Battalion – 12.1.21

10 men with a need for speed tackled the football field of Battalion yesterday to get stronger and get quicker. Apologies for the delayed backblast – yesterday got away from me.
PAX: @Oscar Mayer @Soul Glo @Dizzy Gillespie (F3 Dads) @Hot Mic (Tribute) @Pancreas @Rudolph @Lone Star @Gouda (FNG Clark Diedrich) @Honeybee (FNG Craig Midgett) and @ragdoll on Q
In the pre-gloom, Rudolph and Pancreas show up early to run a couple miles. When I arrive Pancreas explains his sad story about how he’s only worn his running shoes and has forgotten his bootcamp shoes. He asks me what we are doing today, and I tell him “we’re running”. And then he leaves to go home to get his bootcamp shoes so he can go running with us.
So we kick off a man short — here’s what happened:
Intro, Disclaimer & Warmup:
We run a short warmup lap then
15 side-straddle hops
15 low & slow squats
15 baby arms circles
Some leg stretches and we’re off…
Toe Touches & Derkin/Irkins:
At the amphitheater steps we do 10 toe touches + 10 derkins, followed by 10 toe touches + 10 irkins. Rinse & repeat one more time.
I don’t think anyone but Rudolph notices but on the second set my shoe totally catches a step wrong and I roll over backwards straight onto my 6. I’m thankful it’s still dark.
The Thang: Spartan
The Spartan is a simple, grueling routine designed to make men faster and direct negative thoughts towards the Q. Pancreas returns with his not-running-shoes just in time to run with us.
We line up on a sideline and sprint fast-as-possible 50 yards across the field where we do 10 merkins. Then mosey back to the other side and do an assortment of exercises (mainly squats and LBCs) while we wait for the 6.
Rinse and repeat for 40 minutes.
About halfway through Lone Star jumps the gun on the run, so all are penalized with a Politician sprint across the field.  In total we complete 15 sets. The full Spartan is 30 sets, so we’ll tackle this again sometime in the future (yay!!)
T-claps to: @Soul Glo – brother was pushing HARD on the sprints and he’s getting speedy! @Gouda – our FNG was light on his feet and didn’t quit. @Hot Mic (Tribute) @Pancreas and @Rudolph for spending time with our FNGs and getting to know them.
COT & Moleskine:
“And what does the Lord require of you,
but to do justice and to love kindness
and to walk humbly with your God?”
~ Micah 6:8
As F3 HIMs we are called to believe in something higher than ourselves. And HOW are we to believe in something higher than ourselves? As a Christian, the Bible instructs me in Micah 6:8.
Notice the word choices in the passage. We are asked to do justice. He doesn’t say to love justice … loving the idea of justice cheapens it as we give lip service to the idea of justice. But doing justice requires action on our part as we seek to stand up for the oppressed, the unfortunate, the enslaved, the abused, and the mistreated.
He asks us to love kindness, not to do kind acts. It would be easy to every-so-often do a kind act, but still live a life of selfishness, conceit, impatience, and harshness. But if we truly LOVE kindness it will seep into every aspect of our every day, and as a result manifest in constant actions of kindness.
Finally, we are to walk humbly with God. We can understand this as daily walking in repentance with God — acknowledging our failure to do justice and love kindness, which will happen every day. Walking in repentance does not mean to live in self-condemnation; rather it is to live in freedom with the knowledge that God truly loves us so much that he sent his only son Jesus to die on our behalf, so that we may live in unity with him.
Micah 6:8 thoughts lifted from Jon Bloom of Desiring God ministries: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/lord-search-my-heart
Prayer Requests
– Lone Star’s brother welcomed new baby to the family with safe delivery on Saturday
– Dizzy & M navigating a new doctor for their pregnancy, and the news that they won’t be able to do a home delivery
Announcements:
See #_announcements channel
Dizzy is in need of sandbags for Battle Creek
All PAX and families working through physical and mental hurdles
Thanks for letting me lead you all at Battalion!! Always a joy!

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