i think i'm getting older

not sure how many of you out there in blogger land have ever heard the word "jimmy-rigged", but i sure thought that it was a common word used in everday language, at least it has been in my life since i was a wee lad. "jimmy-rigged" is a very useful and witty word that can be used on numerous occasions even throughout one day, that is if you know what it means. if you do not, however, know what the word "jimmy-rigged" means and you try and use it, i'm sorry my friend, but you will end up in a world of trouble.

for those of you not knowing the defintion of this fine word, let me enlighten you (hick style). now i do know that this word is probably heard more in the "farming" "backwoods" or even "country" style of language, but let's not let that distract from the incredible meaning of the word itself. "jimmy-rigged" means when something is broken or not working right, you fix it with whatever you have lying around that's handy (and it's definetly not the right part or tool for the job). take for example this little story that happened to me. and once i finish you will understand where the basis and title for this blog have come from.

i was at youth group the other night telling my students how i had just taken audrey to the airport in omaha. just a normal story no big deal whatsoever. but our expedition (vehicle, not a hiking tour) had gotten hit and the driver's side back door had been smashed in at the bottom, leaving a nice huge gap at the top that you could stick your hand out of. well, i had used a blanket to protect my white albino skin from the frigid iowa weather before we left for omaha. that didn't end up working so well. we had the heater on full blast and i still had my coat on. so i was a little upset at the coldness invading my whiteness. i dropped audrey off, and stopped at bass pro shops (a very high class establishment), and decided that it was time to "jimmy-rig" that gaping hole between the frame and door. so i looked around the inside of the expedition and low and behold i found some masking tape. so i taped up the inside and taped up the outside and it was superb! no wind, no cold, no air noise! it was fantastic, and i was proud of myself!

so i'm telling the students this story, and when i say that i "jimmy-rigged" the door, they all stared at me blankly. so i stared blankly right back expecting them to say how cool it was that it worked, and "hey nice use of the word jimmy-rigged, you really used it well" but no, nothing. then finally one of them asked in all seriousness, "Who's Jimmy?" and that's the moment that i realized that i am getting old.

good night

25 years old

i'm halfway to 50 baby!

Kansas City Christmas!

The Ross Family Christmas 3rd Annual Great Wolf Lodge & Cabelas Retreat took place as it has for the past 3 years in Kansas City, KS. This year we had one big room and another smaller one for all of us. it was a great time with lots of swimming and getting 500 gallons of water dumped on our heads by the huge bucket! we played some games and had a great time just hanging out.

here are some pictures from the whole experience!

kansas city's largest cinnamon roll!

hanging out in the room after waking up

patrick & micah hanging out

dennis putting on his acting skills for all of us

mom and dad at the restaurant - don't they look good?

jeannie and cartman eating some lunch

mexico pictures

well, here are some pictures from the last trip that i got to take. a trip down to mexico in a very short period of time... a wednesday drive from carlisle to wichita, a thursday drive from wichita to eagle pass texas (15 hours, with a blizzard), a friday drive all over Mexico (8:45 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.) a saturday drive from eagle pass texas back to wichita (7:45 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.), and a sunday afternoon drive back to iowa (through a blizzard for part of the trip). the first 2 pics are at nueva rosita where our Middle River Team will be serving and the last 2 pics are of a new mission in cloete.

these four pics below are from our garage sale fundraising for mexico.

it turned out to be a good day and we sold a lot but as you can see, we still

had a ton left.

Psalm 19:14

"May the words of my mouth

and the meditation of my heart

be pleasing to your sight, O LORD,

my Rock and my Redeemer."

It was -26 degrees in Iowa with the wind chill on saturday. pretty stinking cold if you ask me. i don't think that i have ever been in weather like that before. it was just bitter. i heard that sometimes the snow never melts here all winter. i thought it was something to scare me, or to make the person sound more impressive, but as it turns out, it is true. we have gotten blasted just about every weekend here for the past month and a half, and the snow that happened then is, you guessed it, still here.

all of this has nothing to do with the verse of Scripture that i have written. but i needed to tell somebody. this verse has stuck out to me for the past couple days, and i think that it has begun to take root in my heart. i truly do want what i say and what i think about to be pleasing to God. now wanting and doing are 2 different things. but the action has to start with the thought. i have really needed God's help lately, just navigating through all of the things that life brings. His Wisdom, Discernment, Peace, Leading. He is my rock, i know that my footing in the world is always going to be firm, no matter what happens around me. and He is my redeemer, my Savior, He has redeemed me from sin and death. It's the least that i can do to make sure that the words that come out of my mouth and the thoughts that come from my heart are pleasing to Him. welp, that's all for tonight. peace.

Movies

I am a fan of movies. I have been since I went to college. I'm not sure how many movies I have watched in my 24 years of life, but i would venture to guess more than a lot of people. I enjoy movies because they tell stories, they can get you to think about things that you normally wouldn't think about. Sometimes they get you to think differently about things that you have always thought the same about. And sometimes they just make you completely forget about your life for a while, and laugh till it hurts. Here are a few movies that i have watched lately, that i thought were good. I will start with most recently watched and move backwards.

1. National Treasure 2 - A good action movie, and very clean. Rated pg, and made by Walt Disney. It throws a little bit of America's History in there as well.
2. September Dawn - An account of the true story of the "Mountain Meadow Massacre". This took place in Utah in 1857, a group of people traveling from Missouri to California have to stop in Utah for provisions. The Mormons let them stay, and then decide that they are "Gentiles" and the only way to "Save" them is to kill them. The things some people do in the name of God are scary.
3. I AM LEGEND - A futuristic movie, set in New York City. A virus spreads across the whole world, turning humans into ravaging beast like creatures. One man, Will Smith, is trying to find the cure. A great movie, I really enjoyed it.
4. Rescue Dawn - Based on a true story of an American Pilot, who got shot down over Vietnam, put in a POW camp, escaped and made it home safely. A great story of hope in the midst of death.
5. The Rainmaker - An older movie, based off of a John Grisham novel about Heatlh Insurance companies that rip off their clients. If you like courtroom drama, and lawyer action this is a great movie to watch. Matt Damon is the lead role.
6. Hot Rod - A stupid spoof comedy, I only watched it because one of my youth group kids said I should. It has quite a few funny parts, but no real value what so ever. cool beans...
7. Shrek The Third - Good comedy for kids & adults. I still think the 1st one is the best.

I'll leave you with those for now.

Thought For The Blog:

"Go out and enjoy a movie, and if you don't like it, don't worry you've only wasted 2 hours of your life!"

adam - blank face