F300: 12/16/2017
FNG: Slot
Temp:29
Today is the 16th of the month. So no surprise we did 16 of everything. Wasn’t so bad until we hit burpees and merkins…!
Additionally, this week was the Premiere of the Star-Wars saga, with part 8 being in theatres now. So being a young Yoda myself, wise I was, yessssssss! And found a way to incorporate some of the “cliche” Imperials and STARWARS around the bases…
Overall, we laughed, we cried (mostly Cropduster), and MEN GOT BETTER TODAY!!! Well done for those who came and fought through the pain and had the “courage” to get past that “wall” in their workout, and maybe even their life!
Disclaimer/ Warm-up:
SSH 16 IC
Merkins 16 IC
Abe Vagodas 16 IC
Catcher Squats 16 IC
Shoulder Circles x16/fwd&rev
Hillbillies 16 IC
Mosey to front of SCHS: (benches)
Incline Merkins 16 IC
Dips 16 IC
Incline Merkins 10 IC
Dips x10 IC
Mosey to Hill Modified 21s:
First set: 16 Burpees; after that 11s
Burpee (10x)
LBCs 1x
Burpee (9x)
LBCs 2x
Burpee (8x)
LBCs 3x
Burpee (7x)
LBCs 4x
Burpee (6x)
LBCs 5x
Burpee (5x)
LBCs 6x
Burpee (4x)
LBCs 7x
Burpee (3x)
LBCs 8x
Burpee (2x)
LBCs 9x
Burpee (1x)
LBCs 10x
Mosey to brick pile then:
“Cusak” your block to to Cul-de-sac. Partner up:
1PAX Imperial Stormtroopers AMRAP while other Lunge Walks a lap
1PAX Colt 45s (15,15,15) while other Bear Crawls a second lap
Mosey to softball field:
“Field of Dreams” base/station STARWARS
1st Base: Squats x16
2nd Base: Thrusts x16
3rd Base: AMER Hammers x16
Home plate: Rotating Merkins x16
SECOND ROUND, just do 8 in honor of STARWARS VIII
1B – Werkins x8
2B – AMER Hammers x8
3B- RBCs x8
Home – Squats x8
Mosey back to Start: Plank!!
90 degrees Right Side Plank, hold 16Ct. 90 degrees Left side plank hold 16Ct.
180 degrees Right Side Plank, hold 16Ct.
90 degrees Right Side Plank, hold 16Ct.
270 degrees Left side plank hold 16Ct.
Drop to six:
Freddie Mercury 16 IC
Caitlyn Jenners 16 IC
Supermans 16 IC
Box Cutters 16 IC
Flutter Kicks 16 IC
Dying Cockroach x16
**Time pending: “PAX REQUESTS” to finish out, no more than 10ct
Sound off: UdderButter/Twig/Cropduster/Banjo/Padawan/Weed/HatTrick/Fescue/Two5ths/Tonka/Tumbleweed/TaterHole/Castaway/Kleenex
Names FNG: Slot (he’s a Slot Receiver)
COT/Devotion: COURAGE
1 – Courage To Trust God: Elizabeth & Zechariah
2 – Unexpected Courage: Mary
3 – Courage To Obey: Joseph
4 – A Man Without Courage: King Herod
5 – A Courageous Journey: The Wise Men
All played a part in the way The Messiah, the Christ Child came. Because of them, we can learn a valuable truth about ourselves. Remember, the way Christ came was indicative of the life He would lead (rejected at the Inn, forced to live a meager life, came for all even the lowly and outcast, etc). Present day, our lives do play a part: what is yours relaying about your Courage in where God has you right now? Seek the Christ Child, and you shall find Him.
1 – Courage To Trust God, Elizabeth and Zechariah
Luke 1:5-7
Close your eyes for a minute and think about something you want really badly. Maybe you want to go somewhere special with your family. Perhaps there is a very special Christmas present you have in mind. Maybe you have a test coming up that you want to do well on. As you grow older, you will want different things like a car or a college scholarship or just the right job.
It is not a bad thing to want something very badly. But, sometimes we get so focused on what we want that we start to become afraid or mad about not getting it. What can we do to keep ourselves from becoming afraid or mad?
In the book of Luke in the Bible, the first characters we read about in the Christmas story are two people named Zechariah and Elizabeth. Zechariah and Elizabeth were married, but they did not have any children. They wanted children to help take care of them in their old age and give them grandchildren. But, they had never been able to have any, and now they were too old.
They could have become afraid of what would happen to them as they grew older. Or, they could have become angry at God for not giving them what they desired most. But Luke 1:6 tells us that, instead of becoming angry or fearful, Zechariah and Elizabeth chose to obey and follow God, trusting Him to take care of them.
It takes courage to trust God that way! First of all, we have to trust that God will give us what is very best for us, even if it is not what we want. Then, we also have to trust Him to take care of us, even if what we think is best does not happen. Zechariah and Elizabeth chose to be courageous and trust that God had a plan.
It turned out that God had an amazing plan. He gave Zechariah and Elizabeth a baby when they were old! And, this was a very special baby. His name was John. When he grew up, his preaching prepared the way for people’s hearts to be ready for Jesus.
Things do not always turn out like we want them to. But, when we have the courage to trust God, He will always make things turn out the best way!
2 – Unexpected Courage, Mary
Luke 1:26-38
Do you know any twelve-year-old girls? Maybe a sister or cousin or friend. What does she like to do? What is her favorite subject at school?
In the Christmas story we meet Mary, a girl engaged to a man named Joseph. These days, couples do not usually become engaged until they are in their twenties or older. But, in Mary’s day, girl’s much younger were considered old enough to get married. Before that time, instead of going to school, a Jewish girl spent her time learning how to be a good wife and mother by helping around the house, caring for younger siblings, and learning the songs, Jewish law, and history and heritage of her people.
Although the Bible does not tell us exactly how old Mary was when she was visited by the angel Gabriel, what we just talked about shows us that she was probably a young teenager. We do know that Mary’s parents had already arranged for her to marry Joseph, and she was probably expected to become a mother not long after getting married. That sounds really strange to us, doesn’t it? Would you like your parents to pick out the person you were going to marry? Probably not! But, Mary thought that was perfectly normal.
What was not normal was a visit from an angel giving her some unexpected news. The angel said she would become a mother soon, but it would not be like a normal Jewish girl becoming a wife and a mother. Instead, she would be having God’s child! That was very different from what she thought would be happening in her life!
Many frightening thoughts probably went through Mary’s mind as she listened to Gabriel. Would her parents and Joseph believe that an angel had visited her? Would she get in trouble for becoming pregnant before she was married? Would her friends abandon her?
If you read Luke 1:26-38, you will see that Mary was a bit frightened and uncertain about Gabriel’s visit and message. But, she did not let that keep her from listening and obeying! Instead, she showed courage and chose to be obedient to the Lord, even when it meant doing something strange and unexpected.
Sometimes God calls us to do things that seem strange to us. But, we can learn from Mary what it means to be full of courage, even when God’s instructions are unexpected!
3 – Courage To Obey, Joseph
Matthew 1:18-24
Do you remember Joseph, the man who was engaged to Mary? He heard a pretty crazy story one day, and he didn’t know what to think. He discovered that Mary was going to have a baby, but he and Mary were not married yet. She said she had been visited by an angel who told her she would have God’s Son. But that story sounded too hard to believe, and Joseph decided that he probably should not marry her after all.
Then something amazing happened. An angel came to Joseph, too! He had a dream, and in his dream, the angel told him that Mary was telling the truth and that God wanted Joseph to go ahead and marry her and take care of her and the baby. He even told Joseph that the baby should be named Jesus.
Now Joseph had a choice, and it was a pretty scary one. He could choose to tell Mary that he would not marry her. That would be the easy choice. Or, he could obey the instructions that the angel of the Lord had told him. But, that would mean taking care of God’s Son!
The Bible does not record how Joseph felt about all of this, but take a minute to think about how you would have felt about these instructions. Would you have been afraid of taking care of Jesus? According to Jewish custom, a young man learned a trade and established himself in a job before getting married. That way, he could support a wife and children. Joseph was a carpenter, which meant he built things out of wood or possibly stone, which was a more common building material in Israel. He could support a family, but that did not mean he was rich. How could a poor man like him care for the King of kings?
God gave Joseph instructions that were not easy to follow. They were even a bit scary. But, Joseph decided to make the courageous choice instead of the easy choice. He chose to obey God and follow through with his commitment to Mary. He became her husband and Jesus’ earthly father.
Obedience is not always the easiest choice. It takes courage to obey! Joseph chose to be courageous. What choice will you make?
4 – A Man Without Courage – King Herod
Matthew 2:1-18
We like to talk about what it looks like when people have courage. But what happens when people decide to not be courageous?
The Christmas story shows us an example of someone who was not courageous. His name was Herod, and he was king over the Jews when Jesus was born. We often think of a king as a courageous person, don’t we? King David in the Old Testament certainly showed courage. He knew that his courage came from God, and that courage helped him fight a giant named Goliath! But, sometimes kings are not courageous. Instead, they are afraid. King Herod was like that. What do you think he was afraid of? Stop for a minute and share some ideas with your family.
Did you guess that King Herod might have been afraid of someone taking his power away? If so, then you guessed right! Instead of being a courageous king who ruled well and protected his people, he was an evil king who did hateful things to anyone who he thought might take away his power.
One day, King Herod found out that a little baby had been born. Wise men from a far away land were calling this baby the King of the Jews. Can you imagine being afraid of a little baby? Well, that is what happened to King Herod. He was afraid that baby would take away his power as king. Herod’s fear made him very, very mean and evil. He was so evil that he wanted to kill that baby. That is what happens when we choose fear instead of trusting that God can give us courage. We become afraid of little things, and we become hateful and mean to the people around us.
Fortunately, that baby was Jesus, God’s Son. And God had a special purpose for Jesus. Since God is the King over all, He is more powerful than evil kings like Herod. God had a plan to protect Jesus from the evil King Herod. We have already talked about the courage Mary and Joseph showed as they obeyed God’s instructions that the angels told them before Jesus was born. That courage stayed with them when an angel appeared to Joseph in another dream to help them protect Jesus from King Herod.
We learn stories about people like King Herod so we can know what can happen when we choose not to have courage and trust God. What choice will you make?
5 – A Courageous Journey – The Wise Men
Sometimes things just do not go according to plan. Have you ever had that happen? Do you remember the people from a far away land that told Herod about Baby Jesus? Well, a long time ago, they experienced a trip that did not go according to plan.
For many years, these wise men had studied old writings that said a special king would be born to rule over the Jews. Their studies told them that a special star would let them know when this special king was supposed to be born. Can you imagine how excited they were when they finally saw the star that they had been waiting for? They wanted to go see this new king and worship him. But, that meant a long journey and they were not exactly sure where they were supposed to go. They just knew they were supposed to follow that special star! After traveling for a long, long time, they stopped at what they thought was a logical place to find a special Jewish King, the palace in Jerusalem.
But they did not find the foretold king at the palace! Instead, after meeting with the wicked and selfish King Herod that we learned about yesterday, these wise men learned that the special king was actually in a little town called Bethlehem. The star they had been following led them to a small house, not a palace, where they met a poor baby boy named Jesus. No, this trip had definitely not gone as planned or expected.
And the strangeness did not stop there. When the wise men were ready to go home, they had a dream that told them not to let King Herod know where Jesus was. So, they had to change their plans once again and go home a completely different way.
What do you do when things do not go according to plan? Do you get mad? That is what the wise men could have done. They could have decided it wasn’t worth it to keep looking for the special king when things stopped going according to plan. Instead, they chose to have courage and keep following the special star, even when they had no idea where they were going.
You can have courage, too, even when things do not go as expected. Just remember the wise men and remember that God will guide you just as He guided them!
Prayer: Many unmentioned.
#Kleenex
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