“May I Tell You a Story?” BY DICK DUERKSEN
Gratitude Attacks A Reg Maas story
“Reg Maas works on a small worldwide team of engineers who are developing miracle ceramic surfaces, removing layers of several dozens of atoms at a time. That’s the way he approaches everything. Carefully. With precision. Yet with an intense kindness. He is truly a man without guile. A man who walks with God. I don’t think I know a more beautiful soul.” —Pastor Tim Mayne, Reg’s pastor
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eg and his brother, Randy, are the original let’s-do-it-ourselves kind of people, and Randy had decided to build a new house—a house with three levels away from the big cities—in Peck, Idaho, United States. Knowing his brother would be good help, he called Reg and asked him to come and help. “No problem, brother; let’s make it a family reunion!” Reg packed his tools and drove the 400 miles (645 kilometers) to Peck. Looking around the new house, he saw that construction included a strong, safe, fireproof chimney that would be six feet (two meters) on each side and would go from the basement right on up through all three levels of the new house. “There was a double row of concrete blocks in the basement, set in concrete with steel rebars running up through them to make sure the chimney would be straight and solid,” Reg describes the construction. “It was a good start!” The weekend was packed with family, great food, and lots of conversation about God. Even one of the nonbelieving relatives jumped in, and the weekend quickly became a spiritual feast. *** Sunday afternoon Reg was working on the soffits at the edge of the upper family room wall when he noticed a nest of hornets at the soffit edge. He grabbed a can of wasp spray and climbed up to take care of the enemy. Once there, he discovered there were a whole lot more hornets than he had expected, and they were angry. As he pushed the spray button, a swirling ball of black hornets flew toward him. Reg quickly stepped backward and into the opening that was to become the chimney. Twenty-seven feet (eight meters) from the attic hornets to the basement blocks. “He fell cleanly through the top level of the house,” says one of his friends. “Then his shoulder hit the middle floor, sending him spinning onto the rebar and blocks in the basement below.” Reg
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