11 HIM entered the Gloom on a clear starry morning to eat some hills for breakfast.

@Mulligan, @Aflac, @Procter, @Blackout, @Chowdah, @Pancreas, @Joey Freshwater, @Thin Mint, @Billy Madison, @Heidi (1st F Q), and YHC @Peewee (TRAPP).

Intro and disclaimers:

Free of charge
Open to all men
Held outdoors – rain or shine, heat or cold
Peer led in a rotating fashion
Always end in a Circle of Trust

The F3 Credo is: “Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you find him.

”Thang: Run up Sunrise Hill, through the woods, turn right at the barn, run back up Graveltron, run hill repeats till time, meeting at the pavilion for COT at 6:15.

Announcements:-Check announcements channel on Slack
-Beacon hill tomorrow – 5:15 at Harvey Park
-Battle Creek and Cavalry are open during Beacon Hill Prayer requests:-Pancreas and m have job interviews at 1 today!
-Procter: wisdom for work opportunities
-Heidi: traveling to Disney in FL today
-Heidi’s family going through dark stuff right now
-chowdah: m is doing better and feeling better.  She’s in great spirits!

Moleskin: “Butterfly Effect”-How did you get here at this AO, in this whacky men’s fitness group? Rewind it in your mind, and try to break down certain moments or interactions you had that, if they didn’t happen, you wouldn’t be here?  Break it down into the smallest detail if you can.

I’m going to share my F3 story with these questions in mind, and then I’ll land the plane on my message, so to speak.

A small church I was a part of for 10 years disbanded as people either moved to new places or moved on with their lives.  It was too small to sustain itself and it closed its doors. After church shopping a few months our family landed at a church, but it didn’t end up being what we thought.  After being there 6 months COVID hit, and churches everywhere shut their doors for a time.   We did some more church shopping online during this time and found a great church where we’ve been the last 2 years.

None of my friends or folks from the last decade of my life were in my life anymore, and I was feeling pretty sad and isolated, and lonely.  I was overweight and not feeling very motivated about anything.

I was praying during that season for some sense of community to be restored to my life.  I’m not a social butterfly and I don’t easily make new friends. I think I got to 225 or something and decided “I have to do something!  I joined Orange Theory Fitness and was doing that for a month, and I was doing the 5:00 AM classes, and was able to catch the sunrise when I got done around 6, and it always made me happier. I got a great workout at OTF, but it wasn’t fun enough to keep my interest.  I remember seeing some guys riding their bikes on my way home from Orange Theory Fitness and thought it looked like a whole lot more fun than what I was doing. So I went out and bought a bike.  I liked bikes and sunrises, so I got this idea one morning to bike from my house to sunrise hill to catch a sunrise.  It was a Wednesday morning in May, and my path to sunrise hill took me through the trails on the back side of Fort Pain, specifically the green monster.

It was there that I rounded the corner with my bike and encountered a large group of dudes in the woods at 5:30 in the morning.  I heard several people say “come join us!”, and everyone seemed nice for the small amount of time I was passing by.  But I was thinking, “no way these guys are nuts!”  I had to walk my bike up the hill and everyone else passed me up as they ran back towards COT. Except the slowest guy in the group (at the time) @Cosmo.  He slowed his jog to a walk and spoke to me as we were both walking up the hill.  He somehow convinced me that the crazy group of early morning guys in the woods weren’t that crazy, and even invited me to hang with the group and ride my bike while they ran.   He gave me the elevator pitch of what F3 is, I said “no thanks” and I continued on.

I was just trying to get to my sunrise, and you guys were inconveniently in the way.  I didn’t want to talk to anybody that early in the morning. After my sunrise, I had to take the same route back to my house.  As I went back through Sarah Benson Park you crazy people were still there!  It was coffeeteria time.  At this second encounter, several guys stopped me and we talked for a few minutes, and invited me to workouts that week.  I said “maybe” and rode home.

On the way home the thought entered my mind “could this have been what I was praying for?”  That thought stayed with me for a week.

Had I not been praying for community, I don’t think I would have came to my first F3.  It’s not like me to do things like that with all new people.  Well, the old me anyways.

I went the first time the following Wednesday, but wasn’t sure if I’d go back.  Everyone was nice, but I was timid and a little out of my comfort zone.  I remember I didn’t have any gloves, so @Heidi (1st F Q)just gave me an extra pair he had in the back of his SUV.I was thinking about whether to try to go to more F3 workouts or just stick with the Orange Theory thing. I had Orange Theory workouts on the schedule after all, and I had to get my money’s worth.

Then the following Tuesday I was out riding my bike again through the neighborhoods and I “randomly” found my way out to the sugar ridge depot somehow, and there was @Pancreas!  He was finishing up talking to someone after COT had ended at Uprising that day.  He recognized me because of the bike and flagged me down, and EHd me for the next day at Fort Pain, I think.  I went back to Fort Pain the next day, and a month later had quit Orange Theory and came to F3 full time.**If any of these things had not happened, I most likely would not be here today at TRAPP delivering this message.-Church  attended for 10 years closed its doors
-church shopped, found new church
-COVID hit
-found new church again – online church shopping this time.  Churches had not reopened yet
-I was lonely and praying for community
-Someone posted about OTF on Facebook
-I signed up for OTF
-I saw sunrise after OTF workout
-I Saw dudes riding bikes in the morning
-I bought a bike
-I biked to sunrise hill on a Wednesday morning
-F3 Fort Pain guys were blocking my route on green monster
-F3 guys invited me to join them
-@Cosmo slowed down to talk to me, rather than keep going, told me about what F3 was
-made it to sunrise hill for
-rode back towards home and F3 guys were still there!  Not working out, but laughing and drinking coffee!
-multiple PAX talked to me and invited me to join other F3 workouts
-“randomly” bumped into @Pancreas at the depotF3 has been the source of tremendous personal growth for me, which has shaped me to better serve and impact others:-I have served my family more passionately
-I have improved my work performance
-I have served the community more
-I have become less timid and more bold when it comes to sharing my faith
-I stopped being a sad clown
-I have become less greedy and more generous
-I became a much more joyful person

Takeaways:-Even the littlest things we do can have ripple effects that change lives and change eternities for people.
-Most of the impact you have will likely not be made known to you this side of heaven.
-The positive impact you have on others has a compounding effect as they positively impact those in their lives, who then positively impact others.
-Pray, and pay attention to things happening in your life!  God often answers prayers in ways you would never expect, and in ways that are so much better than your desires or expectations.
-You may be part of God’s Providence in answering someone else’s prayer.  That’s a pretty cool thought.

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭4:2‬ ‭ESV‬‬“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭6:9-10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

@Peewee (TRAPP) out!