Chapter 2

Where do I start? How can I even begin to articulate what Sumner has meant to me. Sumner is more than a house, it's Scott, Glad, Zollner who I shared my daily living with. You, saints, have changed my life forever. Your honesty, your vulnerability, your generosity, your accountability, your short accounts, your food, your faith, and your love will live in me all my life. The phrase "I can never go back" comes to mind. I can never go back to single minded dwelling.

Some of my favorite memories:
- staying up late at night with Glad as we processed some hard teary stuff while sitting on the kitchen floor eating cheerios with dried cranberries, chocolate chips, peanuts, and......SCOTCH. At 2am that was a hilarious site to see.

- Garage time with Zollner when she brought me a smoothie and we kept our accounts short with more love and compassion than I was used to.

- Getting a christmas tree with my house

- Falling asleep during Advent because after the 20th night in a row of late nights with the larger community I just couldn't stay awake, but I just couldn't go to bed either.

- Playing old man dress up with Scotty, getting Glad to kacke with Scotty, cleaning the garage with Scotty (countless times), and going on processing walks with Scotty. Whenever I hung out with Scotty I was certain that one of two things would happen. I would either laugh my ass off or I would have a profound conversation and dig deeper into the meaning of life.

- Being surrounded at my wedding while Sarah and I were given a gift from the whole community. If you ever want to see me teary eyed, ask me about this.

Zollner, Glad, Scott, I love you all like I have known you my whole life. Thank you for all you have done and will continue to do as part of this community.

I am now in the beginning of the second chapter of my life - marriage. It's wonderful. And I'm here because I listened to God who asked me to live in a community that would change my life forever.

Now, as Sumner house takes on new members, it will change. That change will be, no it is, hard. I will want to keep it just as it was, but I won't. Because the magic happens in the journey. I pray that the next group at 29th and Sumner is vulnerable, and intentional, and loves each other enough to loose sleep. And I pray that Sumner as I experienced it will live on in the hearts of those that were touched by it.

All my love
Justin