Following a quick shuffle, I dealt the PAX 2 playing cards each as I provided a bit of pre-mosey direction: rally point @ Baby Gap Gap (in honor of his safe and splendid return!)

Thang 1: Mosey out into the gloom! Trail of choice – some went high (up to Sunrise on the West slope,) some went low, (East path through the hay fields and the gravel slope..) – all to reconvene at 6:00/6:05 at pre-established rally point.

Thang 2: Upon arrival, PAX were directed to grab more cards from a scattered remaining card selection with intention to build to 5 card hand for each PAX. (At this point I learned lesson number 2: NEVER underestimate the power of the VQ EH! (Should’ve brought a bigger boat! .. I mean.., more cards. – next time: 2 decks.) Long story – short: we redistributed and assessed best 3 card hand. @Cross-Stitch took the victory with a 3 of a kind, narrowly besting @2Buck with his 3 card straight (was it a flush?) No-matter; we called it. Cross-Stitch enjoyed the spoils; he got to call the final act of toil via blind multiple choice: (A, B, or C) – he unwittingly picked the gravel hill the descends from Baby Gap Gap on which we would run repeats until time. (..ended up being x1 as my lack of planning for variables allowed for a nice sized time gap at Baby Gap Gap.. Lesson #3: plan for unforeseen variables and close those gaps..)
…and TIME!

Mosey on back to the picnic table pavilion via path of choice. (Once again; high or low road – no reflection of any PAX’s nature or tendencies..)

COT: quick pivot over to the parking lot for a finish line tailgater!

Announcements:
F3 Dads – August 8 @ 2PM!
AOQ torch passed at #musclebeach! @Night Light takes up the mantle from @Tiny Dancer! Congrats! (Don’t think he’ll make it too easy…)
2 CSAUPs on the horizon to accelerate you, men! Get in on the Completely Senseless and Utterly Pointless FUN!
Aug 7 – SOG – Ruck Event
(Ruck or no ruck; come as you are!)
Aug 21 – Crucible!
Welcome home, Baby Gap! We missed you, brother!
Meal Train for @Offsides family
SO much going on – don’t hesitate to dig deeper if you want more details on any of this stuff – TONS of  info on stuff to get into throughout the Slack channels and threads.. just ask a leader near you!

Prayer Requests:
@2Buck – praise for blessings in the recent opportunities presenting themselves; interview process and job prospects.
Heidi – interview @3:00PM, job opportunity.
Veronica – new job. Praise and guidance.
Baby Gap – praise and gratitude for F3SH brotherhood. Positive impact on his/his loved ones lives since finding the path we walk together.
Commodore – praise and gratitude in celebration of 10 years of marriage. Love and well being of 4 children together with M. Guidance on potential new job prospects coming.
God, praise to you and love for all these men and those they love and care for.

Moleskin:
Brothers; know that I am a deep thinker and will search for Socratic and Biblical meaning in, quite literally, anything and everything! That said I decided to take you all on a short trip through the process by taking a closer look at a few of my favorite film clips, as presented in the lead-up EH to HC posts (#ao-the-trapp) Let’s dive in:

Casino Royale – James Bond seems to proceed with a singular focus on objective; never concerned with process. It’s always about what needs to be done, not how he’s going to accomplish it. (In this way he is a master of adaptation.) His blind faith and loyalty to MI-6, the mission.., M.. England, are his only guard rails. THE PATH IS REVEALED TO HIM AS HE PROCEEDS WITH FAITH.

Proverbs 3 (5) Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not into your own understanding (6) In all the ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
(…speaking of card games…)

Tombstone – the scene in which Wyatt Earp walks into the Oriental to find the bully dealing cards and rudely mouthing off and posturing to intimidate is a classic representation of good versus evil. This is made complex by the depth and arch of each character’s portrayal in the moments of tension that follow.. Note the CONFIDENCE  of justice over the POSTURING of bad men..

Acts 19 (16) And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
(…speaking of Billy Bob Thornton..)

Armageddon – We are given a reminder of the truth we all acknowledge and have full awareness of: imminent ending. In the case of the metaphor the film presents especially as we consider the words “global killer” the comparison to ones own vantage point on life cannot be separated from the concept of our understanding of the world. In other words, the world does indeed end each time someone passes from it. And so it shall be for each of us, and we will indeed fight the final battle between the good and evil within us…Morbid and scary? Sure. Unless you consider the true depth of the gift of that knowledge that we each only get a set of days during which we write our story and make our time here count. And don’t we fight the final battle each day? Shouldn’t we..?

Revelations 16 (16) And they gathered the kings together (that’s us, men!) to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

(translation; HAR MAGEDDON = hill or mount of Megiddo – the place of the final battle between good and evil..)
(…speaking of Bruce Willis…)

Looper – Pretty straight forward here; the new version of the man kills the old one. Consider this metaphor that we play out in our lives. We see the daily renewed version of ourselves as we look in the mirror in the morning.. we embrace the new and move forward from the one who brought us to the present moment. in doing so we face our past selves daily and dispense with what no longer serves us and our purpose under God.

Colossians 3 (2) Set your minds on things that are above, not on things of Earth. (3) For you have died and your life is hid with Christ in God. (the verses that follow address the many ways we deviate from God and provide words that guide us to leave these behind – to “mortify” them…) (10) And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created Him.

(…speaking of time travel…)
Tomorrow War – Aside from a surprisingly poignant sub plot about forgiveness of a negligent father, (which resonates personally,) the theme of fortifying oneself for battle is reiterated here: both the battles within out lives in the external and those we fight within ourselves.

Psalm 144 (1- 2) Blessed be the Lord, my rock who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle: my goodness and my fortress: my high tower and my deliverer: my shield and He in whom I trust. ..

(…speaking of Saving Private Ryan…actually, we’ll mark that page for a future occasion.)
It’s been an honor leading you. I am grateful for you, men. Thank you for being here with me and each other!