It’s amazing how an encounter can change a person’s life. Meeting Kirk changed mine and now he’s a part of my family: a son from another bun or what my oldest calls a brother from another mother. Kirk’s life-changing encounter was a Powerlifting meet he went to with his best friend in North Carolina and also the first time a bunch of middle-aged women beat him in a CrossFit Workout right here at Legion of Power. One event made him fall in love with the barbell and the other taught him that “to do anything really well, you have to over extend yourself” (Angela Duckworth).
The Powerlifting event calls for three lifts: back squats, bench press and deadlift. People of all ages, weight and height take turns to attempt three max lifts. At first, I was rooting for Kirk. He was the one I knew so I wanted to give him my support but that didn’t happen. He wasn’t the only one that received encouragement from me and the LPC people that came but by every single person in the audience. We cheered for everyone and it wasn’t just claps and hollering, it was a deep scream that beckoned every potential power that would help muscles take the barbell where it needed to go.
Back squats were first.The spotters were ready with one on each side of the barbell and one behind Kirk just in case they needed to pull him up to safety. He didn’t even need them for the back squats. With 225.97 pounds on his traps, he sat in that squat and got up as if he was moving a pencil. The second attempt at 231.49 pounds was botched due to starting before the referee could say go, which was such a bummer because Kirk could only go up by 17 pounds for the last attempt. The party was just getting started. Sitting next to me, I met a college student who’s boyfriend Nick Cook (pictured on the side) ended up back squatting 496 pounds. Impressively, he was out-squatted by William Dunn who benched 540 pounds. But it didn’t matter to Kirk who squatted what amount because the only competitor he had was himself.
As the night came to a close, Kirk bench pressed 237 pounds and deadlift 451 pounds
under the multi-colored fluorescent lights and won second place for his division. His next competition is the Arizona State Championships next year which would take him one step closer to getting his pro card. This didn’t happen out of sheer athletic talent. People do not see the countless hours Kirk puts in practicing each lift with different weights and repetitions or his mental battle with getting over the sucky workouts, exercises or runs. That drive is from knowing that God made him to be so much more than he can be on his own.
Mary, Jesus' mom, was confronted by an angel in Luke 1 telling her that she was going to conceive a divine child though she knew no man. She knew this would be impossible on her own yet it was possible with God. Her words echo in Kirk’s mouth as he says, “Lord, I am your servant.” (Luke 1:38). I'm excited to see what’s next for this God-given son of mine.
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