February 27th, 2018 By Man Down

9 pallbearers (including one FNG!) came out to pay homage in the gloom. Last week The Precinct endured the loss of our neighborhood’s most significant landmarks. After welcoming residents and guests alike for 30+ years, our 24 beloved Bradford Pear Trees were mercilessly wiped out in a single week by the City of Charlotte (http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article201785899.html). Okay, maybe they weren’t “beloved” by all. The fact is that they were old, fragile, and smell like rotten fish in the spring. And just maybe the city wasn’t so “merciless.” The fact is that our own volunteer-led HOA had asked the trees to be evaluated for safety and the city is planning to systematically replace ALL of the old Bradfords on Charlotte streets. But alas, they will be missed just the same (by most at least).

“The Bradford Massacre” reminds me of a valuable life lesson, one that we seek to live out every day here in F3. We call it the Daily Red Pill. What is the DRP? Put simply, it’s the daily decision to be proactive and intentional about our Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith. You can read a more in-depth explanation using the link below. Growth is a choice. It takes time…lots of time. It takes work…hard work. It takes perseverance through setbacks and failures. But it can lead to great flourishing and fruitfulness over time…like our Bradfords achieved over decades of growth. Absence of growth is also a choice. An easier, passive choice, but a choice nonetheless. By making this choice, you may avoid hard work and you may find a few shortcuts. But in the end your life will be barren like our neighborhood entrance now is. Check out the quotes at the end of the backblast for a little inspiration! In the meantime, here’s how the workout went:

• Disclaimer given (in detail for our FNG, Kevin).
• Mosey to Cell Block for a little warmorama with SSH, IST, CP, WM, all in-cadence, all connected to the number 24.
• Grab a cinder block and head over to the barren landscape on Katelyn.
• 24 stations where the trees used to be. Pax perform exercise OYO at station, rotate right for a different cinder block, and move on to the next station. We did 6 different exercises at 10 reps each, then repeated them with 15 reps, then 20, then 25. During and between the exercises, guys shared various stories about how effort, intentionality, and hard work paid off for them in one way or another.
  1. Curl
  2. Triceps Extension
  3. Overhead Press
  4. Upright Row
  5. Bent-over Row
  6. Front Raise
• Slow mosey/walk back to the Cell Block to put up the cinder blocks. On the way, hold cinder block overhead for as long as possible, resting when needed.
• Mosey back to intake for MARY and COT.

Announcements:

• Welcome to FNG Kevin, a Florida native who hates the cold and has been putting off posting until a really warm morning. After passing up the past couple weeks of warm weather, he committed to give it a go today…when it was a balmy 34 degrees!!! But he stuck with it, numb hands and all! Glad to have you out here brother! Come back for more!
• THIS Saturday, 3/3, our Tradition brothers are celebrating 4 years with a 7am beatdown followed by coffeeteria. Let’s head over to join them!
• After Tradition’s Fourniversary, head down to the Charlotte Rescue Mission for Mission I’m Possible’s 5-year anniversary beatdown at 9am with another coffeeteria to follow!
• NEXT Saturday, 3/10, don’t miss the launch of F3 Whestone at a region-wide convergence! Are you in need of “sharpening” in your life that includes but also goes beyond the 1st F? Do you desire to share what you have learned in your life journey so that you can impact the life of another man? If you answered yes to either of these, then F3 Whetstone is for you! What is “Whetstone”? Put simply, it’s F3’s mentoring initiative, and we are launching it in MeCa at a Regionwide Convergence Saturday, 3/10. So pile in your clown cars and join us at UNCC (home of MeCa’s newest AO, The Mineshaft). We will kick it off with a 45-minute bootcamp at 0700 after which you’ll get to hear about the vision for Whetstone and how to sign up. We’ll meet at Lot #7, 8907 University Rd.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11

 

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.  For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 

 

Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds. Gordon B. Hinckley

 

Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.  Jim Rohn

 

God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest. J.G. Holland

 

The daily grind of hard work gets a person polished. Anonymous

 

The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night   Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work. Stephen King

 

The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph! Marvin Phillips

https://f3nation.com/2018/01/13/drp-2/

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