Dear Al,
The last few months of my life have been the most difficult I've ever faced.
One day, when things were as bad as they could get, I needed a friend.
It was right after the first day of my new dental practice. My construction manager had failed to get the place done, but the patients were already appointed, so we pieced together what we could, and started providing care for our people.
Needless to say, it was borderline disaster. Nobody knew where anything was. Nobody knew how to run the software. People were stressed. One of my most important employees was crying. I was functioning on about 90 minutes sleep. I didn't know if my practice, my employees....my wife and kids could take it.
I called you.
You chuckled. You said you'd been down roads like this before. You spent nearly an hour of your time telling me about businesses that you'd started.
You said that you too had been stressed.
You told me that even though times were awful for me, that I needed to lead by example. You told me to show my best side. It was time for leadership! It was time to realize that the women in my office needed more than good pay. They needed emotional support and strength. You told me to get some sleep, wake up early and go buy bagels for the staff.
But most of all, you told me, I needed to put my stress and sadness and hopelessness in God's hands.
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The next day I took your advice. I bought bagels for the staff, and I put on a brighter face. The employees that I valued so much responded to my confidence. I did exactly as you told me, and you were right on the money. Everything you said came true. Things got better every day.
You also made me promise to call you in a week with an update.
When I called you, you said that prayers were being answered. You assured me that you were praying for me every day. And I knew that you were. It meant so much to me to have a friend like you who cared enough about me to spend time praying for me each day.
It gave me strength...and perspective....and a feeling that there was another person out there who'd been through it all before.
I love you, Al. I'll miss you.
But I know you'll still be thinking about me.
I promise I'll make this business work to honor you. But I won't do it alone. I'll keep praying for God's help thanks to the perspective you gave me.
Your friend,
Bruce
