I often hear comments along these lines, “I bet you meet all kinds in your line of business.” Here is the story of the only time that I have ever “fired” a client. In 2016 someone called the CMC office and asked if there happened to be a Mennonite REALTOR®…

What is one story from your family lineage that impacts how you think about repair for future generations? I rummaged through my stock of family stories to find something fitting this prompt.  I climbed through my dad’s family tree, testing several thin branches, then shinnied into my mom’s where some…

Imagine that you are black and living in a small, tight-knit neighborhood near an old coal mine where about 4 or 5 families have inhabited a group of 25-30 houses for the better part of the last 75 years. Imagine that the city surrounding you was growing and expanding its…

There’s quite a bit coming out now regarding the one year mark of the pandemic.  This week marks one year since we’ve worshiped together in person on a Sunday morning – or, as our daughter Lily is now calling face-face interactions – “non-virtual.”  Interesting how the reference point for normal…

I am a watcher: a stand-at-the-side onlooker. Definitely NOT a do-er. All my life I have been more comfortable being a wallflower—someone who is out of the spotlight. Ever since our church started focusing on racial justice issues, I have felt more compelled to start doing SOMETHING. So besides being…