Best days of my life

Enamored by a hammer

“They gave me a job as a kid. I thought I had died and gone to heaven,” Jim Herr said about his first Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) experience. “You know what they did? They gave me a can of nails and a hammer and asked me to straighten the nails. I thought it was the best day of my life.”

It was the mid-1960s when a church burned about 50 miles from Herr’s childhood home in upstate New York. “MDS went to rebuild that church,” Herr said. “I was maybe nine or ten years old, and I went along.” Participating as a child in this MDS church rebuild launched a lifetime interest in construction and service for Herr.

“In 1972, Hurricane Agnes came through the area and devastated a couple of cities,” Herr said. “My father, who was a pastor, took a role with MDS and got a unit started in Corning, New York. MDS stayed in our area for a couple of years. In the summer months I worked with MDS every chance I could get.”

After graduating from Eastern Mennonite High School in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in 1975, Herr returned to his home in New York to work as a carpenter for Menno Housing, an organization that grew out of the MDS unit.

Young adult carpenter father

“So,” Herr continued, “I was employed for Menno Housing. After Menno Housing folded, I began working for myself at a very early age. I built my own FHA (Farmer’s Home Administration) home when I was only 19. That was before I got married. I would have never done any of that without the prior experience I had with MDS.”

Reflecting on his young adult years, Herr admitted, “I made really poor choices. In 1985, I went through a divorce and moved to Virginia. I arrived in Harrisonburg, Virginia, with three young sons: ages one, three, and five. I was a single dad for many years.”

“I also had my hammer and my nail bag when we moved,” Herr said. “That hammer and nail bag served me well for years. This whole thing of becoming a carpenter as a very young man, was enough to provide for us. Laurence Sauder, construction director, hired me to work at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community. He was the best soul I could have worked for at the time with what I was going through.”

“I wasn’t praying,” Herr remembered, “But my mom was praying for me. There were people who were continually lifting me up. And people were really gracious to us. People gave me chances. I have been so very fortunate.”

Herr began working with Bernard Martin, a contractor in Harrisonburg, Virginia. “Bernard was a man who just embodied what MDS is about. I learned from Bernard both about the business side of things and the giving side of things. He was just one more person who had a big impact on my life. I’m really grateful for that.”

In 1988 Herr incorporated his own construction business, naming it Herr and Company. Herr paused. “It takes some of us a long time to see that God is doing something good in our lives.”

Building the business

Remembering his early years as a business owner, Herr said, “When you own your own business, you have enough power to dictate your own future. I thought I could force my way through many situations,” Herr conceded. “But now I realize that life is about relationships. It took a few decades to realize that I wasn’t in control of my life. I was happier after I learned that. I just regret it took me so long.”

“In 2024 my middle son, Mike, bought my share of Herr and Company. We went through a lot in the transfer of the company to my son. For me it meant letting go of some of my identity for the good of company. Now the company belongs to Mike.”

“I never took public speaking. I never did well in school. I’m not comfortable sharing in front of a lot of people. But we, my sons, our employees, and I, built a very successful construction business.”

Purpose and passion

“Now I realize,” Herr continued, “That the business was just a vehicle to take me to what I was really meant to do. I didn’t feel that when I was in the throes of growing the business. But now, I feel I have a purpose. New energy. Passion to continue to serve others. Maybe that’s what this stage of life is all about. I am trying to learn how to be open to what tomorrow might bring. That, in itself, is gratifying. I don’t worry about it. I live a day at a time. I’m no longer trying to control my destiny.”

“MDS was the introduction to my occupation. Now I realize my occupation is fulfilling my purpose in life. When I was so caught up in work, it became my identity. My job was my identity,” Herr said. “It encompassed my whole self in many ways.”

Full circle

“I have this feeling that all those years in the business were setting me up for a new purpose. I really believe that all of this was ahead for me all along. My real purpose. On December 24, 2024, I fully retired. I’ve been on four MDS projects since then. MDS doesn’t feel like work,” Herr explained excitedly. “There are no dollars exchanged. There is no pressure.”

“The relationships we form with the people whose homes we worked on are as important as the construction we do,” Herr said. “One woman told us she paid $10.70 for the house they were working on. It’s a gut check in a lot of ways for me. The dollar doesn’t really matter. We are there to plug the holes and make the electric work and bring a little ray of sunshine into the windows. I really believe in this idea of serving others. I think one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is how important it is to lift others up. You never know what they’ve gone through.”

“I really enjoy everything I am doing on the projects,” Herr said. “I’ll take on any project that’s construction related. I’ve had such broad experience, I feel comfortable in almost any construction situation. It gives me energy. Construction supervisor is my title, but on any day, I might be doing masonry, plumbing, laying flooring, training others… What I am doing is serving—the  volunteers and the homeowners.”

“I missed my 50th high school reunion because I chose to go to Florida with MDS. I was really looking forward to being in Florida. This was an RV unit, not the traditional MDS project,” Herr explained. “MDS has a lot of depth with its standard operating procedures. We are fortunate that the business allowed us to buy an RV so that we could be part of this unit.”

Thinking back to his childhood MDS experience straightening nails, Herr said, “What I noticed is that there is something for everyone to do with MDS. MDS sees beyond that volunteer’s limitations or helps that person see beyond their limitations. MDS blesses so many people. It’s not just the people we serve. The volunteers may receive as much as those whose homes we work on. On every project I meet new people, people who challenge me, people who care. MDS has a wonderful tag line, ‘We are the hands and feet of Jesus.’ That’s true at MDS, but it can also be true in another place in life.”

“It doesn’t matter how many years, how many times, or how many ways we have served but it’s just that one day. That’s what it comes down to. The people we serve don’t care how many times we’ve been on an MDS project. For them it is only about the connection and the new home. On that one day, we have an opportunity to touch someone’s life.”

I don’t know what’s ahead for me,” Herr said. “I don’t know if it will be a lifetime of serving with MDS. But I know it will be a lifetime of serving.”

Jim and Rhonda Herr live in Harrisonburg, Virginia. In January they joined an ongoing MDS project in Conroe, Texas, building five new homes.

Elaine Maust is a writer, spiritual director and retired pastor.  A transplant from Mississippi, Elaine now lives with her husband, Duane, in Michigan’s Thumb.