Month: October 2019 (Page 6 of 12)

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!

First time in a while YHC has posted and rain was a factor. That did not stop MW and myself from putting in a few miles. The reason I call this the Tuna helper is two reasons.

1. Medicine woman is training for the Tuna.
2. MW has an internal clock of sorts that I have ran beside of the past few times and I keep getting faster. So he is helping me, I wander off in my head when I run by myself.

Friends are great always try to make new ones.

The Bed Pan is full..

8 of us showed up on a nice afternoon to workout and cut up together. Not the prettiest group but that’s all I had to work with.  5:30 comes and we start.

Warm up.

Each rep X 20

Grass pickers

Hill Billies.

Moroccan night clubs

Imperial walkers.

Mosey to the upper restrooms for some figure 8 in the parking lot.

Three rounds. 20 reps of each.

Round 1

Flutter kicks

Walking lunge 10 each leg.

Squat

One leg deadlift. 10 each leg

Calf raises.

Tiger squat.

Round 2

Merkin

Shoulder tap.

Dip

Over head clap

Wide arm merkin

Nolan Ryan. 10 each arm.

Round 3

Crunchy frog

LBC

WW1

Pretzel crunch 10 each side

Oblique crunch 10 each side

Corkscrew.

Mosey down to the playground Perform each 20 times OYO

Dips

Incline merkins

Decline merkins

Step ups

5 Burpees.

Rinse and Repeat 3 times.

Finish up with a round of Mary. Everyone got a chance to call out an exercise.

Mosey back to the start.

announcements.
christmastown 5k. Come and run even if you didn’t sign up. We need help.

convergence. Saturday the 19th at The Yank.

Prayer request, many request all around us. Please keep each other in your prayers. Please pray! Your prayers matter!!!!

Thank you all for your friendship!! Keep the Lord our God first in your life!!

Pockets.

5 showed up for a very hot day at Midoriyama. We did a lot of running and sprint drills.

I have been thinking it could be fun to take a weekend trip to Mt Mitchell for some golf and trout fishing.  Mt Mitchell golf course has condos that can be rented.  Staying on property allows the ability to fish in trout water on the course, big fish but they hard to catch.  South Toe river is also very close, and would be stocked that time of year.

Would aim for mid-May, Friday – Sunday.  Anyone that is interested in this let me know.

Tiger

SLACK TEST

Nothing irritates others as quickly as being rude. Rudeness is unnecessarily saying or doing things that are unpleasant for another person to be around. To be rude is to act unbecoming, embarrassing, or irritating. In marriage, this could be a foul mouth, poor table manners, or a habit of making sarcastic quips. However you look at it, no one enjoys being around a rude person. Rude behavior may seem insignificant to the person doing it, but it’s unpleasant to those on the receiving end.

As always, love has something to say about this. When a man is driven by love, he intentionally behaves in a way that’s more pleasant for his wife to be around. If she desires to love him, she purposefully avoids things that frustrate him or cause him discomfort.

The bottom line is that genuine love minds its manners.

Embracing this one concept could add some fresh air to your marriage. Good manners express to your wife or husband, “I value you enough to exercise some self-control around you. I want to be a person who’s a pleasure to be with.” When you allow love to change your behavior—even in the smallest of ways—you restore an atmosphere of honor to your relationship. People who practice good etiquette tend to raise the respect level of the environment around them.

For the most part, the etiquette you use at home is much different than the kind you employ with friends, or even with total strangers. You may be barking or pouting around the house, but if the front door chimes, you open it all smiling and kind. Yet if you dare to love, you’ll also want to give your best to your own. If you don’t let love motivate you to make needed changes in your behavior, the quality of your marriage relationship will suffer for it.

Women tend to be much better at certain types of manners than men, though they can be rude in other ways. King Solomon said, “Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife” (Proverbs 25:24 niv). But men especially need to learn this important lesson. The Bible says, “It is well with the man who is gracious” (Psalm 112:5). A man of discretion will find out what is appropriate, then adjust his behavior accordingly.

There are two main reasons why people are rude: ignorance and selfishness. Neither, of course, is a good thing. A child is born ignorant of etiquette, needing lots of help and training. Adults, however, display their ignorance at another level. You know the rules, but you can be blind to how you break them or be too self-centered to care. In fact, you may not realize how unpleasant you can be to live with.

Test yourself with these questions:

• How does your spouse feel about the way you speak and act around them?

• How does your behavior affect your mate’s sense of worth and self-esteem?

• Would your husband or wife say you’re a blessing, or that you’re condescending and embarrassing?

If you’re thinking that your spouse—not you—is the one who needs work in this area, you’re likely suffering from a bad case of ignorance, with a secondary condition of selfishness. Remember, love is not rude but lifts you to a higher standard.

Do you wish your spouse would quit doing the things that bother you? Then it’s time to stop doing the things that bother them. Will you be thoughtful and loving enough to discover and avoid the behavior that causes life to be unpleasant for your mate? Will you dare to be delightful?

Here are three guiding principles when it comes to practicing etiquette in your marriage:

1. Guard the Golden Rule. Treat your mate the same way you want to be treated (see Luke 6:31).

2. No double standards. Be as considerate to your spouse as you are to strangers and coworkers.

3. Honor requests. Consider what your husband or wife already asked you to do or not do. If in doubt, then ask.

He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be reckoned a curse to him.

—Proverbs 27:14

Today’s Dare

Ask your spouse to tell you three things that cause him or her to be uncomfortable or irritated with you. You must do so without attacking them or justifying your behavior. This is from their perspective only.