Church Projects with dad

rane Growing up Methodist, attending church was always expected in our household. Every Sunday morning, my mom would have a migrain but if we missed time in the pews, we made up for it through volunteering and helping the church however it needed us.

My father, growing up, would build things for his church with my grandfather, so he thought it was a good idea to pass down the tradition. Every year growing up, I remember being forced to hold the drill or a 2x4 in the 100-degree weather of Texas summers. At the time, I probably complained more than I helped, but looking back now, those long days taught me more than I ever realized.

Over time, our building interests changed, and as I matured and grew up, we started creating more modern pieces and projects. What started as simple construction work slowly became lessons in creativity, problem solving, teamwork, and learning how to bring an idea to life with your own hands. My dad and grandfather taught me how to measure twice, work hard, stay patient when things went wrong, and take pride in building something that would outlast the day it was made.

Without even realizing it, those summers became the foundation for the career I have today in technical theatre and live entertainment. The skills I learned carrying lumber, using tools, wiring projects, and figuring out how to make things work directly translated into building sets, working with production equipment, troubleshooting backstage problems, and understanding the technical side of live shows. A lot of what I do now still feels similar to those summers in Texas — long hours, hard work, and building something bigger than yourself alongside people you care about.

If it wasn’t for all those summers spent sweating beside my father and grandfather, I honestly do not think I would have found the career path I have today. They may not have realized it at the time, but they were teaching me far more than construction. They were teaching me how to work, how to create, and how to carry on a tradition of building things that bring people together.