You never forget your first (Q)

With several of the PAX from Powder Keg going to the Padre Convergence at Star Command, I thought it would be a perfect time for my VQ (virign Q). YHC had a lot planned (too much as we would soon find out).

Brown Shorts had come to Hurricane Alley this past Wednesday to school us in the way of the Q, and although I was a bit nervous about messing up the counts, I felt pretty confident because  the Jedi master himself was in attendance.

The morning started out with a surprise. We had an FNG! Mike Wilson, who had simply heard about F3 online, showed up ready to get better. Let this serve as a reminder that we should never skip a workout, even on a special day when most of our PAX may be going other places.

Although I was excited to have some new blood, it meant I had to give the disclaimer. Brown Shorts must have sensed my apprehension, so he gave our FNG a version of the disclaimer offline before the workout…only to give me the chance to practice it myself when the hour struck 7.

Disclaimer, check. Let’s sweat!

Warm up:

SSH x 15 IC

IW x 16 (Oops, strike 1) IC

Windmill x 10 IC

Mountain climber x 15 IC

Plank jacks x 15 IC

Crab cake x 15 IC

The Thang:

Mosey around the building, down the perimeter of the parking lot, and back to the flag. I had originally planned to run the full mile, figure-8 loop but didn’t want to exasperate the FNG right off the bat. Instead, we doubled back from the flag to the dirt hill near the first-time visitor sign on the entryway to the parking lot (clear as mud? Me too!).

TBag took exception with having to backtrack, but I didn’t let the haters hold me down. In fact, I was suddenly inspired to increase my next exercise from 7s to 11s.

::kissy face:: TBag

Someone, also named TBag, coached me on Monday that 11s were easy to backblast, so here we are. DC lunges at the bottom, run up the hill, squats at the top, walk back down like a boss. Repeat 9 times. Plank.

Note: Some of the aforementioned parties searched for a smaller, less steep part of the hill. Gold stars to Slug and Red Wire who accepted the hand they were dealt without searching for lower ground.

Upon completion, I proceeded to get preachy. Don’t you hate those guys?! Today’s theme was “Adversity Increases Your Capacity.” The short of it was that everyone will experience adversity on some level. Whether great (loss of a loved one, sick children, financial crises, job loss) or small (strep throat, cutting grass in July in the South, losing your wallet, coming home from a long day at work and not being able to veg on the couch), we will come against hard times. Our response to these times is what will ultimately determine who we become and the legacy we leave.

At this point, the congregation grew tired of hearing me talk, so we hit a mosey to the block pile (the long way). Earlier in the workout Brown Shorts caught me counting the PAX, hoping for an even number. His inner Sherlock Holmes told him that we must be doing a Dora. He was right.

When we reached the block pile, we paired up, grabbed the size block that fit our ego, and made our way up to the picnic shelter. This is where my eyes were a little bigger than my stomach. I had originally planned back-to-back Doras, starting with 25 and increasing by 25 reps for each exercise to 300. We were going to take a quick breather and switch partners after the 150, and finish strong. This would not be the case. It did, however, leave a perfect open ending for the sequel “My VQ Part 2.”

This is what we were able to do…

Dora – One partner completes AMRAP of each exercise while the other partner runs 50-75 yards down to my car and back.

25 pull ups

50 burpees

75 box jumps

100 tricep extensions with block

125 derkins

150 curls with block

It was clear to me after half of the box jumps that I had made a grave miscalculation in the difficulty of the actual exercises relative to the difficulty of simply writing them down. Tclaps to Slug for doing 19 of our 25 pull-ups!

0% of the PAX was upset that time would preclude us from slaying the second head of the Dora dragon. We held our heads high and returned our coupons. YHC used this time to finish his sermon.

Our response to adversity is critical. We must become people who understand that adversity is unavoidable and choose to embrace it as part of God’s refining process in our lives (See James 1:2-4, the story of Moses, Gideon, David, Jesus, Paul, etc.) When we spend our lives pursuing a comfortable, adversity-free life, we open ourselves up to the potential for laziness, fear, and entitlement.

Let’s reframe adversity! Let’s move from asking, “Why me, God?” to “How do you want to use this to change me?” Let’s not fear adversity. Let’s allow adversity to increase our capacity to love, lead, and be the men that God has called us to be. End of sermon.

COT

FNG – Mike Wilson is the very first member of Marathon Church to post at Powder Keg. YHC warned him that Gluten might kiss him for that. Hopefully he will EH more folks from there soon.

Announcements

Gideon’s House Workday

Where:  Gideon’s House.

When:  Saturday, July 30th.

Time:  Workout at 6:00am, Breakfast/Fellowship/Pull-up bar duty at 7:00am

Prayer Requests

TBag’s sister has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She’s scheduled for surgery on 8/2 and will have chemo to follow. In light of this, TBag is serious about quitting dipping. Let’s rally around him and help him beat this! Pray for him and ask him how he’s doing as often as you can.

Quickie’s sister has also been diagnosed with breast cancer. Pray for her healing and their family.

Brown Shorts is leaving today to fly to Costa Rica for missions. Pray for the safety of their team and God’s blessing on their time there. There’s also another team from TPC going to Canada next week.

NewSpring’s student ministry will be in Daytona this week for their annual summer camp. Pray that many students and leaders will experience Jesus in a new way so that their lives will be changed for His glory.