A short note from 3rd F

I miss you guys! This sucks! Honestly, I’m struggling. Our Nantan, with his leadership, asked us to step up and be the leaders that we are called to be. That’s tough to do when I’m having my own pity party! So after a little self reflection…. I look around my office and see my patch collection. I know – its kinda corny – It’s a ruckingthing, you would not understand. So I figured I would share a few with you.

The 1^st one to smack me right in the face – EMBRACE THE SUCK.

This is a very common saying when you sign up for a GORUCK Tough – I’m sure it’s used in Relays, Marathons, Tough Mudders, and the like. At the start of the GORUCK Battle of the Bulge Tough, Cadre Fagan told us (including 4 HKY PAX) “be prepared to meet your demons sometime during the night, they are gonna come, your gonna wanna quit.” We needed our own mental fortitude to overcome those demons. More importantly we needed our teammates. I needed my teammates. I needed my F3 HKY Brothers. It was an amazing feeling to be able to help my brothers and team through that night, it was humbling to have to ask for help during that night. What I learned from asking for help, was that whomever helped me was as blessed by helping as I was by being helped. Embrace the Suck of this time, this quarantine – Bless you F3 brothers by helping them during this time. More importantly do not rob a bother of a blessing of helping you! We can Embrace the Suck of this together.

The 2^nd one is “Reflect on Life – by Life’s A Trail” – Embrace the silver linings this virus has given us. Reflect on who you are, where you have been, and where you are going. I’ve have had the best time hiking with my boys, meaningful conservations with my wife and adult kids. Seeing you guys interacting with your kids and family on social media has been uplifting. Our busy lives has not allowed us (or WE didn’t allow ourselves) to put things in perspective. You have to admit – Not all of the fallout of this has sucked! Last Saturday (March 28^th) sitting on Hawksbill Mountain with two of my boys watching the sunrise will be remembered by us forever. What the President’s task force said about expected economic outcomes, will be forgotten within a year.

The next three patches reminds us of to whom we should be looking toward during this time of crisis. You think we have it bad right now? None of us has ever been nailed to a cross. Perspective! None of us has ever watched their child  being crucified. Perspective! We know that Christ did just that for us. As the 6^th LouisianaOrleans Rifles flag states, “Let us alone trust in God” during these trying times.  Not a Politian, a doctor, nor a journalist is going to get us through this crisis – Lets put our faith in Christ knowing that he can! Several of General George Washington’s cruisers flew the “An Appeal to Heaven” flag. Please do as General Washington encouraged his troops to. Ask the creator of this world to heal it, to guide our leaders, protect our medical personnel, protect our families, and allow us to see how He wants each of us to benefit from this outbreak. 

The last two patches are self explanatory. Stay at it men. Continue to build your mind, body, and spirit with the F3 community. Several virtual workouts are posted on social media including Twitter, and Slack. Stay Active!