F3 CrowsNest – October 21, 2019

Crow’s Nest (10/21/2019)

We had 11 HIM at the Poop Deck.

Warm Up
From the parking lot we moseyed to the west side of the school. At each light pole for a total of 4 light poles we performed 5 burpees.

SSH – 25 IC
Windmill – 10 IC
Cotton Pickers – 10 IC
MNC – 15 IC
Hillbillies – 15 IC
Imperial Walker – 15 IC
LLS Squat – 10 IC
Mountain Climber Merkin – 10 IC
Downward dog to Honeymooner

The Thang
I used the light poles to my advantage on the next routine. This time from the first light pole we would do 10 merkins – 20 monkey humpers – 40 mountain climbers (count each leg). Then run to the last light pole and perform the same routine. From the last light pole we ran to the second light pole and so forth keeping the same number of exercises.

So at the very end you should have completed 100 merkins 200 squats and 400 mountain climbers.

Mini Dora
We partnered up. While one partner ran we performed 50 big boy sit ups, 100 flutter kicks and 150 lbc.

Mary
Exercises included dancing chilcut, plank jacks, Freddy Mercuries and dying cockroaches.

Circle of Trust
Prayers for Survey Says and WhiteSnake’s children who have been battling an illness.

Prayers for Qbert as he and his family go through the adoption process.

Prayers for a co-worker of Radar’s whose daughter is in drug rehabilitation.

Announcements
F3 Lake Wylie CSAUP is Saturday, October 26. Check out the backblast here.

Aye,
Sean Corcoran (RADAR)

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Avast Ye Scurvy Dogs! All Aboard the Ship of Pain at Crow’s Nest…Argh!

Once again it was me pleasure to deliver the Monday morn beat down to the land lubbers of Lake Wylie…enough pirate talk…We have 15 join YHC for my 22nd Q of 2019 (two over my goal of 20 set back in January).  I’m nursing Ragnar knee (combination of IT band and my 49.5 years of age) but two advils and onward!  Here’s how it went down:

Warm-o-rama:

  • Short mosey through the parking lot to circle up
  • 15 Imperial walkers, IC
  • 10 Weed pullers, IC
  • 20 SSH, IC
  • 20 Moroccan night clubs, IC
  • 20 Chinooks, IC
  • 10 Balance merkins, IC (extend opposite arm and leg at the top of the merkin

The Thang – part I

  •  Partner Dora – 100 merkins, 200 squats, 300 LBCs

The Thang – part II

We counted off by 3s for a rotating 3 station beatdown; groups stayed together, planked for the 6 before taking a lap and moving to the next station:

Station 1:

  • 25 SSH OYO
  • 20 Flutters, IC as a group
  • 15 Derkins OYO
  • 25 CDDs, OYO
  • Plank for the 6 then take a lap to station 2

Station 2:

  • 10 lunges per leg
  • 10 WWII Sit ups
  • 10 tricep hammers per arm with 20lb dumbell
  • 10 diamond merkins

Station 3:

  • 15 Medicine ball jump squats – 10lb ball
  • 10 Burpees
  • 20 LBCs, IC
  • Bicep curls, 10 per arm, 25lb dumbell

The Thang, Part III

  • Wall squats – end pax run out and do 3 vertical jumps, all they got
  • Balls to the Wall –  end pax run out and do 5 merkins

Icing on the Cake:

  • 15 Freddie Mercurys, IC
  • 15 Crunch Frogs, IC
  • 10 Crab Cakes, IC

Moleskin

Announcements:

  • All LW week day workouts moved up 15 min to 5AM to accommodate the impending hell that is the closure of Pole Branch rd for 6 months
  • The Nessie – LW CSAUP 10/26 – teams of 3 for 10 miles of running and pain stations – get your teams ready to compete for 2nd place (behind the team of Survey Says, Stagefright and YHC)

Prayers & Praises

  • Praise for Qbert and the M have begun the adoption process!
  • Prayers for safe travel and healing of the injured and sick
  •  Gratitude

Thanks to all the PAX for coming out and for Iced T for letting me Q!  Always energizes my body and soul!

Wolverine

 

 

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Do more pull-ups

6 Pax came out to the Abyss to answer the age old question, how do I get better at pull-ups?

We started off with a mosey around to the track for COP (MNC, produce pickers, squats, windmills, merkins, burpee x 10 each)

As site Q, I see it as my duty to jump on the new trends, so COP was followed by a mosey around the AO, down Tryon, and back to where we started.

The Thang
A Two Ferns inspired “Nicole” WOD. AKA AMRAP pull ups and lap around the track for 20 minutes.

The big hill was pretty slick, and a teacher was on the paved hill unlocking the gate, so YHC audibled back to the shovel flag for a quick DORA
Pax 1: 200 merkins
Pax 2: run to island, 10 squats and back to relieve Pax 1

Finished with some Mary and COT.

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Escape From McDowell Nature Preserve

So I have been doing more running than usual lately in preparation for the Ragnar and on a  hot muggy July 3 I decided to bring the rest of the PAX along for some of my training, much to the chagrin of some of my F3 brothers. Disclaimer was given and we were off to the back basketball courts where we circled up for…

COP-SSHx20/Reach to Sky/Touch Toes/Down Dog/Honeymooner/merkinsx10/Down Dog/Honeymooner/Touch Toes/Reach to Sky/Sun Gods x11 fwd/rvrse. Circle Burp-High Knees while each PAX calls down and we all do a Burpee on the down.

Main Event

We ran to the back of the McDowell Nature Preserve where there is a lake and a circular parking lot. The run is about a mile back with a bunch of hills and there were a few PAX who were not exactly happy bout that. Sorry not sorry. Once we did get to the lake parking lot we Burpee Broad jumped around in a circle which was another crowd pleaser. At this point we were all around 50 or so Burpees which is another training goal of mine as I prepare for a Spartan Race(50 Burpees a day/100 if I do not post). We then had to escape the preserve. As most of us were winded I had us start back by lunge walking up hill to catch our breath, then we bear crawled for a bit before running back to COT.

We still had a few minutes before COT. Thank you Royale for leading some Flutter Kicks until the 6 was in.  We finished off with a few Sprints until the end.

Thoughts And Prayers

Leading a mostly running workout is a challenge as everyone is not in running shape and there was some separation. Overall it worked, but just barely. Prayers for travel, disease, losing loved ones, dealing with family and a big praise for ‘Merica on its 243 birthday since the Deceleration Of Independence from Britain in 1776. Thanks also to Jiminy Cricket and Crux from F3 Lake Norman for coming out. Peace!

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Speed & Stamina Tested at Crow’s Nest

Fourteen joined YHC in the damp and steamy gloom at Crow’s Nest.   Happy to see and FNG among the usual Pax, YHC gave the disclaimer (push yourself but modify as necessary, etc.)  Here is how it went down:

Warm – o – rama

Indian run passing a 10lb medicine ball from front to back, about 3/4 of a mile toward the back of the school.  From there we circled up for some warm up work:

  • 10 windmills IC
  • 15 Imperial walkers IC
  • 12 Hillbilly walkers IC
  • 20 Mountain climbers IC
  • Downward dog and honeymooner for a moment or two
  • 10 diamond merkins IC

The Thang Part I

Pax proceed to a series of 8 cones set up 10 yards apart, with intermediate cones running parallel in between about 5 yards away:

  • diagonal shuffle in a line, 100 yards
  • diagonal run, in a line 100 yards
  • alternating lunge walk & bear crawl, with 5 jump squats or 5 merkins a each cone, 80 yards
  • Gassers (formerly called suicides) at the tall cones, with all you got on the last 80 yards up the slight incline

By this time, everyone seemed to be warmed up so on to:

The Thang Part II

Pax partnered up to knock off the list below; partner one began the exercises while partner two ran a loop around the parking lot, about 75 yards.  Most of us made it through the merkins before Omaha with 7 minutes left, (Awesome Wolverine Fist art work courtesy of the M).

The Thang Part III

  • Wall sit passing the 10lb medicine ball while pax alternated doing 3 super duper all you got reach for the stars jump squats.  I think we did this twice?
  • Mosey back to COT for a set of American Hammers

Moleskin

We welcomed Chop Block’s big brother, the FNG forever to be know as Mogul for his Real Estate and the ventures.   Hog and Coyote – Olaf (R) looking for a partner to run & bike with.  Prayers for Qbert this week as he counsels kids at church youth camp; prayers for a local family that lost dad too soon to and unexpected heart attack.  Praise for our FNG and for the great initial response to possible Lake Wylie FIA!.  Absolutely an honor to be part of the Pax & to lead a workout.

Aye, Wolverine

 

 

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Back to Basics at The Deep

After my Q on Thursday I feel like Q #3 this week would a good opportunity to go back to basics.  As the Lake Wylie guys celebrated 3 years since the launch of the Deep this week I forget that we have a lot of “newer” faces around.  I wanted to make sure we can get the “why” of a lot of the things we do in F3 shared and engrained with the PAX.

This morning looked like it was going to be a wet one.  At 6m when I woke up it was POURING. But looking at the weather it showed a break for our 7-8am hour. I had planned a weinke with lightning options and no lightning ones.  Regular rain is the BEST and not a determining factor on the weinke.  (Core principle #3; to be discussed later)

I was successful at dragging Lancelot out of bed (but not The Lorax) so we were glad to see so many guys, including a few 2.0s at The Deep at launch time.  Gave the disclaimer and we did a couple dynamic warmup laps around the parking lot until we circled up for COP.

During COP; Gave the proper instruction on what it takes to lead the group in cadence.

Announce the exercise – move the men into position – begin the exercise and count in cadence – I completed SSHs as the example

Then I asked for some of the newer PAX jump in the middle and to lead a specific exercise.  From memory I think it went like this…

Lancelot – Windmills

Captain Jack – Imperial Walkers

O’Reilly – Daisy Pickers (or non-descript produce pickers)

Whitesnake – Squats

Bono – Moroccan Night Clubs

John Wick – Merkins

Next we moved to the back on of the school, the lightning had held off (so did the rain) so I gave O’Reilly the choice of our next Evolution; Dora 1-2-3 or Lazy Dora.  He’s been reading up on the lexicon so he was smart and picked Dora 1-2-3

Partner Up

Partner 1 does exercise while partner 2 runs about 30 yards down the straightaway then switch

We did:

100 Merkins

200 Squats

300 single count Flutters

For our 10 counts I asked all who knew the 5 core principals of F3?

  1. Free 2. to all men 3. held outdoors (rain or shine) 4. lead in rotation by a member of the group 5. closes with a COT

Next Evolution we moseyed over to the east parking lot

On Thursday several of the PAX did not know what a Kraken burpee was!  Since this was a Lake Wylie day 1 Original I had to share and spice it up.  All credit for this goes to Shady who wrote this up in a black diamond BB a few weeks ago.  He called it “Krack Webbs”.  When I announced it to the group, several guys were not happy with what was to come.

  • 1 Kracken burpee (1 burpee + 3 hand release merkins for the pushup part of the burpee)
  • 4 squats
  • Repeat all the way up to 10 Kracken and 40 squats totals equal 55 Kraken burpees & 220 Squats

About halfway through this terrible idea we heard some lightning.  I coached the guys on proper procedure when leading.  Rain = Great, Lightning = take care of your PAX.  We used this parking lot just in case of lightning, so we could easily move under the awning at the east side of the school.  Lesson learned = be mindful of your surroundings and have an alternate place in your plan for safety.

Finished the Krack Webbs under the awning as a little rain started. I wanted to quit at 8 rounds, but somehow we kept going!  That one pushed us all!

Evolution 3

Wall sits with a twist.

We were already under the awning so we would sit on the wall, left to right would bear crawl and we would just keep going.  When we ran out of wall stay under the awning and hold Al Gore while the group continued to bear crawl.

Last thing we did was at the request of Link… he mentioned crab walks so we continued down the hallway for the last 20 yards doing that.

At the end I shared I quote I found from Santini and shared it with the PAX.

Why do we do have Three Fs?

“It’s not an accident.  Men of purpose and impact are intentional about their lives. Men who become part of F3 start to explore the idea of Faith.  In many cases, this starts with asking questions like, “What do I believe?  What do I value? What is important to me?  Is there more than just writing a mortgage check?  Who can I share the things that concern me, scare me, or challenge me?”  These questions drive a man to assess his measure of impact in the world around him.” ~Santini

COT

Announcements – Savage Race 5/18 we are planning an F3 Dads day at the Deep 5/25

Prayers and Praises – New homes for Wildthing and Bones (Link); Healing for those fighting cancer and other ailments.

An Honor to Lead!

~Royale

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Flag Day

15 High Impact Men rolled up to the Crow’s Nest for a very humbling day for myself.  I did a quick disclaimer as we did have a FNG in the house and we moseyed on over to one of the side parking lots for some COP.

SSHx20/Windmillx10/Reach To Sky,Touch Toes, Down Dog,Honeymooner/Annie’s/Produce Pickersx10 

We then moseyed on over to the back playground which where all the fun toys are.  With the crowd at the Nest this morning I decided against having each individual PAX doing monkey bars swings while the rest of the PAX did Burpees as it would have taken forever and most of the PAX would’ve beed smoked within the first 15 minutes of the workout, so I went right into the …

Main Event

My very first post was the Crow’s Nest during the very first time there was an F3 workout there and in honor of this I borrowed from Flux’s workout all the way back from last March 5th, 2018.  He had us do crazy 8’s so I followed suite but with a little modification.  We all did 8 Pull Ups/ 8 Merkins/ 8 Squats for 8 rounds.  In between each round we traveled in between the parking lot islands in a figure 8 pattern but each time there was a different mode of travel. First was a normal run, then bear crawl curb to curb, then Crab Walk curb to curb, then bunny hop around islands, then pylo skip around islands, normal run, bear crawl, finishing off with a run.

Co-Main Event 

Bear Crawl up ramp to park area with plenty of stone seats where I had us do Elevens of Step Ups(each leg) and merkins.

Moseyed on over to side wall for some people’s chair while end Pax did 3 burpees each. Much to the chagrin of Flux, Qbert had the best burpee form though Flux’s bear crawl is second to none. Moseyed on back for COT.

Observations-never drink a protein shake before a workout or it might splash back up on you.  Luckily I was able to hold it down as it would have been real embarrassing to splash merlot while Q’ing.  Also welcome FNG Meltdown!  Someone wanted to name him Chernobyl but that would have been just wrong(LOL).

Grateful and honored to receive the Crow’s Nest shovel flag from Flux.  He has truly been a great leader. The 13 months I have been a member of F3 have been some of the best months of my life.  To many more adventures with you crazy people! Prayers for the families of some high profile murders that have been in the news lately, God give them strength.  Till next time, peace.

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Zero G

8 men rolled into the Abyss on a comfortable 50 degree morning for a different type of Q.  We started with a mosey to the back basketball courts.

COP-30xSSH/Touch Toes-Down Dog-Honeymooner/Nancy Kerrigan’s left leg out-fwd sun gods/TT-DD-Honey/Nancy’s Right Leg out-reverse sun gods/TT-DD-Honey/Abe Vigoda Windmill x10/TT-DD-Honey/5 Burpees

We then grabbed some wall.  In Balls To The Wall position we did in cadence-

Peter Parker x10/5 Burpees OYO(recovery)/Parker Peter x10/5 Burpees OYO/Shoulder Taps x10/3 Burpees OYO

We then moseyed over to the playground and did 11’s-10 zero G merkins(hands and feet leave the ground) and 1 pull up till we got to 1 zero G merkin and 10 pull ups

Round 2 was 10 zero G squats(jump squats) and 1 Hanging Leg Raise till we got to 1 zero G squat and 10 Hanging Leg Raises

We then grabbed more wall.  People’s Chair with left leg raised while each Pax on the ends did 5 Burpees, then we did the other leg same number of Burpees.

Then from the BTTW position we did Plank Jacks in cadence x10 and Mountain Climbers x10

The Pax then moseyed back to COT where we did a Wave of Zero G merkins starting at 1 and finishing at 10 and capped it off with 10 Big Boy Sit ups, Boat to Canoe and Oblique crunches.

Prayers and praises to sick and injured Pax, our families and to Children’s Attention Home.

Special thanks to Copyright for the opportunity to lead.  Peace.  

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Cindy Circuit DRP at The Deep

Oh yeah! Nice rainy day for your DRP. Some chose to stay in bed, nice and warm and all snuggy-like. Some unfortunately could not post in the gloom for whatever reasons. But those who did made that choice to take their DRP to get better. Two participated in a 4mi pre-ruck, and one knocked out a pre-run.

A good crowd for a rainy Saturday gathered, ready to go. No FNGs, disclaimer was made, and off we went……

About 20 yards to the back of my truck where a load of cinder blocks awaited the crowd. Each PAX buddied up with your ruck or a Cindy – even the 2.0s (KUDOS!!) – and off we moseyed to the far end of the parking lot for the COP:

  • No weight/ruck (slick):
  • SSH x 20
  • WM x 20
  • IW x 15
  • Hillybillies x 15
  • MNC x 20
  • Sun Gods x 20
  • PJs x 15
  • Downward dog and honeymooner to round it off

Now that we were all warmed up we moseyed over across the street carrying our buddies to the track at the elementary school for the fun stuff…..

DRP – You vs You – Cindy Circuit:
At one corner, the PAX knocked out the following circuit . 8 exercises, 10 reps each, non-stop, followed by a 400M lap. No breaks.

  • Merkins *
  • Squat **
  • Box Cutter, weight overhead **
  • Lunge, 2 ct **
  • CDD **
  • Thruster **
  • Flutters, 2 ct, weight OH **
  • Burpee *
  • Run a lap*
  • Rinse and repeat
    * With ruck (if you have it) >> cindy pax are slick/no weight
    ** With cindy or ruck (if you have it)

A good overall circuit that hit every major muscle group. You vs you, as fast as you could grind it out. We just ground it out. No music, no non-sense, good mumblechatter, in the rain/wet. Each PAX completed at least 3 complete circuits. That ground out at least 45 minutes of glorious fun. After a brief discussion about the DRP and Get Right, we had about 10-15 mins left. I wanted to add in a little ‘fun’ in the wet, mucky conditions before we went back to COT.

TUNNEL OF LOVE!!

Starting on one side of the football field, everyone got in the downward dog (DD) pose, shoulder to shoulder, creating a tunnel of PAX. The PAX on the far left proceeded to army crawl thru the tunnel and out the other side then got back in the DD position, extending the tunnel to the right . Once the first person got about half way thru, the next in line on the far left proceeded thru. So on and so forth. Rinse and repeat until we got all the way to the other side of the field. About 50-60 yds across. We had to adjust a little because we started heading towards the center of the field. That would’ve been lovely….a 100yd+ ToL.

This was a real crowd pleaser in the wet, mucky field. We left a real nice swath thru the nice turf. Hopefully the grass will recover.

After that we gathered our buddies and headed back to COT.

Kudos to the PAX…..especially the 2.0s who did not modify at all. We really ground it out, encouraged each other. It was awesome!

COT – Announcements, P&P:

  • Keep taking your DRP. Hold others accountable for it. Get Right!!
  • Read your newsletter and GET INVOLVED
  • Yeti, P200, DSM custom GoRuck, Rooster – alot of events coming up. Get after it!
  • Children’s Attention Home / Guidance today at 4pm.
  • Prayers for injured, sick PAX
  • Prayers for Wild Thing and his M with their 2.0
  • Praises for Wolverine’s son’s birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! WOO HOO!!
  • Prayers for Qbert and his M regarding children and expanding their family
  • Praises for the new addition PAX that they continue to post and get better
  • Prayers for me and my M in the struggles we are having with my older 2.0 and his struggles w ADHD
  • My apologies if I missed any others……pre-respect brain I am working with here.
  • Praise Him!!
  • It was an awesome morning! GREAT job PAX!!

NMM on DRP:

Every day you wake, you have an immediate choice……do I stay stagnant or do I get better? Seriously. Everything you do may have this two-sided choice. From then on your choice dictates your actions. Do you continue to do the same thing, or do you try and change something, anything, regarding an aspect of your life that could make you – or others – better. Do you take the red pill for change, or the blue pill for stagnation? It can be a real struggle. Change hurts at times, disruption can be difficult, ‘new’ can be scary in that it moves us out of our comfort zones. But if you want to get better, get right, you have to take that DRP. You have to make that choice. Only YOU can do that. Folks can EH you all they want, but in the end it is YOU that proactively decides to change, get out there to do something, continue to do it to where it is a new positive habit, and keep taking that DRP. The real kicker that helps is letting others know you want to do that……letting others hold you accountable. Whether it is a “HC” to a workout notification, or posting that you are going to lead a workout, a pre run/ruck, or whatever. If you stay quiet, nobody knows your intentions so you stay in the shadows until YOU decide to come out. Once you advertise an intention, the spotlight of accountability from others comes down on you. It takes commitment, discipline, and a dose of vulnerability to advertise and intention and thus bring accountability out in the open. Just today I was thinking “well, I am not feeling 100% (not a hangover), so if nobody shows up for the pre-ruck I advertised, I’m going to nap in my truck until the workout time”. Man that was a total clown attitude! I was SO thankful when I saw Wild Thing’s car pull around the corner. That was a motivational boost and dose of accountability he provided just by committing to be there himself. POW!! That’s how it works. Once we put our rucks on and started off at ranger pace I was so grateful he was there. We had a great conversation throughout the pre-ruck. That’s what it is all about. That is how the 3 F’s really come full circle and help us all accelerate together. You can try to do it alone, but man is it SO much better, effective, and easier when you do it in a group setting. But it takes the decision to take that DRP and get out there and get after it.

Make the choice to take it!!

Thank you for the opportunity to lead.

-NASA

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Tinsel’s Utensils at Poopdeck

It was a great way to start Valentine’s Day with a non moderate workout with lots of props.

Since the day before I had Q’ed at the Abyss and we focused on legs and abs this day we had to work our upper bodies and get our hearts pumping.

No FNG’s and a quick disclaimer was given followed by some mosey around the parking lot.

WARM UP

SSH

Windmill

Moroccan night clubs

Low Slow Squats

Hillbilly walk

Mountain Climbers

Low Slow Merkin

Cherry pickers

THE THANG:

I had setup 4 stations, we split into 4 groups and each group started with a station, transportation mode was bear crawls and crawl bears alternating after each station, goal was to complete one full circuit of the following:

-> 10 diamond merkins

-> 15 wide arm merkins

-> 20 regular merkins

-> 30 battle rope wave SC

-> 40 Shoulder taps

-> 40 plank jacks

bear crawl to…..

-> 15 big boy sit ups

-> 20 LBC’s

-> 25 slamball throws choose from 10 and 20#

-> 30 sledgehammer                                                                                                                                      swings (15 each side)

-> 40 Heel Touches SC

-> 40 American hammer with slam ball

crawl bear to…

-> 10  Tire flips

-> 15  burpees

-> 20 cindy push/drag

-> 50 shoulder shrug with cindy

-> 80 calf raises

crawl bear to…

-> 15 man makers with weight (choose from weights starting at 12# up to 40# for this one and all exercises below)

-> 20 bent over rows

-> 20 biceps curls

-> 25 overhead presses

-> 30 SSH Single count

-> 40 Carolina drydocks

everyone pushed hard to complete their routines and we finished one full circuit with about 15 minutes to spare; we found a wall for some BTTW while PAX from each end will perform 3 burpees finishing up with PAX in the middle of the pack, shoulders were on fire after the full circuit and BTTW so we needed a brake for our arms, someone mentioned Captain Thor and it was a go!! unfortunately there are no grassy areas in the Bowl N Bounce parking lot so we had to choose from rocks or pavement so we went for the second, lots of mumble chatter here about tail bones but no one backed out from the legendary Captain Thor (1 big boy sit up followed by 4 american hammers, all the way to 10 BBSU and 40 AH) we finished up with one minute to spare so we added 50 LBC’s to end the bootcamp (more mumble chatter here).

Great push by everyone, some of the newer PAX had never been to a Tinsel’s workout so they were in for a big surprise, we all left in one piece, tired but better than before and with our hearts pumping fast to start a great V-Day.

We finished up with  announcements, prayers and praises at COT.

Thank you Peg for the opportunity to lead!!

Tinsel out…

 

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