The theme of June is Iron Sharpens Iron.

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

This age old proverb is as accurate now as it was when written, and is a fundamental to the 3rd F of Faith.  In Freed to Lead, Dredd and OBT recount that “One constant theme in the ball of man is the importance of sharpening each other, as Iron sharpens Iron.  Thus, we often seek help to be better husbands, fathers, sons, uncles, bosses, and employees: all the things that men are called upon to be.  The Third F is a realization that just being those things is hard enough without trying to he them without help.  More than that, it is a surrender to this idea: an insistence upon going it alone is not noble; it is selfish and prideful”.

I need you.  We need each other.  I am a dull Hushpuppy without you.  I hope you have recognized this same need in your brothers.  You sharpen me; you hold me accountable and lift me up when I want to quit.  This month we will hear what is on your heart.  I have asked several Pax to speak and still invite someone to step up for the last Saturday in June!

6/3 Squirt Shared on keeping your garden.  Just as Adam had to tend and keep the garden, we must keep guard or protect our minds, thoughts, eyes, and tongues.

6/10 for the Convergence at the Rotary Pavilion, Roscoe will share on the impact you can have on those around you,

6/17 Rudolph will share on how F3 has moved him, and how “many hands make light work”.

6/24, Who will step up?  YOU have something to share that will make us all better!

Also, each Tuesday at 6am, The Crusade meets for 3rd F study at the Starbucks in the Harris Teeter.  6/6 Whoopee will begin a study in “Killing Lions” by John Eldridge.  Don’t miss it!

Post!, Shield lock with your brothers!  6:30 am Saturdays before

YHC hadn’t had a Q in June yet so he volunteered to lead the PAX at the Gashouse on a beautiful morning at the Schiele.  There was a nice group already there at the 3rd F when I showed up and a few more trickled in before it was time to start.  Spiderman pulled in with one minute to spare which was a little early for him.  I offered a quick disclaimer and started the workout.  There were 14 PAX total with 4 stayed with Rudolph for the Pain Lab and the rest with me for the Gashouse.

We moseyed onto the nature trail and as we approached the Catawba Indian village we started an Indian run to the pond and around the majority of the trail, hitting a few dead ends along the way.  The Indian Run part finally collapsed so we looked for an exit and popped out onto the road and across the street to the Library.  We lined up at the bottom and did parking space burpee long jumps up to the other side.  A brief recovery was spent talking about the impact we can each make in other’s lives and what that can mean if we each invest in others.
Monk claimed he enjoyed the run more than the burpees so we started back with a run to the FPC outdoor worship area.  This was redone recently for an Eagle Scout project so I had been forgetting to incorporate them into a workout.  We used the benches for some ab work with legs to overhead or something like it.  Since there was a lectern there I began to deliver a brief attempt at humor.  I admit it was pretty lame so I quickly stopped and we moseyey over to the bottom of the stairs to continue the workout.

The Thang:  Partner up for Dora 1, 2, 3.  Partner one runs to the top and knocks out ten Hip Slappers but wait!  Short Sale says we don’t want to put footprints on the walls so I gave him the choice to choose an exercise at the top.  He suggested Flying Squirrels so ten flying squirrels at the top and run back down and switch with Partner two.

100 American Hammers (4 count), 200 LBC’s, and 300 Flutter kicks.

When we were done we moseyed through the woods to the Sherwood track for a quick quarter Murph.

We ran a lap together and then did three sets of 8 pullups, 16 merkins, and 25 squats.  Lil Sweet showed us the way back to the neighborhood and to the Schiele where we wall sat for the six and then hit the Pledge of Allegiance.  We then ran back to home for the Pain Lab convergence at the end and finished with a round of Homer/Marge/Protractor and before I gave flutterkicks to Stroganoff the bells sounded.

We used our time wisely with not a lot of downtime which I needed considering I ate a huge bowl of ice cream last night.

Announcements:  Make sure to RSPV to the after Christmas party at Whoopee’s.  Convergence next Saturday at the Pavilion downtown.  Roscoe has the 3^rd F at 0630 and Spiderman and Freight are co-Q along with the Oompa Loompa Pain Lab option.  Hopefully one of the coffee houses downtown will welcome us afterwards.

Prayer requests:  T-Square and his M, Monk’s coworker’s child battling cancer, Mr. Brown and family.

It was my pleasure to Q this morning.  I knew the numbers would be a little lower due to a lot of PAX and their M’s taking part in a mudrun in Huntersville…Awesome!  The increase accountability led to a great push and as always Smalls is the motivator for many of us to push a little harder to keep up with him.  T-Square pushed himself to get out today and earlier this week to post to a workout and that is when you need it most. #shieldlock   Keep up the great work men!