Never Board at the Abyss

Great morning!! Or was it? As I was setting up the BoP out back, I saw a couple of cars parked. Lights off, side by side. I was wondering if I was about to become a crime statistic. Then as I drove back towards the front of the school, I noticed an unusually large number of cars rolling in. Someone more self-effacing might have thought it was for them. I was hopeful. Turns out there was a school field trip gathering. Oh well.

Disclaimer was disclaimed. Moseyed around to the side of the school for the COP:

  • SSH x 15
  • WM x 15
  • IW x 15
  • MNC x 20

Didn’t want to take too much time away from the main event. No talking (believe it). Due to the full lot out back, moved the BoP to the front of the school for the main event .

The MINI Board Of Pain

The real Board of Pain has become somewhat of a legend in The Fort region. I figured we need to keep our eye on the prize and came up with the mini version to break out every now and then to keep us prepared for the real deal. Three groups of 5 exercises, 25 reps each OYO (unless otherwise noted), nonstop, with runs after every 5th exercise:

  1. Burpees
  2. Calf raises (50)
  3. Ski Abs
  4. Merkins
  5. Long, slow squats >>> Run a lap
  6. LBCs (50)
  7. CDDs
  8. American hammers
  9. Mac Tar Jai
  10. Jump squats >>> RUN FORREST, RUN!!
  11. Mountain climbers
  12. Shoulder raises (50)
  13. Mary Catherines
  14. Hello Dolly!
  15. Wide arm merkins >>> Run like the wind(ed)…
    >>> RINSE AND REPEAT
    (missing from the original BoP were squat jacks, nipplers – whatever the hell those are, and burpees)

Again, NO talking from the Q. I did provide some Pandora streaming music, and it was noted that my playlist stunk. Playlist? I don’t have time for that. That’s why I use Pandora. The PAX really got after it! Alot of great support and mumblechatter. Everyone completed 2 full circuits, a few started on their third. GREAT JOB BY ALL!!

We took it right up to ~ 5:57. Enough time for a slow Indian run back to the COT.

COT:
* Read your newsletter. Get out there, get involved, make a positive impact somehow. Get better every day.
* Brewruck 002 Sat 3/31
* CAH Guidance 3/31
* Whetstone is starting back up. Get better!
* Prayers for families, children, parents, and health
* Prayers for MOAB’s Dad who recently survived a heart attack, and that he is given the strength, discipline, and courage to follow through with the changes needed in his life to get better.
* Prayers for Zoe Deen, the man who hit her on Tuesday AM, and their respective families/loved ones.
* Many more said – sorry I cannot remember them all

NMM:
I kept quiet today at this workout. Did not say much at all. No moleskin, deep thoughts, or talking about the word of the month. I kept thinking about what happened on Tuesday morning, around 6am. Right about the time many of us were in COT. It’s regarding the Olympic high school girl Zoe Deen who was killed on Tuesday AM as she was crossing Youngblood Rd not too far from the location of The Abyss……as those who posted that morning were in prayers and praising, she left this earth.

Life is very precious, and can be very fleeting. You never know when your time will come. I’m sure this young woman and her family thought that day would be like any other. Going about their normal morning routines. Setting off to begin another day. I’m sure the driver of the SUV thought the same thing…..just like any another day. They never suspected that morning their worlds would change forever. In an instant she was gone. In an instant his life was forever scarred. In an instant those kids who saw it happen were forever changed. In an instant the lives of the families all those involved were forever changed as well. That’s all it takes. An instant. And it’s not just one life affected……the wave of change spreads outward and touches many others. We are blessed with this precious thing we call life. What you do with it is up to you, but if you leave doubts in anyone’s minds – yours or others – about how precious it can be, then you failed regardless of how much else you may achieve, gain, or accomplish. Take nothing for granted. Value every moment. Leave no doubts in anyone’s minds about love and life.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead,
– NASA

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A Feast for Crows

Great weather, great group of PAX, and an overall great morning.  Excitement filled the air because it was the “official” launch of the “Crows Nest”, Lake Wylie’s newest AO.  We had 7 boot-campers and 1 runner (Kenyan) who was already out running before we got started.  After a super-quick disclaimer, we took a short mosey around the school and circled up.

Warm-A-Rama

Nothing too fancy today.  I had a lot of different exercises planned for the workout, so we did a random number of the following to get the back stretched out and the blood flowing a little.

  • Windmills
  • Cherry Pickers
  • Imperial Walkers

The Thang

I had a nice match game prepared for the PAX this morning.  I can’t say it was a totally original idea because the crux of the game I stole from a previous bootcamp lead by Witch Hunt.  In any case, it was fun, and as usual, I modified it a bit for better or worse…

It consisted of 3 sets of ten disc cones arranged in a triangle (think bowling pins) and placed on a grassy field also in a triangle.  As we moved between each point of the triangle we would Bear Crawl between the short “sides” or Sprint the long “side” of the triangle. Each of the 10 cones in each set had 1 of 5 different pairs of exercises taped to the bottom.  The idea was to flip over 2 cones, if the exercises matched, we performed 1 set of the exercise and removed the cones.  If they didn’t match, we did both exercises, flipped the cones back over, and made our way to the next set of cones. We continued this process until we matched and performed all of the exercises or until time was up.

Below is the list of exercises that were taped to the bottom.  I can’t say I remember exactly how many we ended up doing, but it could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for Q-Bert and his ridiculous memory that worked way to well this early in the morning.  Needless to say we completed the “game” with about 8 minutes to spare so we did everything at least once and repeated maybe half of them twice.

  • 15 Burpees oyo
  • 50 Seal Jacks oyo
  • 50 Plank Jacks oyo
  • 50 SSHs oyo
  • 20 Mountain Climbers IC
  • 15 Flutters IC
  • 25 Merkins oyo
  • 30 Dips oyo
  • 25 CDDs oyo
  • 50 LBCs oyo
  • 20 American Hammers IC
  • 25 Jump Squats oyo
  • 15 Lunges (each leg)
  • 10 Crab Cakes IC
  • 10 Donkey Kicks oyo

We moseyed our way back to the parking lot and filled the remaining 5 minutes with BTTW, which we held while each PAX did 2 Burpees and returned to the wall.  Upon completion we circled up for Ablab to finish out the last couple of minutes.  We managed to get through some Hello Dolly’s, Dying Cockroaches, and I’m pretty sure something else I’m forgetting 🙂

That took us right up to 6:00AM so we circled up for CoT.

Announcements:

  • P200 this Friday!
  • Brew Ruck 002 on 3/31

Praises/Prayers:

  • Prayers for the P200 runners this weekend.
  • Praises/Prayers for Sparkle’s friend, he has been battling stomach issues and had underwent surgery recently, the surgeons found a redundant colon that they were able to utilize for his recovery.  Quite the miracle!
  • Prayers for Royale and his busy and stressful work week… as well as all the PAX and their families as they go about their day today.

Until next time…

Flux

 

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Competitive Cones at the Poopdeck

It was a cold morning by the Lake, so when 5:15 hit we got right to it. Disclaimer was fully disclaimed then we went straight into a set of 17 SSH to get the blood flowing.

Mosey around the parking lot then

  • Crab walk into COP (30 yards ish)
  • 13 crab cakes
  • 11 windmills
  • 23 MNCs
  • 5 Finkle swings (R), 5 Finkle swings (L)

All the sets were prime numbers, for no reason other than it feels good not to do things in multiples of 5 every now and then. Also ,the Finkle Swing is a great warm up for the hip-flexor and it works on developing balance for the PAX. Plus, its funny to see everyone trying not to fall over. We need to work that into the rotation more.

 

The Thang

PAX moseyed over to the boat ramp parking lot, narrowly avoiding an encounter with the Crazy Cat Lady and her Mercedes of doom. 11 cones had been set up at the far end of the parking lot, about 100 yards away from the start. One of the best motivators for a good workout is competition, so we split into two teams. On each team P1 would go retrieve a cone and bring it back. While P1 was running, P2 and P3 planked. On the bottom of the cone (so you don’t know what you are choosing) was an exercise and count that had to be completed before P2 could run for the next cone. Also, there was a exercise on the top of the cone (clearly visible when the cone was selected) that the non runners had to do while waiting for the next cone. For example, P1 brings back a cone and everyone on the team does 30 merkins. Then, while P2 is running, P1 and P3 do high knees in place until P2 returns. Here were the cone pairings:

  • 40 SSH in cadence / American Hammers
  • 30 Monkey Humpers / Freddie Mercuries
  • 20 Diamond Merkins / LBCs
  • 30 Sumo Squats / Lunges
  • Dealer’s Choice! / Mario Punches
  • 15 Seal Team Sit-Ups / Elbow Plank
  • 1 lap around the parking lot / shoulder taps
  • 25 Burpees / Overhead Claps
  • 30 Merkins / High Knees in Place
  • 25 Mountain Climbers in cadence / Calf Raises
  • 13 Donkey Kicks / Dying Cockroach

Team 1 (YHC, Peg, and ©) pulled the “run a lap” cone on the first selection and played catch up for the rest of the competition. The game came down to a final sprint between Peg and Olaf for the winning cone. Peg had the cone in hand but fumbled it. Or perhaps it was stripped by Olaf. Either way, the victory cone was sprinted back, leaving Team 2 (Olaf, Iced T, and Qbert) as the victors. All PAX did the final cone together, which ended up being the 25 Burpees.

After a 10 count or two, we partnered up and did wheelbarrows along the columns at the Bowl and Bounce shops. Get to a column, both PAX do 2 merkins then wheelbarrow to the next one. Flapjack. Had to audible halfway through and switch the merkins to 2 squats.

Head to the wall for some people’s chair with 7 LBCs each. BTTW with 2 Burpees each. Rinse repeat.

Ended the morning with a little Mary, courtesy of the winning team.

 

Announcements, Prayers, & Praises

  • Listen to the Roundtable on F3 Houston and Big Wheel. What can we do to better prepare for emergencies in the gloom?
  • Iced T’s M is recently out of work – prayers for peace and a new job
  • Qbert’s M and a recurring stressor in their marriage
  • Sleep and adjusting to the new normal in house Homebrew

 

Always a fun time getting after it with this crew. I really love how everyone embraced the competition and went all out. Thanks Peg for the opportunity.

Stay Classy,

Homebrew

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ChaChing Impromptu Black Diamond in Lake Wylie

So I had been reading the “Living With a Seal” book about a wealthy business man ultra-athlete who hired a Seal he met at a 100 mile relay race (the business man was on a 4 guy relay team; the Seal was on a 1 man team lol) and was so amazed at his mental and physical toughness, he hired him to live w/ him and his family for 31 days.  Pretty easy fast read – super entertaining, w/ plenty of good training ideas, but even better, perspective.

I told the Pax this wouldn’t be easy – in fact it was going to suck.  There was a Beyond Black Diamond in Tega Cay the same day, so I figured we’d do a little Lake Wylie Black Diamond at Palisades.  I gave the Pax two quotes to get it started from Seal:  “To truly get better, you have to be willing to get uncomfortable.  You have to push your limits”.  Check.  “I don’t stop when I’m tired.  I stop when I’m done”.  I love that.  Let’s go.

Ran behind the school in the middle of the outdoor track and started the warm-up:

  1.  Quickest ever – windmill, moroccan night club, squats and mountain climbers.  That’s it.

Next up – Tabata w/ music (if you want an awesome tabata app that you can add your own music to and adjust times, etc – get “Seconds”).  Great playlist was in store for the following:

  1.  Every Minute,  we had to do 40 side straddle hops + 10 merkins.  5 minutes.  I was surprised – we finished each of the 40 and 10 with about 10 seconds to spare each minute.  10 seconds of break, and then do it again.  Fun stuff.  (total 200 side straddle hops, 50 merkins in 5 min)
  2. Nickels & Dimes – ran to the playground and did something similar – each minute do 5 pull-ups and 15 merkins for 5 minutes.  (total 25 pull-ups, 75 merkins in 5 min)

Next up was some awful partner work.  Size mattered.  We started on one side of the back parking lot.  Partner 1 would chase Partner 2, but here’s the wrinkle – Partner 2 gets a 20 yard head start and has to back pedal.  Partner 1 was to sprint and catch him.  When he catches him, they do an exercise together, then have to get back to the starting line by way of whatever I say.  So it matters how fast you catch your partner as it’ll make the trip back to the starting line shorter if you fly (or longer if you take your time).  Here it is, in order:

  1.  Partner 1 catches Partner 2 then…30 merkins.  Then…broad jump back to the starting line.  Yikes
  2. Partner 2 catches Partner 1 then…20 big boy sit-ups.  Then…bear crawl back to the starting line.
  3. Partner 1 catches Partner 2 then…20 jump knee tucks.  Then…crawl bear back to the starting line.
  4. Partner 2 catches Partner 1 then…50 seal jacks.  Then…partner carry back to the starting line.
  5. Partner 1 catches Partner 2 then…25 diamond merkins.  Then…other partner carries back to the starting line.
  6. Partner 2 catches Partner 1 then…10 burpees.  Then…just run back to the start.  There’s your break.

Don’t underestimate the suckiness of that many sprints, both forward and back pedals.  I was smoked.

Next up, track time – the way it works, you sprint the straight aways, you jog the curved ends of the tracks.  Starting on the side we were closer to, we sprinted the length, jogged the curve, sprinted the length then exercise of my choice when you hit the second curve.

  1.  50 crab cakes
  2. Jog curve, sprint, jog curve, sprint, 50 squats
  3. Jog curve, sprint, jog curve, sprint, 25 Robin Venturas (each side) (side plank w/ upper arm punching under your body, as if you were Nolan Ryan and had Ventura in a head lock)
  4. Job curve, sprint, jog curve, sprint, 50 speed skaters.

Ran back fast to COT just in time to close it out.  Almost had one splash of merlot, but he saved it.  Everyone crushed it that day – it was a bear but they all finished and fought through each step of the way.  Love how everyone handled the pain – I reminded them all whatever we have going on, someone else has more pain.  You have to learn to fight.

Closed out in prayer and went about our hump day.  Thanks to Bones for the chance to lead.

Cha Ching

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Headlamps needed out of darkness comes light

 

Pulled up was amazed how many cars where already there and the pax kept rolling in. I guess my advertising worked. We had 2 kotters It was great to see MR. T and Baywatch back out

The Thing

I said the Disclaimer and we Mosey to warm
Followed by high knees to regular then to butt kickers, then regular. Last but not least toy soldiers then regular we  then circle up

Windmill 10 IC
Imperial walker 15 IC
Cherry picker 10 IC

Run the paved path at the bottom of the hill. We have never ventured into the woods in the 2 years we have been here, so what better time than now to explore this great path with a good sized hill would make a great work out for SeaLegs hmmmmmmm in the near future.

Circle up talk about how life is too short to not venture out and explore. Take control of your life be happy. YHC realized there is not enough room to do global warming as planed so I Omaha to the hill.

Mosey to the hill clock work merkins. YHC did short demo:
5 Merkins in 12 o’clock, 5 – in 3 o’clock 5 – in 6 o’clock 5 – in 9 o’clock and 5 – in 12 o’clock one more time. Run to the top of the hill for some –

– Global warming (10 merkins, 10 CCD, 10 burpees)

Mosey to the gaurd rail where I pulled out my board of  pain from behind the guard rail

Partner up

Partner 1 performs exercise till partner returns
Partner 2 runs around long median to the side walk and back.

Monkey humpers
Moroccan night clubs
Plank w/shoulder taps
Irkins
Dips
Donkey kicks
Plank jacks
Squats on your toes
Nur up the hill
American hammers
Burpees
Seal jacks

Some made it to donkey kicks a few made it to plank jacks. I felt we ran enough for the work out so we Lt Dan up hill toward COT .10 of a mile then we NUR the rest of the way COT ot .10 of a mile. I am a big fan of NURING but learned that Cha Ching can run backwards really fast.

COT
Talked more about life being to short live it to the fullest tomorrow is never promised. The reason behind this was bout 2 1/2 years ago Emma my daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. We have now come to a end with her treatment and she has surgery tomorrow to remove her port out of her chest. With that being said we found out last friday that my stepmother has stage IV lung cancer. So never take a day for granted.

Announcements:

Ruck brew, Hog & Coyote coming soon, P200
A group that has supported my family the last 2 years Hometown Heros has a Union county sheriff’s deputy running 40 miles to raise money for the kids battling cancer and other diseases this Saturday trying get some pax to join me with 5k 10k 15 mile 10 mile ect options to support him and his cause.

Prayers and praises:

Prayers for Luka, Vuvuzella son. Emma for finishing treatment up and for having port removed. For my stepmother journey with cancer. Praise for our 2 kotters that came back out.

Great work by the pax they did an awesome job and really pushed them selves. TCLAPS MEN.

https://youtu.be/ZhOkLxtOWYY

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Shovel Flag Hand Off at the Poopdeck

7 Pax came out for Bootcamp and the handing over of the shovel F
flag.
Mosied around the parking lot.
COP
SSH
Moroccan Night Clubs
Squats
Windmills
Mountain Climbers
Merkins

Duck duck goose – pax got on 6 and held 6 inches while 1 pax weaved around, each pax fluttering for 20 count when passed.  Resulting in nonstop fluttering… need to rethink that one.  Pax then repeated with planking/merkins X10 with jumping over.

The Thang

Stations:
Seal Jacks x 15
Plank Jacks x 15
Squats x 25
Burpees x 10
OHP x 15 w/CB
One Armed Rows x 15
Imperial walkers x 15
Mountain Climbers x 15
Merkins x 20
Freddie Mercuries x 15
Big boy situps x 10
Pax went clockwise around stations with a lap around the parking lot to the light post between each station.
COT
Announcements /prayers
Thanks to Wild Thing for his leadership and good luck to Peg!
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GC Bootcamp

4 Pax came out for BC and 4 for Rucking.
Mossied round HT after disclaimer.
COP
SSH
Moroccan Night Clubs
Squats
Windmills
Mountain Climbers
Merkins

11s with dips and derkins

The Thang
Stations:
Seal Jacks x 15
Plank Jacks x 15
Squats x 25
Burpees x 10
OHP x 15 w/CB
One Armed Rows x 15
Imperial walkers x 15
Mountain Climbers x 15
Merkins x 20
Freddie Mercuries x 15
Big boy situps x 10
Pax went clockwise around stations with a lap around the parking lot between each station with some good conversation in between.
COT
Announcements /prayers
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Crazy RECON at Crowders

10 of us, including 2 FNG’s,  joined together at Crowders Creek Elementary on a chilly March morning to RECON the area with hope that we can form a new AO here.

I gave a better-than-usual disclaimer since we had some new guys (Welcome Thing and Iced-T) and we fumbled (that’s a big fence) moseyed around the parking lot.  Eventually we made our way to the center lot (future parking area) while doing some toy soldiers and shuffles along the way.

We circled up for Warm-a-rama which included:

  • 11 Windmills IC
  • 12 Cherry Pickers IC
  • 20 SSH IC
  • 20 Peter Parkers
  • 20 PJ’s IC

The Thang

Our next mission was to find a hill so back to moseying we went.  There is a MASSIVE hill next to the ball field, but visibility was low so we settled on a easier hill which turned out to be pretty nasty anyway.

I had everyone do a King of the Hill type exercise where one guy did as many CDD as possible, while the rest of the gang ran down the hill and backwards up x2.  The idea was to continue to do this until everyone had a chance to be the King and inevitably this is what we did, however, we reduced the up/down to x1 and had the last few guys be Kings together to save some time and our legs from burning.

After finishing up we moseyed our way to the playground.  This AO has a massive playground that we should be able to use for all kind of nastiness in the future so I wanted to point it out this morning and incorporate it to give future Q’s some ideas.  So I created a new exercise I’m calling “Crazy 8’s” which took up the rest of the time.

This consisted of the following:

  • Burp-UP using a piece of playground equipment
  • Jump Lunges
  • Freddie Mercury’s
  • Run
  • Repeat x8

Keeping with the theme, we started with 1 Burp-UP, 8 Jump Lunges (Double Count), 8 Freddie’s (Double Count), and then a figure 8 style lap around 2 landscaping circles in the parking lot leading back to the playground.  We increased the Burp-Up’s by 1 each time, Jump Lunges remained at 8, and Freddie’s increased by 8 each time.

Most of us finished, a few of us didn’t, but we all got better for it.  Those that didn’t have something to shoot for next time because I think this one will turn up again for sure.

For those that finished here is the count of what we accomplished.

  • Burp-UP’s x 36
  • Jump Lunges x 64 (DC)
  • Freddie Mercury’s x 288 (DC)

With only 5 minutes to spare, we went for a long mosey (dang fence) back around the school and made it back to CoT a minute late, but I don’t think anyone minded.

CoT

As usual we finished up with a CoT which included all the usual Announcements, Praises, and Prayers.  Special prayers were lifted up for mothers, mother-in-laws, and stepmothers.  Also, some prayers for this new AO in the hopes that it can help bring new men to F3 and extend our reach further into Lake Wylie.

Welcome once again to our FNG’s Thing and Iced-T and all those that joined today.  It was a pleasure to lead you all this morning and hope to see everyone again next week!

-Flux

 

https://youtu.be/vKG4jGj-F28

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Rainy Monday at the Quagmire

10 Brave soles ventured to the rainy gloom of Quagmire for an opportunity to better themselves.  After getting the late night SOS from Davinci for a “last minute Q”….I put my thinking cap on for how to make it a memorable Monday (meaning you felt it for a couple of days).

After normal disclaimer…and a reminder that “modification” should only be used if needed, we began our mosey.

Warm up:

  • About a mile run (To Gander Mountain)….despite the “I thought this wasn’t a running AO” comments
  • Windmills
  • Hillbilly Walkers
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Weed pickers
  • Slow Low Squats
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Downward Dog
  • Honeymooner
  • Side plank
  • Moroccan Night Club
  • Seal Jacks

The Fun Stuff

Moseyed to the Verizon parking lot

Lined up and performed exercises from one end to the other

  • 5 sets:  Bear Crawl…5 Merkins…Crawl Bear…5 Merkins
  • Set of 50 Merkins
  • 100 Dips
  • 5 Sets:  Lunge Walk…..Backward Run….10 Squats

Mosey back to Best Buy

  • 30 Burpees….10 every minute

COT

Thanks for the opportunity to lead and great work by all the PAX there.

 

~ Bones

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A runner Qs a Bootcamp

We had 7 Bootcampers and 6 Ruckers, the Ruckers were lead by Spiderman, the all looked like they were having a great time and they all thanked Spiderman for being so graciously easy on them(actually I just totally made that up. They all looked terrible)  Thankfully the rain stopped and the disclaimer was given and the Ruckers walked off while the BC guys started right in on a warm up routine of Squats, Jump Ropes(simulated), Lunge Walks, Toy Solders, Karaoke, etc.. Being sufficiently warm we moseyed to the back of HT and circled up for a little Hip & Leg work.

COP – Single Leg Quarter Squats, The Clam Shell(yes it’s a little awkward), Jane Fonda, Front leg lifts, The thigh master, Flutters and some Merkins just for fun.  Now that our hips and legs are ready to run lets go.

The Thang – Mosey to the bottom of the hill by the new apartments, educate the newbies about the hill that used to be there and how no GC workout was complete with out it. The new hill is paved nicer a little longer and not quite as step but it is still worthy of being run up and down several times.  The Q chose to do a round of 11s with LBCs at the bottom and Carolina Dry Docks at the top.  The Pax did great and nobody got lapped by Jedi. Next we were off to the back of the Oil Change place for another round of 11s with dips and derkins, an audible needed to be called as I noticed you can’t run around the Oil Chang place anymore, you have to take a much longer route around the Auto Parts store too. Oh well, everyone agreed that more running was better. We had to cut this sort of 11 due to the longer run, so we headed back to COT.  With 2 minutes still on the clock I made the mistake of asking Jedi for an Ab exercise and he delivered with some terrible rocking thing that I hope to avoid in the future.

Announcements- The Yeti & read your Newsletter

Prayers/Praises – Prayers for the family of the fallen Police Officer, and Praises for how the community has come together to support Law Enforcement.

A Brief challenge to remember Beginnings, and to remember that God’s Mercies are new every morning.

 

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