Tag: Maximus

Movement keeps one warm

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21 gathered at Laces Out and Laces In – 8 and 13 respectively – to prove the theory that movement keeps one warm in chilly December temperatures.

YHC had promised site Q for months that I would take a Laces In Q and it was great to finally fulfill that with such a strong group of PAX and make it through with good fellowship, a little mumble chatter and 45 minutes (or an hour for the 8 runners) of getting a little better than we were the day before.

After a disclaimer and delegating the assumption of risk to all gathered, we moseyed to the FMHS Band parking lot for COP:

COP: Moroccan Night Clubs IC x 20, arm circles – forward and backward in varying quantities, SSH IC x 30, Merkins IC x 12, Windmills IC x 15

Mosey back to the Stadium entrance for Jacob’s Ladder.  Since our workout was 12 days before Christmas, it only seemed fitting that the exercises add up to 12 instead of 11.  YHC, therefore, modified the ladder, given the date on the calendar.

Burpees at the bottom – 11, 10, 9, 8, etc.

Lunge Walks uphill to the 2nd lightpole (crowd pleaser )

Carolina Dry Docks at the 2nd lightpole – 1, 2, 3, 4 and mosey back down

Mosey to the main parking lot for a little partner Dora

100 merkins total – Partner 1 starts, partner 2 does a roughly 120 yard shuttle run  – switch until 100 is reached.

200 squats – Partner 1 starts, partner 2 runs, you get the idea

Had a plan for 300 as well, but YHC was compelled to call an audible at 5:57 (time ran short) to head back for a little ab work…..but just a little.

Boxcutters IC x 30, American Hammers IC x 15, and a body destroyer promptly executed at 5:59 AM.

There was much movement, a little chatter, varying amounts of sweat and a few comments in the days that followed relating to the amount of lunge walks – complimentary of course.

Announcements – Christmas Eve convergence – 12-24 at the Abyss – Palisades Park Elementary and Q source begins on Saturday 1-5-19.

Prayers for all traveling for the holidays.

Relatively new to leading workouts, it was great to see some #HIM’s who, years ago, were encouraging of this serial runner guy to get out of his comfort zone and go do something else.  You each know who you are.  Thank you.

My thanks to Lil’ E for the opportunity to lead.  It was a privilege.

Cyclops

 

 

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Christmas on Main Street

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Chilly morning started out with war stories from the GORUCK weekend with three of the PAX in attendance coming home with a Tough patch.  Congrats to Bonsai on his first GORUCK Tough!

Clock struck 5:15, a disclaimer was provided and we took off on a mosey in the direction of Main Street.  We stopped halfway there for windmills and again at the bottom of the hill on Main Street for some merkins.  We reached our ultimate destination at the Fort Mill Animal Clinic parking lot.  YHC is the site Q for the Fire Ant, ruck AO, which meets on Tuesday’s.  Being a visiting Q on the same day as the standard ruck workout, it only made sense that some version of a ruck workout had to come with me.  This is what led the PAX to the back of Maximus’ truck that was stationed in the parking lot.  We pulled out 3 60lb sandbags, 1 40lb sandbag, 1 40lb ruck, and 1 30 lb filler bag to be used in the 12 Days of Christmas.  Given the theme of the workout, I was really hoping the millions of Christmas lights up in the area would be on, but they must not burn all night.

12 Days of Christmas

  1. Run down the hill on Main Street and back (~0.2 miles)
  2. Glow stick bear crawl – bear crawl from one glow stick to the other (down hill) and crawl bear back (up hill) (~20 yards out and 20 yards back)
  3. Jumping Lunges
  4. Bomb Jacks with a Donkey Kick
  5. Man Makers (sand bag)
  6. 4 Count Flutters
  7. Jump Squats
  8. Shoulder Press (sand bag)
  9. Bent Over Rows (sand bag)
  10. Merkins
  11. Curls (sand bag)
  12. Broad Jump Burpees

We didn’t make it all the way to strength items since most only made it 8 before time ran out.  The bear crawls and crawl bears definitely made their presence known and the cardio was evident by the 2.7 miles covered.

With time running out we tossed the sandbags back in the truck and took a quick mosey back to the start point with one stop for some merkins.

Great job by the strong PAX in attendance.  Definitely want a shot at completing this whole series since the first half was a burner.  Thank you to Shady for the opportunity at this great AO.

Announcements:

  • Fort Convergence on Christmas Eve – this is a MUST ATTEND

Prayer Request:

  • Prayers for Skate or Die’s friend as he and his family mourn the early passing of his sister
  • Prayers for the congregation of Unity Presbyterian Church as they recover from the fire
  • Prayers for those fighting cancer
  • Prayers for patience and poise during the holiday season and 2.0s are a little more ramped up than normal.
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2018 CLAVE BOSS 5K & CHRISTMAS CONVERGENCE

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4th Annual Clave Boss 5k and Christmas Convergence is upon us.

So many traditions but this is one that continues to get better with age, so don’t miss it.

It is for all PAX so no excuses!!

Invite your family visiting from out of town and get ready to start the Christmas week off with Fitness, Fellowship and Faith!

Details:

Date: Monday 12/24/18
Location: The Abyss – Palisades Elementary School

What: Clave Boss 5k, Pre-Ruck, Bootcamp, Ruck, Coffeerteria

Time:

  • 0600 – Pre-Ruck will launch
    • Worldwide Leader Q
  • 0605 – Clave Boss 5k
    • Top 3 runners will receive Bundt Cake!
  • 0700 – Boot Camp
    • Cake Boss & Maximus Qs
  • 0700 – Ruck  
    • Bonsai will Q
  • 0750 – COT: Namearama, FNG naming, WORDS FROM MR. CLEAN, BoM
    • Big Leadership Announcement—-Don’t want to miss
  • 0815 – Coffeerteria:  0815 at The Grid Iron (corner of 49/160 by Rivergate)

 

The Legend of the Claves lives on!

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The Ruck Taper That Wasn’t…Here at the Fire Ant

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Oh, you didn’t tote a ruck and join us at the Fire Ant this morning? But, you know how to read. Lucky you; you’ll feel as if you joined us in this perfect gloom. Well, aside from smoked shoulders, jail-breaks, curls, squats, lunges, weird-shaped circles, flutters and joyful times of getting yelled at. That’s basically the entire Weinke right there.

But for you more literary types, I’ll humor you just this time. 17 of The Fort’s finest Ruckers converged on the now guaranteed-to-please Fire Ant and we even had a non-typical out there which is always welcome. If you’re not a Rucker yet you’re still reading this, I owe you one. In addition, I highly encourage you reach out to Spiderman or DaVinci (Ruck Q’s) and see if they can wrangle an extra ruck for you to join us out there one morning. It’s a great time of fellowship and you’ll even learn a little more about your limits. Here’s a hint, you can take more than you think.

So the disclaimer was disclaimed, we fell in 2×2 and took it over to circle up around the flags. This next part was a bit of a mind game. While routine is something we all enjoy and can keep ourselves in check with, when it comes to a workout, it doesn’t always have the same benefit. We had fit, strong PAX out there this morning so I tried something slightly different and broke our typical 5min routine. We started off with 31 squats (with ruck) then 32-4ct flutters with ruck press.

Fall back in line for a 20yd 2×2 to our next stop. Rucks overhead 2×2 to the end of the drop-off lane…yup, that sucked too. Make a hard right, rucks on and lunge walk 1/2 way to the back. About face and reverse lunge walk the rest of the way to the back lane. Rucks overhead and 2×2 about 40yds down the back lane. Drop the rucks for an all-out jail break to the end of the lane (nearly 60yds). Catch your breath and jail break back to your ruck. Guess what was next…rucks overhead 2×2 back to the start of the lane.

5 Man-Makers & 10 Hand-Release Merkins

2×2 over to the bottom of the tiered stadium hill

Bear crawls up the hill in between the levels.

Level 1: 20 full Mak Tar Jai’s (yup, suck-fest)

Level 2: 20 Peter Parkers

Level 3: 20 Parker Peters

What goes up, must come down. We’ll now reverse bear crawl in between the levels.

Level 3: 20 Upright rows

Level 2: 20 Curls

Level 1: 20 Bent over rows

Rucks on 2×2 back to the drop-off lane.

Squats around the world. In a circle, PAX hold the Al Gore and each man does 1 full squat  going around the circle. We did 7 total rounds.

Same idea but this time with a shoulder press. Hold ruck up overhead and do 1 full press when it’s your turn. We did 7 total rounds.

Same idea now with ruck curls. Guess how many rounds we did…7.

3-tier suicides with 5 ruck thrusters each time you come back to the start.

A high number of SEAL-team situps with awkwardly positioned rucks.

And that was it.

So much for the taper…

Announcements: Read the newsletter, keep collecting band-aids and support the Paradise Reading Center Monday/Wednesday 4pm.

Prayers: Double-Down in Louisville, PAX doing the GRT in Wilmington this weekend, PAX running Kiawah this weekend. Family relationships this Holiday season. It’s not always easy but help us to stay focused on opportunities to share grace and love. Sick kids, sick M’s, our teachers and education leaders, and several others I’m missing.

Until next time.

Maximus

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Constantly Moving Through The Swamp

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It is always a pleasure to get the “call” to the lead the PAX  and this opportunity didn’t disappoint.  The Swamp is my “home” Friday AO so I was well aware of all the nooks and crannies it had to offer.

After a separating ourselves from the droves of men with backpacks (12 of them) I gave the usual disclaimer explaining that these men were there at their own risk and that the only thing I could promise is that they would return “stronger” than they set out.  I also explained that we would be “moving” the entire time so ‘buckle up’ and enjoy the tour.

Quick 3/4 mile mosey around Home Depot to the Khol’s parking lot.  Along the way we did some active stretching including butt kickers and high knees.  Warm up included several exercises to warm the muscles up such as:

  • Windmill
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Potato Pickers
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Right/Left leg over opposite leg with body twist (on our 6)
  • Downward Dog
  • Honeymooner
  • Side Straddle Hops

Quick mosey 100 yards —- 50 Slow Low Squats

Bear Crawl 50 yards

25 yard mosey

Merkins:

  • 30 Regular
  • 20 Wide Arm
  • 15 Ranger
  • 10 Diamond

Crawl Bear 50 yards

Mosey to Verizon: 50 Moroccan Night Club (Jedi wasn’t amused)

Mosey to “alley” behind Home Depot:

Wall sits while one PAX goes out and does 10 Berpees

Lunge Walking (down alleyway)

  • Varying steps (3-10) then exercise:
  • Merkins
  • Squat Jumps
  • Burpees
  • 10 Squat Jumps (to cap it off)

Mosey toward COT

Halfway stop for 10 more Burpees

Almost there……but first one last Suicide to really gas ourselves.

We finished strong and as I promised every man came back to COT stronger than he had left.  We reconnected with our backpack brothers and lifted some prayers and praises up.  In total 19 men got better (12 Ruckers and 7 Bootcampers)

Bones

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Honoring a Hero at the Badger Den: The SCHMALLS

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11 posted this AM to honor Marine Gunnery Sgt. Justin E. Schmalstieg whom, as assigned to the 1st Explosive Ordinance Disposal Company, 7th Engineer Support Battallion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, 1 Marine Expeditionary Force gave his life clearing the way for his teammates.

The workout started with a brief 200m jogging disclaimer consisting of some toy soldiers and lunge walks. We then brought it back to the launch point for warm ups including hand-release merkins and Moroccan Night Clubs. And…that was it. We then read the bio of Gunnery Sgt Schmalstieg and walked through the workout today, coined the Schmalls.

800m run (on the track)

Then 2 rounds of the following:

50 Burpees (100 total)

40 Pull-Ups (80 total)

30 Single Leg Squats each leg (60 total each leg)

20 KB swings (40 total): We used cinder blocks

10 Handstand Push Ups (20 total)

Then another 800m run (on the track)

We had a few minutes left so we didn’t let that go to waste:

Staggered merkins in cadence on the cinderblocks

LBC’s with cinder blocks at full extension

Squats with cinder blocks stretch out overhead

Curls

Lastly, American Hammers without the cinder blocks.

The Hero Book has been pasted to Love Handle as he was the one man today who hasn’t Q’d the Honey Badger. If you are a man that hasn’t yet posted to the Honey Badger, consider this your encouragement. Sure, there is some cocky smack talked dished out in advance. It’s all to push each other to be just a little better than yesterday. When you complete one of this workouts, you feel both educated and pushed…really pushed. The recognition of a fallen HERO helps to put your present suck into perspective. And when you transition from 50 burpees to pull-ups and hand-stand push-ups for the second time, perspective helps.

After all, as the Navy SEALs say…The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday.

Maximus.

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The Coop: Beat the temperature day and we did it! #25

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It was a cool morning and when I say cool I mean Fonzie cool. PAX came in from all directions and we had met the temperature of 25 degrees. I was proud that the men did not stay in the fartsack where it was easy….but rather said yes to accountability and posted with their brothers.

Had to get the PAX warm, so away we went……

The Thang:

Mosey around parking lot

  • Shuffle
  • Mosey
  • Toy solders
  • more Mosey
  • COP
    • Plank
    • Merkins
    • Imperial Walkers
    • Squats
    • Peter Parker
    • FLutters
    • Parker Peters
  • Mosey
    • 1’s wall sit with shoulder presses
    • 2’s 5 box jumps, 10, derkins, 15 dips
    • Flapjack
    • Mosey to front of NAFO school

Had 12 cinder block stations, partner up

  1. Run around islands of parking lot
  2. perform exercises below with as many reps as possible while waiting on partner
    1. Flapjack until all 12 are completed
  • Bear crawl with Block drag
  • Block swing
  • Floor to Shelf L/R
  • Curls
  • Tri-extensions
  • Leg raises with Block
  • Bear crawl with Block right/left Merkins
  • Squat to overhead press
  • Bent Rows
  • Burpees
  • Sumo deadlifts press
  • LBCs

Time was up and so the PAX moseyed back to COT with blocks in hand

  • Wrap up with Freddy’s and Hello Dolly’s

Thank you Wegmans for the opportunity to Q

  • The Fort Christmas Party is this Saturday 12/1
  • Christmas convergence at Palisades Elementary School 12/24
  • Prayers for the many dealing with health concerns, lost family members and injuries

Individually we can be picked apart and crumble, however when we stand together and support each other we are indestructible. Like the cinder blocks we used, individually they don’t do much but with many of them……makes a solid foundation. Hold a brother accountable and likewise and you will become a solid foundation for your family, friends and community.

Cake Boss

 

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Big 50 Birthday bash

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Today was my 50th Birthday and Maximus allowed me to lead a Beyond so that I could take some extra time to discuss somethings that I have been pondering as I approached this milestone birthday.  To go along with our monthly theme of Vulnerable I took the opportunity to share some struggles as well.  With that we moseyed.

Warm up of SSH, Imperial walkers, Squats, Mountain Climbers, Merkins, and Plank Jacks

Moseyed to Rite Aid parking lot(some chatter about too much running, but I ignored it).

Sharing time #1 – Shared with the Pax that I feel like 30 year old me would have thought that 50 year old me would be “further along”.  Further along Professionally and Financially, Further along Spiritually and in Family.  In 2001 I was recruited to Charlotte for a position with a new company, for a salary that I thought would be my ticket ahead.  I had great plans that I could do this for a bunch of years, make a bunch of money and then I could check out and go do something that I wanted to do , maybe full time ministry or teaching.  Within 1 year it all blew up, I was demoted for not doing a good job, salary was slashed plans were gone.  17 years later we’re still feeling the affects.

First circuit – Partner up – Partner 1 does People’s Chair Partner 2 does a lap, then flip it.  Next Partner 1 does Plank, Partner 2 does a lap, flip it.  Next Partners do 100 Merkins as a team, 1 runs I does Merkins, flip it.

Sharing time 2 – Felt like I would be further along spiritually.  30 year old me would have thought I would have gotten past my need for man’s approval.  I would have thought that the sins that tripped me up back then would be conquered and pride & lust would no longer be an issue foe me, but they are still there.  Felt like I would be further along in family & parenting. My plan was to be an empty nester at this point, but here I am with a 7th and 9th grader still at home, and t top it off I’m not particularly better at parenting then I was when I 30.

Circuit #2 Partner again – Lap #1 Partner 1 does Al Gore Partner #2 does a lap.  Lap #2  Partner 1 does Flutters Partner 2 does a lap.  Lap #2 Team does 100 Big Boy Sit ups total while 1 partner runs.

Sharing time 3 – The truth is that when I look at my life with clear eyes I can see that my life has been Blessed beyond measure!  I have a job that I mostly enjoy, and work with great people(shout out to Royale) and I am well compensated.  I have a beautiful wife of 26 years and we have a great marriage that keeps getting better.  I have 5 awesome kids who are healthy and bring me great joy, and sometimes frustration.  To add to it I have found this thing called F3 and a group of friends and Brothers that I never even knew I needed!  To see my 50 year old life s anything but blessed is ridiculous.

Off to COT for 2 minutes of Mary

Final share – What I have found is that the only times that I get down about where I am at 50 is when I look around me at others and I compare myself to what  my perception of them is.  This can lead to pride but for me it mostly leads to despair.  What I am trying to learn is contentment as Paul describes it in Phil. 4, whether he had much or little Paul was content.  The source of this contentment is found in Phil. 3 where Paul shares that all of his achievements, any possession he may have or any legacy he may be able to boast about , all of is it is worthless, or as he calls is a big pile of manure, compared to knowing Christ.  Paul says he has 1 aim, and that is to Know Christ!!  The secret Paul learned is that all he need was Jesus and if he had Jesus he had all he needed, and if he had Jesus, he could never lose him so therefore he could always be content.  In whatever amount of years I have left let this be my aim; that I may know Christ!!

Thank you for the opportunity to lead.

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Always a burpee mile at Pantheon

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Not too much creativity was brought to Pantheon on this comfortable, non-raining day. Arrived and set out 4 marker softballs around the larger running loop. YHC started with a message about serving and talked about the Thanksgiving drive in the Paradise neighborhood.

No FNGs, gave disclaimer. Started with a jog around the loop to note location of softballs for future use. Butt kickers, side shuffles, and a run backward high knees with no injuries reported. Followed with a circle of a few warmup exercises which included the always popular scissor one-leg flutters.

Workout consisted of running the large loop, stopping at 4 softballs along the way to do burpees. First loop 5 at each softball, then 4 and we eventually finished the 3rd lap. PAX took turns leading during the laps at the pace they desired. After each lap, we performed a series of exercises focusing on arms or legs. Exercises included, but may not be limited to:

Legs: squats, sumo squats, mountain climbers, people’s chair ( a few times with PAX counting down) , ski jump squats (very difficult to count as Q).

Arms: Balls to the wall 3x?, merkins, 6″ merkins, etc.

Calves: Rocky Balboa toe taps, calf raises, squat jumps focusing on getting off toes.

Finished with 3+ minutes of Mary feet never touching ground.

Gave more info about the food drive for our Thanksgiving efforts in Paradise. Thank you to Pantheon PAX for their pledges and donations which have already started come in just a few hours later!

Sign up for Christmas party.  Cornerstone is accepting character bandaids for the children’s hospital until somewhere around Dec. 20.  Come out to G-fit, our weekly workout in Paradise on Saturdays at 3:00 pm at Steele Street Park with the kids. Volunteer at the Reading Center on Mondays and Wednesdays at 4:00 pm at the Bethlehem Baptist Church, 601 Joe Louis St.

Prayers for Triple Lindy’s son. Prayers for our kids in school and sports. Support each other outside of our workouts. Triple Lindy is seeking employment if any PAX can help. While overlooked in COT, prayers to Lutefisk and family in their time of loss of his mother.

Thank you to Olaf for taking us out.

YHC had a good talk after with Fishsticks and Triple Lindy (first time meeting).

Here is the link to support our Thanksgiving efforts in Paradise. We must move quickly, within the next couple days.  https://f3thefort.com/2018/11/13/support-thanksgiving-food-efforts-in-paradise/

Aye Bolt.

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BEYOND Badger – Passivity

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Maximus offered me the opportunity to lead a BEYOND workout, and it only felt right to do it at The Badger… He told me to pick the topic and I got to work. I wanted to take it a step further since it was a BEYOND Badger… so instead of one long grueling workout, I chose a few. Makes sense, right?

My topic was Passive Leadership. Something I struggle with constantly. No matter how “great” I feel I am doing as a leader, I tend to slow down and mentally rest. I let my life lead itself and when I’m not behind the steering wheel, the wheels fall off.

Apathy/Indifference – feeling indifferent or lacking emotion
Passivity – accepting what happens without active response or resistance

Poor leadership has many faces… but passivity in my opinion is a main root of the issue.

COP (All Workouts Derived from the Exicon!)
11 of each for (Observed) Veteran’s Day
SSH
Sun Gods (Arm Circles)
Moroccan Night Clubs
Windmill
Hairy Rockettes (Reverse Windmill, Toes reach up to hands)
Tappy Taps
Carolina Dry Docks
Merkins
Peter Parkers
Calf Raises
Low Slow Squat

Al Gore’s in a circle while I talked.

Ephesians 5:25 – Husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church.

I made a vow at the time I proposed to my wife that I wouldn’t be the typical American male who is distant from his family and doesn’t love or support them if their needs aren’t being met. I was on fire at that point in my life, leading and loving like God designed me to do. I felt unstoppable at accomplishing a love that no man had ever felt. Then I started to get in the way…

The great part about the Honey Badger is we get to honor men who didn’t lead passively.

We finished the warm up and moseyed over to the badger den’s infamous pull up bars.

Ryan – Firefighter Hero WOD
5 Rds
7 Muscle UPS or Pull UPS/DIPS
21 Burpees

LBC’s while we waited for the group to finish. Gotta keep adding to the November count!

Drop down to Al Gore to keep the conversation going.

Somewhere along the way… I lost sight of my vow and decided that I wanted to pursue my own fulfillment over my wife’s. It ended up as you’d imagine. We fell away from each other while trying to conceive. I couldn’t think about her pain during the two years we tried, all I could think about was myself and how ready or not ready I was. We reached a point of pursuing fertility treatment – and by we I mean she decided and I didn’t really give any input. We were at the decision point to take hormone shots. Without consulting her or even thinking of her feelings, I backed out and decided for us to let it happen naturally. Needless to say I broke a lot of trust and I reaped the fruit of passive leadership. It was a hard fought battle to regain the trust I broke, but we made it back. All because I led apathetically.

Can you imagine how giving our all, all the time could have an impact? Would you rather be consistently good or inconsistently great?

Mosey to the track to take part in hero workout number two.

Griff 
2 Rds
800 m run forward
400 m run backward

Pick up the six and run with him to the end. The guys planked while we did so.

We ran short so couldn’t do our third hero WOD, but I’m pretty sure everybody was okay with that. We moseyed back to COT for my message to come to a close.

Drop into Al Gore once more to finish the conversation.

I took the difficult time and raw relationship to heart, and was really helped by God and a few good men at my Church in MD. We conceived our daughter and that really helped bring us out of the pit. I vowed not to let our family growth become a wedge and would do my best to lead my wife through whatever comes next. That doesn’t mean I’ve been without issue. Things are constantly changing, and I have to remain in the lead for my wife and children’s sake. If I fail, their chances of failing increase exponentially. I need to keep my head up and lead in a way that will bear the right fruit for all.

Ephesians 5:33a – However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself

A few thoughts…
My life and how fast things change… my daughter will be four in five days. How did that happen? How did I blink and she get this old? Where did I fail? Where did I succeed? How does apathy/passivity cause you to miss things?

A lot of the things that take my focus away have nothing to do with my family. Work, friends, social media, keeping up with sports, golf, hobbies, drinking beer, music, news and politics. Some things take my family time away that are very productive. Church, volunteering at church, F3, working out. Some may have a positive impact on my family life but most of the time take away from my time with my family.

What’s more important?

End with LBCs x 16 IC until the clock struck 6:00.

19 PAX showed up. Welcome FNG BACONATOR!

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