if i had a hammer

habitat for humanity founder millard fuller died today, and his influence on my life and the trickle down effects are so profound that i decided it warrented another blog post.

you can read the story of his life and HFH here.

i don't think it is an overstatement at all to say that millard fuller changed my life. his crazy idea (and admittedly, he was a bit crazy in the BEST kind of way) that simple, decent housing is a human right and his conviction that it was entirely plausible that everyone on earth could be housed rocked me to the core the first time i heard it, and still shakes me up if i really think about it for very long. he was a visionary, a salesman, an advocate, and he loved people and Jesus. perfect? nope. but inspiring, no matter what you thought of him as a person.

i've worked on probably 20 habitat houses so far in my life, and in fact today confirmed a december HFH build trip to portugal. it is part of who i am, and a wedge of the person i hope i am becoming. in the foggy memory of idealization, i have been known to say that the happiest year of my life was the one i spent as a full time volunteer with HFH at the HQ in georgia. my 4 years on their payroll in chicago shaped and molded me in ways i'm sure i'm only beginning to thankfully recognize.

there were issues, of course, with him and with some of the ideas and projects and methods. but problems aside, literally hundreds of thousands of people around the world have a place to call home because of his wackness. his crazy idea that worked. and yes, i really did get tears in my eyes every stinkin' time i showed the HFH volunteer video with the cheesy celine dion soundtrack. why? becuase i've been to the house dedications. i've worked with the partner families. i've seen with my own eyes the relief and joy of handing over the keys to a safe and healthy home to a family who has been living on couches in someone's basement. or in a car. or in a filthy shack. or in a mud hut.

and even more selfishly, millard fuller is the reason that some of my dearest and most-loved friends in the whole world are part of my life. college HFHers, former colleagues, fellow volunteers. (i know i don't usually write out names or anything on my blog. the assumption of anonymity. but seriously, i know that the only people reading this mess are the people who already know all these people...)

roxi and jason
john
jess and stan
andrea
tammia
kathi
amy and amy and amy and chris and shannon and krista and pat and alynn and patrick and lisa and lisa marie and karen and nico and camille and steve and about a zillion other former colleagues who loved me and worked with me during some of the roughest and best years of my life

so thanks, millard, and prayers for your family and your dear friends. some of the best days of my life, some of my best memories, some of the most hilarious road trips, and sweatiest, satisfying, heart stretching days of my life are because of your irrepressable vision.

oye!
and amen.