count (Chairman)
  • COT, prayers, todays going to be a great day!! Thanks gentlemen!!

Be The Buffalo

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , / Leave a Comment / CHOP / By

February 11, 2020, 51° and drizzling

Q: Doubtfire

15 HIM beat the fartsack in the rain: Gump, Bovine, Quattro, Leatherman, Vanilla, Chairman, Beeker, Waterfall, Ruxpin, Chattahoochee, Chappie, Fireplex, Streüdel, Wildwing, Doubtfire

Warmup:

25 SSH IC

25 Cherry Pickers IC

25 Windmills IC

20 Triple Bears IC

30 Sumo Squat Jump OYO

Mosey to HOB

The Thang:

Dragon Crawl from one light pole to the next

25 Burpees

3rd F :Be the Buffalo:    When storms brew on the Colorado plains, they typically move in from the west, many times building in strength and intensity as they travel eastward. Cattle and buffalo share the plains as their home, but their response to the impending storms is very different. Cattle will attempt to avoid the storms by running away from them. They scatter and run with the storm for a longer period of time, increasing panic in the herd as well as the chance of injury. Buffalo, however, will gather together, turn, and run directly into the storm, thereby reducing the duration of time in danger and increasing their chances of emerging unscathed on the other side. By nature, most people want to avoid confrontation. Like the buffalo, the best relationships are the ones that encourage each other to continually turn headfirst into the issues. So much of the health of our relationships is riding on our ability to confront each other well! 

Crawl Bear to next light pole

40 Merkins

Bear Crawl to next light pole

Super Toy Soldier Set 100/50/25

Lt. Dan to beginning light pole

30 Sumo Squat Jumps

Super Toy Soldier Set 100/50/25

Lt. Dan to beginning light pole

30 Sumo Squat Jumps

Mosey back to the CHOP

You Da Bomb

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , / Leave a Comment / CHOP, Milton, DE / By

Date: 02/04/20

AO: CHOP, Milton, DE.

QIC: Fireplex

Warm up

SSH – 25 IC

Cherry Pickers – 15 IC

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

Windmills – 15 IC

Burp & Merk – Burpee with Ascending Merkins up to 10

Chilly Jacks – 25 IC

20 lunges (10 each Leg) – OYO

20 split Jacks (10 each Leg) – OYO

The Thang 

B.O.M.B.S. – 50 Burpees, 100 Overhead Claps, 150 Merkins, 200 Big Boy Sit-ups, 250 Squats.  PAX partnered up and worked on exercises while their partner ran a “Chairman Lap” out the back driveway of the CHOP parking lot, left toward Union Street, and then left back to the CHOP.  The distance per circuit is approximately .25 miles.  Pax switched off with their partner after each lap.  Each PAX completed their half of the listed exercises before moving on to the next exercise. The entire “Thang” was complete before a break was taken for the F3 Message.

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 02/04/20 – From Ron Hutchcraft Ministries

A BUCKET OF WATER, OR A THREE-ALARM FIRE – #7744

I’m a tornado and hurricane kind of guy. I mean I don’t like them but, I’ve lived where you learn about those things. I’m not an earthquake kind of guy. I’ve never lived where those mattered much. But when I was in San Francisco, I was where earthquakes are a big deal! Most people there still have dramatic stories to tell about what happened during that big quake in 1989, the one that interrupted the 3rd game of the World Series. Some of the heaviest damage and injury was in the Marina District of San Francisco.

Well, actually, I was doing a youth radio program back then, and we went there to record part of it. In fact, we were right on the comer of Beach Street and Divisadero where several buildings collapsed or burned, including one that had been totally consumed by fire. One of the neighbors described the scene for us, one very different from this quiet neighborhood with beautiful rebuilt homes. The night of the quake was total chaos. This neighbor described that awful fire with the unbearable heat that had destroyed the building on the other comer. He said, “The fire started out with a gas leak. It was small. If I could have gotten over there, I literally could have put it out with a bucket of water. But then it started to spread and pretty soon there was no way to stop it.”

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “A Bucket of Water, or a Three-Alarm Fire.”

God believes in fighting fires when they’re small, when you can still put them out with a bucket of water. He talks about it in Ephesians 4:26-27, our word for today from the Word of God, and some of the most insightful verses in the Bible for preserving relationships. Here’s what God says, “In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” Could it be that you have let a fire smolder in some relationship in your life? Let it go, let it grow and you will have a blaze on your hands you cannot control.

Maybe there is a strained relationship in your life right now, between you and your mate, or you and a child, you and a co-worker, you and your parent, you and a spiritual brother or sister. Maybe there’s trouble in your marriage and so often, honestly, it’s the guy who’s the last to admit that anything’s wrong. Men – let’s face it – tend to be postponers when it comes to dealing with relationship difficulties. But I’m telling you, the fire isn’t going to stay the same size. Relationships of all kinds burn down when someone lets the small fire just go, until it becomes this uncontrollable inferno that can do so much damage.

In fact, the Bible says that when you let conflict or strain or anger go longer than a day, you literally give the devil himself a place to get into your relationship. Four verses later, in Ephesians 4:31, God lists the kind of ugly things that come from letting relationship fires go unaddressed: “All bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, every form of malice.” Look, can you see some of those flames maybe right now growing in a relationship of yours.

Don’t wait another day to do something about the fire. It’s as small now as it’s ever going to be. Gently confront what you have to confront, forgive what you have to forgive, apologize for what you need to apologize for, and overlook what you have to overlook, but deal with whatever is between you, whatever is breaking or broken.

Because I’ll tell you this, the devil is standing there with his gasoline can ready to pour gasoline on that fire so everyone involved will get burned. You need to come running with whatever water it will take to put it out now. A bucket of water now is a whole lot better than a 3-alarm fire later.

Respectfully Submitted,

Fireplex

One More for Two – Four!

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DATE: 1/30/20

QIC: Chappie

While dreaming earlier this morning YHC was guided to another world. Time and time again when that happens, at sunrise YHC fights to stay asleep ’cause he doesn’t wan to leave the comfort of this place (name that tune). Nonetheless, it was time to rouse and post at The Grit Mill, for yet another beatdown in the name of #Two-Four…Kobe Bryant. Almost all the reps today were done with a Two-Four rep count simply to remember and honor one of the best ballers to ever play the game in our generation. The idea: Adopt the Mamba mentality which Kobe was so legendary for. Here’s how it want down:

WARM-O-RAMA

  • SSH – 24 IC
  • Squats – 24 IC
  • [Legit] Crab Flippers – 24 IC
  • Motivators – by the 10’s (Shout out to @sunspot and the Lanco PAX)
  • Calf Raises – 24 OYO

Alternating 2 baby sandbags (20-pounders) between one another, PAX Mosey’d to 4′ wall near east end of Gigante International Market parking lot. On this beautiful newly-discovered structure PAX did the following…

THE THANG:

  • Derkins – 24 OYO, Dragon Crawls – 24 Steps, MJB’s – 5 (return to wall)
    • Somebody mentioned going to Kobe’s first jersey number (8) to ease the pain. Lol! Nope!
  • Irkins – 24 OYO, Bear Crawl – 24 Steps, MJB’s – 10 (return to wall)
  • PC – 12 count 2x, Crawl Bear – 24 Steps, MJB’s – 15 (return to wall)
  • BTTW – 12 count 2x, Bear Crawl – 24 Steps, MJB’s – 20 (return to wall)
  • Iron Mikes – 12 OYO, Lt. Dan -24 Steps, MJB’s – “Two Four” (Return to parking lot)

3rdF BREATHER

This morning I’m sharing some thoughts adapted from Jocko Willink’s LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES & TACTICS. A portion of the book is about “The Power of Relationships” (48-51). In it he writes, “Leadership requires relationships. Good relationships with people above you, below you, and beside you…are critical for a strong team. The better the relationships, the more open and effective communication there is. The more communication there is, the stronger the team will be.”

He first talks about having a good relationship with those above you (i.e. your boss/bosses/managers, etc.) and gives this advice when it comes to building a trustworthy relationship with superiors:

▪ The first, most obvious way, (often overlooked) is PERFORMANCE. Your boss expects you to complete certain tasks. So COMPLETE THEM. On time. On budget. Without drama. Get the mission done.

▪ There will be things you might not be in 100% agreement with, do them anyway. It will always serve you well. If the boss wants you to fill out extra paperwork — Do it. If the boss wants you to cover a shift for someone else — You’ve got it! Does the boss want you to clean up an administrative mess that got spilled? — You’re on it! Even take on the nasty, low-reward missions that need executing — Get all over it.

▪ With each set of problems. Be the solution. With each problem you solved, the level of trust the boss has in you goes up.

▪ Over time, as you do what needs to get done, your boss/bosses will know that you’re the man who can be trusted to make things happen; you gain clout with the boss.

▪ Gaining clout with the boss allows you to give feedback or criticism of their plans if that becomes necessary (when time is right, and only when ego is set aside). So ultimately this leads back to one of the most powerful tools you could have as a leader and in the workplace — a good relationship with your boss. This will always lend itself to your team’s ability to BETTER accomplish the mission.

As followers of Christ, this ultimately (first) has everything to do with our relationship with God. God’s Word tells us,

“Whatever you do, do it heartily (with all of your heart), as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” (Col.3:23-24)

▪ Personal experience. Years ago only a couple of years after I’d joined the Army Nat’l Guard, I got stuck with KP duty (“kitchen police”) during Annual Training at Ft. Drum. I’d been in a few years by this point so quite frankly I felt that it was beneath me to pull KP duty, after all I was a high ranking PFC! KP sucked in a regular mess hall, but what was worse was that we were in the field. The next morning my Sergeants roused me from my fartsack at O-Gawd-Thirty and took me for about a 15 minute drive to the location of our field kitchen. As we traveled the road, images of M*A*S*H episodes were flashing through my mind as I bounced around on the dew-covered back seat of that 1/4 ton Jeep. But it was far from humorous–I was cursing under my breath for getting stuck with a duty that NO ONE EVER WANTED to get stuck with. I was mad as a hornet. As about a “3-yr-old” Christian, I knew the things I was saying under my breath were wrong. Plus, I dared not voice them aloud because I didn’t want to be insubordinate toward either of my Sergeants. Yet, God heard them! Then, about 5 minutes into the ride, the Lord spoke to my heart (His voice came alive in my heart by His Word being hidden there) and I heard that verse: “Whatever you do, work heartily at it, as for the Lord rather than for men…“

Those words hit my like a ton of bricks and changed my perspective and attitude in an instant. As I was dropped off I went to work on KP duty, which turned out to be about a 16 hr day. I did everything you can imagine and washed ever pan, and cleaned everything that didn’t move, etc. in that field kitchen. And I did it as if I were working for the Lord. Enjoyed it. Embraced the suck, if you will. By the end of that non-stop day, when my Sergeants came to pick me, the Mess Sergeant , along with the rest of the Mess crew said I’d done such a great job that they were begging for me to come back the next day. As much as I enjoyed my response was a quick “Uh, no thanks.” Yet two things happened: (1) I’d left a good impression on both the mess crew and with my Sergeants (my “bosses”), and, (2) I’d left a good testimony for serving my Lord — the ultimate pleasure in all of life is giving glory to His name!

Back at it…

Mosey return to AO, alternating baby sandbags between PAX.

Partial round of Mary:

  • LBC’s – 24 OYO (Courtesy YHC)
  • Dolly – 24 IC (Courtesy Ruxpin)
  • E2K – 24 Single Count (Courtesy Loose Wheel)
  • X’s & O’s – 24 OYO (Courtesy Waterfall)

COT/BOM:

  • Announcements: Planning on putting a Site-Q meeting together sometime in Feb to plan into the year a bit.
  • Prayers: For Waterfall, Felicia, and Dee Dee; for both Chauffeur’s and Doubtfire’s families; and for Papa Bears daughter sitting for her nursing boards near future.

Lots of 24 count reps to remember and honor Kobe Bryant. The Mamba Mentality gave us some good motivation to go beyond normal rep counts. The reminder to build relationships with those above us, based upon serving the Lord, gave us good motivation to go above and beyond even what is expected of us.

Always honored to bring the beatdown. Thanks for the opportunity HIM!

~Chappie, out!

Kobe

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Date: January 28, 2020

QIC: Wildwing

WARM A RAMA: SSH x 20, Cherry Picker x 20, Goof Ball x 20, La La Leggy x 10, Joe Lewis x 20

The Thang:

Sixteen workout stations were set out in two lines 40 feet apart. Each station had a separate exercise that continued for 60 seconds. Pax would do Bobby Hurleys or a Fiddler Crab walk as they rotated to a new station.

Exercises included: box cutters, iron mikes dips, dirkins, lbc, wheel of merkins, groiners burpees, coupon jump, elf on shelf, bolt 45, windshield wipers, big boy, war hammers, Alabama ass kickers

Third F:

While PAX were on 6s doing bicycles, QIC recited Kobe Brant sayings such as: “I can’t relate to lazy people. We don’t speak the same language. I don’t understand you. I don’t want to understand you.” He also talked about leaving the game better than you found it. “When it comes time to leave, leave a legend.”

“Leaving the game better than you found it” echos the concept of seeking a “more perfect union.” So we closed the message by recalling Rear Admiral Black’s opening prayer at the Trump Impeachment trial: “Sovereign God, author of liberty … remember that Patriots reside on both sides of the aisle….Give all senators a civility built upon integrity that brings consistency in their beliefs and actions, we pray in your powerful name, Amen.

(A person can hope anyways.)

Number a Rama, Name a Rama, COT

Respectfully and hopefully submitted: Wildwing

MLK Library Laps

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Warm-up: (20) SSH IC, (20) Cherry Pickers IC, (20) Wind Mill IC, (20) Plank Jacks IC, (20) Shoulder Taps IC, (20) 4 Count Superman IC.

Take a lap around the library hitting every flight of steps. Meet at the Amphitheater seating area for a 6 pack of exercises.

10 WMD (10 wide merkin, 10 merkin, 10 diamond merkin)

20 Dips

20 Box Jumps

20 Lunges (rear leg elevated)

20 Reverse Crunches (bum on the bench; legs hanging over)

20 American Hammers (bum on the bench; legs hanging over)

Take a lap hitting every step. Wash, Rinse, Repeat x3.

Third F:

Before he was assassinated at age 39, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, organized the 1963 March on Washington, advocated for civil disobedience and non-violent protest, and became one of the most influential figures in American history.

Fifty years after his death, here’s a look back at some of the civil rights leader’s most memorable speeches.

“I Have a Dream” – Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963

In his most famous speech, King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and called for an end to racism in the United States before a crowd of more than 250,000 people.

“Our God is Marching On” – Selma, Alabama, March 25, 1965

Delivered after the historic marches from Selma to Montgomery, historians consider King’s triumphant deliverance of his “Our God is Marching On” speech to mark the end of the civil rights movement’s first phase focusing on legal and political rights. The movement would later focus on fighting for economic equality.

 “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence” – Riverside Church in New York City, April 4, 1967

Exactly one year before his assassination, King condemned the Vietnam War at a time when a majority of Americans still supported the effort. King was criticized for the speech, considered one of his most controversial, and lost supporters for being too political.

 “The Other America” – Stanford University, April 14, 1967

Just 10 days after declaring his opposition to the Vietnam War, King spoke to a crowd at Stanford University and advocated for economic and social equality. In his “Other America” speech, King described “two Americas” to highlight the growing poverty gap in the United States as a root of inequality. King gave a similar version of this speech at Michigan’s Grosse Pointe High School on March 14, 1968.

“I’ve been to the Mountaintop” – Memphis, Tennessee, April 3, 1968

In his final speech, King addressed a church filled with striking sanitation workers who were protesting their low pay and working conditions. King emphasized the importance of unity and nonviolent protest in the fight for justice, no matter how painful the struggle.

“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop… And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.”

Number-Rama, Name-O-Rama, COT

A Roll of the Dice

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Name-O-Rama

DATE: 1/22/20

QIC: Chappie

Six PAX is never a good start to your day, unless, of course, you’re talking about 6 F3 PAX who won THAT FIRST BATTLE by unpartaking of the Fartsack and were lucky enough to post at the Primis AO in Lewes, DE.

No. One. Ever. Regrets. Posting. Post!

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH – 18 IC
  • Moroccan NC’s – 10 IC
  • Italian NC’s – 10 IC
  • The Motivator (Shout out to the men of F3 Lanco, YHC borrowed this excellent warm-up exercise)
  • Calf Raises – 30 IC
  • Crab Flipper – 18 IC (Now Local & Legit: a variation of the Cherry Picker, PAX pick cherries…er, um…flip crabs on the 3-count near the left foot, then down the middle between feet, then on the 3-count near the right foot, continuing to alternate L, M, R, R, M, L throughout the exercise — it’s now local gentlemen…and good for warming up and stretching)

At this point PAX took the Shovel Flag for a short tour (.96 miles) Patriot Run.

PAX returned from Patriot Run to the Tennis courts where, low and behold, awaiting was a giant pair of dice and YHC’s Board of Pain…

Look at that pair!

PAX each took turns rolling the dice, accomplishing each exercise on the Board of Pain except SSH, Squats, Merkins, Sandbag Circle, and Dying Cockroaches. First lucky roll came from Ruxpin who kicked it off by rolling a 9: Flying Squirrels (25 of those suckers darn near whooped us!) But we continued.

The Q inserted 2 laps around the tennis court [for a breather]. First time around PAX did the Nur. Second time around PAX Side-shuffled.

YHC also gave the PAX a breather by sharing the following 3rdF:

Just a reminder of what this F3 thing–this Fitness, Fellowship, & Faith thing–is about…it’s all about LEADERSHIP! We’re here because we inherently desire to sharpen our ability to lead.

The F3 mission itself is to “PLANT, GROW, & SERVE SMALL WORKOUT GROUPS OF MEN FOR THE INVIGORATION OF MALE COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP.”

You’re all here because you’re a part of that mission, because you recognize on a personal level you’ve not arrived and you have room to grow in the area of leadership…be it in your home, your workplace, or the communities in which you serve.

We tend to think leadership is…

▪ A solo adventure, that we have to go it alone. We see ourselves standing atop the proverbial mountain directing our “troops” into battle.

▪ We tend to think it’s about our position and how to get to the next rung on the ladder.

▪ We tend to think leadership is about us (me, myself, and I)

▪ And…its none of these things at all! In fact, some of the greatest detriments to our ability to lead are actually our own egos, our push to rise to the top of the pecking order, or our desire for recognition.

Not having it all together (and worse yet, the trap that follows of ACTING like we do) we hide behind power and position. Afraid we will be found out… afraid that others (men especially) will see that we actually don’t have it all together, we end up taking stances in leadership that hinder, rather than help, our ability to lead. Then too often we end up forfeiting opportunities to master leadership by learning from our failures (we think we’re not allowed to fail).

We tend to assume “the bigger my ego, the more respect I’ll be able to demand, and the better my leadership.” But reality is that the biggest thing that needs to be put in check is, in fact, our egos.

I base these statements on the example we see in Christ: In Jesus is found the example of a servant leader who, though fully divine, took on humanity and the human experience. He did this to redeem us…

Think about that: God became a man, and at that, A SERVANT [LEADER], because there was something enormous at stake: Your life… eternally! So His plan of redeeming you included SERVANT LEADERSHIP.

That fact teaches several important factors which can transform our thinking about leadership:

#1: “Leadership is an action, not a position.” (Chris Brady) i.e. it’s what you do!

#2: “Leaders must ALWAYS operate with the understanding that they’re part of something bigger than themselves and their own personal interests.” (Jocko, EO p.76)

#3: “Leaders move people from where they are to where God wants them to be.”

In reference to what I’m sharing these next two are critical:

#4: “Leadership IS NOT about being the best; leadership is about making everyone else better.” (@bjj_world)

#5: “The bottom line in leadership ISN’T how far we advance ourselves; it’s how far we advance OTHERS.” (LTC Rick Frank)

Philippians 2:6ff talks about how Christ humbled Himself by coming down from heaven and becoming human–a bond-servant. God did that! So leadership is best expressed in humility and in the interest of others. These verses are stated as the example to follow and the attitude we’re supposed to have (Christ’s) after we read earlier in Phil. 2:3-4 “DO NOTHING FROM SELFISHNESS OR EMPTY CONCEIT, BUT WITH HUMILITY OF MIND LET EACH OF YOU REGARD ONE ANOTHER AS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HIMSELF; DO NOT MERELY LOOK OUT FOR YOUR OWN PERSONAL INTERESTS, BUT ALSO FOR THE INTERESTS OF OTHERS.” Have this attitude in yourselves.…” (Emphasis added) The attitude of Christ is what was then described.

Today, if you want to be a HIM, humble yourself and serve to make someone else better. Humble yourself and lead by advancing those around you!

PAX returned to taking a few lucky rolls of the dice and experiencing the Board of Pain before time was up.

COUNT-O-RAMA

NAME-O-RAMA

COT/BOM:

  • Announcements: Praise YHC’s nephew, Aaron, is home from deployment! PAX shared other AO’s, workout locations, with Chauffeur so he’d know where to post in the Gloom
  • Prayers: Chauffeur & Doubtfire (prayers for things going on on the home front); Prayers for all those still deployed, especially Aaron’s battle buddy, Cottle; Prayers for our F3 brother, Styx, experienced some recent serious heart issues.

Always thankful for the opportunity to borrow, create and execute a new Weinke. While we repeated several of the exercises, we didn’t make it through the whole Board of Pain. Perhaps another time…its just the luck of the roll. Until then…

~Chappie, out!

How’d you start your day?

Man. Up.
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