Category Archive: Ross Engel

The Shepherd, His Sheep, and the Sheepdogs…

By Ross Engel –

For the past six years, I have been competing in the Scottish Highland Games. I have grown to really love the sport. There is just something great about being able to put on a kilt, pick up heavy stuff, and throw it as far as possible. Of course, there is more to the sport than just strength; it does take a bit of technique to pick up a telephone pole-sized tree and flip it end over end. In between throwing heavy stuff, most of the veteran athletes congregate together, sitting in the shade (if there is any), cheering on the other guys, and passing around some of Scotland’s national beverage while waiting for our turn to throw again. Sometimes we’ll be close enough to watch the sheepdog demonstrations that seem to go with every Celtic festival.

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Remember Why You Started

By Ross Engel –

I fell in love with weight training the first time I walked into the gym. I was a scrawny 14-year-old kid who barely weighed in at 115 pounds. I was so weak that I could barely lift the 45-pound Olympic bar. I had played soccer and basketball for years, so I was pretty quick on my feet. I had just started doing gymnastics, and I wanted to get stronger and faster. My introduction to weight training was a great awakening to a new world, one that I have now spent the better part of 22 years enjoying. That scrawny, wide-eyed kid who stepped through the doors of the gym those years ago is not recognizable when people see me now, but he’s still there in my mind. He (along with a fair share of life’s tormentors) is the unseen motivation behind every set, rep, and training journal entry.

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Paddy’s Day

By Ross Engel –

With its proximity to my birthday, I have always enjoyed St. Patrick’s Day. As a kid it meant that mom would be making Corned Beef or Shepherd’s Pie for dinner and that the house would be decked with all sorts of green and orange. Sometimes mom would even use green food dye to add a hint of green to our water or milk. As I grew older, I was introduced to other celebratory measures for St. Patrick’s Day (also known as Paddy’s Day – NOT St. Patty’s. “Patty” is a girl, short for Patricia. “Paddy” comes from the Irish name: Padraig).

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The Pastor’s Pastor

By Ross Engel –

Another successful “Bell Ringer” fund collection has come to a close. It was with great joy that I was able to send off $350 to 4th Year Seminarian, Michael Daniels. If he sends us any pictures of he and his classmates enjoying a round on your generosity, we’ll be sure to post them in a future post or on our Facebook page. What a great group of readers we have who are willing to support such a worthy cause! Thanks!

I truly love the opportunity that the Bell Ringer fund affords me to get to know the variety of guys who are busy studying and preparing for the ministry. Their excitement to serve the Lord and their starry-eyed hopes are often a refreshing change from the stressed out, over-worked, cynicism that so often accompanies the gray-haired pastors I often find myself in conversation with.

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