Living Architecture & Construction Management<

Greg showed up two weeks ago on Monday.

"I'm supposed to be here", he whispered, something in his voice confident and true.

"Well Greg, uh, okay", I stumbled, "but things are tight right now and we can't afford to employ anybody else."

"No problem. I can sleep in my car", he smiled. "I'm a carpenter and made a bed in the back where I can actually stretch out. A little money for food and gas once in a while would be nice so I can drive into church on Sundays or maybe go visit my daughter in Dallas. I need very little. I'm supposed to be here."

I met Greg about three months ago on a Friday afternoon. I was sitting outside by the Eagle Fountain with several of our Mexican friends who came by with a six-pack, their way of saying thanks for their weekly checks. Greg just walked up into the circle and smiled.

"Hi. My name is Greg and this is my daughter, Ariana." She was shy and hid behind a column. She had her father's quiet grin. "We're on vacation together", Greg said, "taking a whole week to swim in each of the seven Highland Lakes. Lake Marble Falls is the center lake."

I invited them again into the courtyard. He said I kept touching my heart. He said that this was one of the signs.

I told him he could drive down to our property on the water and swim and that he could tour our house, always under construction.

A month later, I get an email.

"Dear Marley,

I took the liberty of checking you out on Google. You've been busy these past thirty years. I found a book you wrote called the One Minute Lover. It blew my mind. The book is another sign. Its price is $7.77 and there are 77 pages and 7 chapters. My daughter's name is 777 in Arabic. I have her name and the number 777 tattooed on my chest, over my heart. In your book, the middle chapter is "The Center of Innocence" and it's all about the heart. You kept touching your heart when we met and invited us into your circle of friends. Did you know that Lake Marble Falls is the Center Lake and corresponds to the Heart Chakra? Yet another sign. It has been quickened in me to tell you that I feel something special is happening all around you and that I hope to be part of it one day."

Knowing better than to question the heart-felt wanderings of a wanderer, I wrote something back quite benign. "Thank you for your kind comments Greg. You are welcome anytime."

Two months later, Greg shows up on a Monday. "I'm supposed to be here", he whispered, something in his voice confident and true.

Turns out Greg is a gifted techno - I.T. - guru-head dude who made a bunch and lost it all in the dot-com craze, decided he wanted to work with his hands -not just his head- and became a carpenter/jack-of-all-trades laborer who volunteers his time to work with Habitat for Humanity. Greg's all about Sustainability and Conscious Community and the Green Thing. He's as serious about Living This Way as he's not serious about money.

Greg showed up on a Monday. Said he would work for free.

Thank God we can afford him.

Sometimes, what we're willing to do for free is what pays the highest dividend.