FNGs – 12^th Man,  Liberty

Thirteen men, young and less young represented at Guidance some on their 1^st posting of the day and others (Davinci) on their 2rd.  Thank you to all the Pax that showed up to be a support to these young men through these formative!  Through our new format with these young men, there is more to be learned than I could possibly teach about life.  More on the workout in a bit but here are a few lessons that I took from the young men that are influencing me.

1. One young man, Curry, was not into the work out at the beginning. I’m not sure why he showed up in his oxford buttoned shirt, jeans and untied shoes.  His day was not going well and he didn’t want to be with us and he really didn’t want to be anywhere.  But he came anyway.  I learned from Curry that sometimes you have to go through the motions, keep putting one foot in front of the other and life will turn.  By the end of the work out he was engaged and having as much fun as anyone.
2. Running back the half mile from the park to the home, the distance felt to some of these boys to be more like 5 miles rather than a half mile. Given that there was a burpee penalty on the line for every 15 seconds past time that the 6 came in.  I watched boys that didn’t hardly know each other putting their arms around each other and leaders coming back to get the 6.  They were supporting each other, helping each other meet the goal.  I learned the power of walking through life with someone so that when you are down and need the motivation you have someone to lock shields with to finish strong.
3. At the end of the work out we asked who was going to co-Q the next work-out and no fewer than 3 young men wanted some of that action. This was a complete turn from the first part of the work out as hardly any wanted to go work out but by the end they were ready to lead.  I don’t understand the power of driving that inner force within in us but it works.  F3 is sharpening men and you can see it start to move within these young men even in their first work outs.

The post started with a little stretching not to loosen up the muscles but to cut the tension a bit and to engage in some 2^nd F to get the young men comfortable and engaged.  Then we moseyed to the top of the hill, where Yzerman took over Q for a short COP.

10 – Merkins

15 – SSH

15 – Squats

15 – Mountain Climbers

Continue our mosey down to the Park for some wall work.  Partner up.

Partner 1 – step ups, Partner 2 run x2

Partner 1 – Dips, Partner 2 run x2

Plank competition for a grand prize.  Form may have been lacking here but there was some pain none the less as some strange noises were coming from the Pax.  My man Curry, won the prize and became the Shark/Bear in a game of Bears and Minnows x2

Mosey the half mile back up the hill to the home then COT.

With a single message during our time building a deeper understanding of Maturity.  I am humbled to try to help these men understand the trial they find themselves in but I’m confident that God has a plan and I pray that they can yield to His hand in their lives.  It was a privilege and honor to lead these young men and I pray that I had a fraction of an impact on them that they had on me.