Improving Lives by Design with Architect Ron Thomas

Have you ever had something happen to you which has haunted you
for your entire life?


Playing in the woods was my favorite part of childhood in
suburban Pittsburgh. As those years passed, the woods continued
to provide new discoveries, new paths, new creatures, and invited
adventures created by developing adolescent minds. Tadpoles and
insects soon came to be replaced by the thought of building our
place of habitation, free from adult eyes, nasty weather, and a
safe refuge from the watching world.


Finding the right spot took many weeks of roaming through the
trees, wanting to be close enough to civilization to provide easy
access, but far enough in to be hidden even during the winter
months when the leaves were gone. Of course, we didn't want to
dig too much; a level spot would be ideal. Imagine going through
the design and materials stage with the resources of early teens.
As you might imagine, all of this was facilitated by the slowing
sprawling suburban neighborhood. New construction was asking for
little boys to come to steal a few sheets of plywood, 2x4s, and
nails.


I undertook this project with my partner, Jim, whose father was
an attorney. My dad was an insurance man. That's my way of
suggesting our trade skills were at best lacking, as was proven
by the result. But we had a shack, and we were proud of it. 


Over the years of life, I have remained handyman-challenged,
constantly in need of friends with developed skills and
knowledge. But I have also come to appreciate those who design in
the mind structures which provide the walls we live within.
Boring designs make me yawn. Poor construction, I find repulsive.
Yet somehow, there seems to be a connection between our view of
life and the buildings we build and live in. Perhaps they even
say something about God.


Today we have a guest who can make sense out of these
meanderings, welcome Architect Ron Thomas to Church Hurts And.


Dr. John Bash is a shepherd with Standing Stone, a ministry that
ministers to ministers, a need as important in this time as any
in our lifetime. Consider joining this support team at
www.churchhurtsand.org.