Day: October 17, 2019

Love is hard to offend and quick to forgive.  How easily do you get irritated and offended?  Some people have the motto, “Never pass up an opportunity to get upset with your spouse.”  When something goes wrong, they quickly take full advantage of it by expressing how hurt or frustrated they are.  But this is the opposite reaction to love.

To be irritable means “to be near the point of a knife.”  Not far from being poked.  People are irritated are locked, loaded, and ready to overact.

When under pressure, love doesn’t turn sour.  Minor problems don’t yield major reactions.  The truth is, love does not get angry or hurt unless there is a legitimate and just reason in the sight of God.  A loving husband will remain calm and patient, showing mercy and restraining his temper.  Rage and violence are out of the question.  A loving wife is not overly sensitive or cranky but exercise emotional self-control.  She chooses to be a flower among the thorns and respond pleasantly during prickly situations.

If you are walking under the influence of love, you will be a joy, not a jerk. Ask yourself, “Am I a calming breeze, or a storm waiting to happen?”

Why do people become irritable?  There are at least two key reasons that contribute to it:

Stress: Stress weighs you down, drains your energy, weakens your health, and invites you to be cranky.  It can be brought on by the relational causes: arguing, division, and the bitterness.  There are excessive causes: overworking, overplaying, and overspending.  And there are deficiencies: not get enough rest, nutrition, or exercise.  Oftentimes we inflict these daggers on ourselves, and this sets us up to be irritable.

Life is a marathon, not a sprint.  This means you must balance, prioritize, and pace yourself.  Too often we throw caution to the wind and run full steam ahead, doing what feels right at the moment.  Soon we are gasping for air, wound up in knots, and ready to snap.  The increasing pressure can wear away at our patience and our relationship.

The Bible can help you avoid unhealthy stress.  It teaches you to let love guide your relationships to so you aren’t caught up in unnecessary arguments (Colossians 3:12-14).  To pray through your anxieties instead of tackling them on your own (Philippians 4:6-7).  To delegate when you are overworked (Exodus 18:17-23).  To avoid overindulgence (Proverbs 23:16)

It also exhorts you to take a “Sabbath” vacation day every week for worship and rest.  This strategically allows you time to recharge, refocus, and add breathing room or margin to your weekly schedule.  Establishing these kinds of extra spaces will place cushions between you and the pressures around you, reducing stress that keeps you on edge around your mate.  But there is a deeper reason why you can become irritable.

Selfishness: When you’re irritable, the heart of the problem is primarily a problem of the heart.  Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34 NKJV).  Some people are like lemons: when life squeezes them, they pour out a sour response.  Some are more like peaches: when the pressure is on, the result is still sweet.

Being easily angered is an indicator that a hidden area of selfishness or insecurity is present where love is supposed to rule.  But selfishness also wears many other masks:

Lust, for example, is the result of being ungrateful for what you have and choosing to covet or burn with passion for something that is forbidden. When your heart is lustful, it will become easily frustrated and angered (James 4:1-3).  Bitterness takes root when he is provoked (Ephesians 4:31). Greed for more money and possessions will frustrate you with unfulfilled desires (1 Timothy 6:9-10).  These strong cravings coupled with dissatisfaction lead you to lash out at anyone who stands in your way.  Prideleads you to act harshly in order to protect your ego and reputation.

These motivations can never be satisfied.  But when love enters your heart, it calms you down and inspires you to quit focusing on yourself.  It loosens your grasp and helps you let go of unnecessary things.

Love will lead you to forgive instead of holding a grudge.  To be grateful instead of greedy.  To be content rather than rushing into more debt.  Love encourages you to be happy when someone else succeeds rather than lying wake at night in envy.  Love says “share the inheritance” rather than “fight with your relatives.”  It reminds you to prioritize your family rather than sacrifice them for a promotion at work.  In each decision, love ultimately lowers your stress and helps you release the venom that can build up inside. It then sets up your heart to respond to your spouse with patience and encouragement rather than anger and exasperation.

He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city. 

-Proverbs 16:32

Today’s Dare

Choose today to react to tough circumstances in your marriage in loving ways instead of with irritation. Begin by making a list of areas where you need to add margin to your schedule.  Then list any wrong motivations that you need to release from your life.

Things to ponder: 

Where do you need to add margin to your life?  When have you recently overreacted?  What was your real motivation behind it?

Pledge

Rucked 3 miles on Kendrick, Brentwood and Sherwood.  Back to snoballs for announcements and prayer request.

Pray for Hushpupp’s M and her new job.

Pray for friend of Whoopee who just got diagnosed with ALS.

ENDED WITH COT AND PRAYER by VOODOO!!

11 for the Pub this morning.

The Thang:

We ran a circle basically around the Publix until we got to 5 miles.

The Moleskin:

Def Leopard really gave me a strong endorsement to the fine idea I had this morning. He spoke on how he just loved the run I came up with and he went on and on about the smooth coarse.

SA, came out and ran this morning.

Roscoe, 2 weeks in a row and I have not seen him at The Pub.

Prayers,

Thanks for the opportunity.

Gastone Out

So, while I may not have spent a huge amount of time matching up exercises from the Exicon to those I found on Superhero Workouts I found on Pinterest (seriously, that’s a thing with the Marvel and DC Cinematic Universes going on) I tried to be intentional with how I did it.

Warm Up:

15 Side Straddle Hops – in cadence
10 Toy Soldiers – in cadence
10 Abe Vigodas (slow Don Qs) – in cadence
15 Mountain Man Poopers – in cadence

The Thang:

Mosey to Vet Road: 20 shoulder touches

Mosey to light post (or somewhere in between): 10 Flowsteps (Aka DKRs – Dark Knight Rises) – 5 each leg

Mosey to track fence: 20 Mountain Climbers

Mosey to Flag: Pledge!

Fellowship Mosey to the adjacent parking lot

20 – Overhead Press Merkin (CDDs)
20 – Flutters
20 – Plank Jacks
40 – Fast High Knees

20 – LBCs
20 – Werkins
20 – American Hammers
40 – Fast High Knees

20 – Mountain Climbers
20 – Freddy Mercurys
20 – Bobby Hurleys
40 – Fast High Knees

20 – Windshield Wipers
20 – Diamond Merkins
20 – Mountain Climbers
40 – Fast High Knees

20 – Lazy Mike Tysons (Stogie-style plank to horizontal squat – no push-up)
20 – Gas Pumps (Stogie-style… bringing legs together, knees to the chest, brings legs back out and separate and then back together)
10 – Peter Parkers
10 – Parker Peters
40 – Fast High Knees

Lt. Dans (aka Dan Taylors) – 2 walking lunges and 2 squats – from the parking lot to the first light on the road by the track (about 30-40 yards)

Mosey back to parking lot

I called out the three exercises and told them if there was any confusion we’d do burpees. I wanted to make sure they were listening to me (which wasn’t a problem with this group). I then found out that Volt doesn’t complain – he simply states facts. When he “complained” about his knees hurting, from the Dan Taylors, I opted to stop and simply have us mosey the rest of the way back to the parking lot (which worked out perfectly time-wise, since Volt and I had to leave at 6am).

My whole point with this workout was the lead to the best of my ability. That would mean the pax would need to listen and follow my direction (or else we’d do burpees). But by stopping the “no legs march” early I also wanted to show that I wasn’t above listening to the pax. I then left Montross with some exercises for him and Kingpin to finish up with. So, I was able to delegate my leadership to someone else and set him up for success, rather than just up and leaving (even though, I know he would have been fine even if I did that). He still did some of what he wanted, but for this that was totally fine.

Montross finished up with:

3 sets of Australian Pull-ups (mainly cause he likes those, but we’ll  say it was in honor of actor Chris Hemsworth who plays Thor on the big screen in the MCU). And in keeping with the theme I asked he finish with Captain Thors (for Captain America and Thor) – which he did 3 sets of Captain Thors  – counting up to 5 Big Boys.

Thanks for allowing me to do something a little something different. Since many of you weren’t in attendance, I may just rinse and repeat this one for my next Q – hoping more show up to that one – same bat time, same bat channel.

Stogie – out!