Don't Burn Bridges!

I will never forget the winter of '94...I learned a VALUABLE lesson that winter...I had taken a semester off from school (which is a blog post for itself!) and my dad had gotten me a job at his work. IT WAS SOOOOO BORING! Not because it was my dad's work, but because it was winter and the warehouse at a lumber yard is just not that busy... After working there for a short time they cut my hours because there wasn't enough to do...naturally as a young guy I was pretty ticked off! So I decided to start working for my neighbor who owned a landscaping business...BUT instead of going to the manager and giving notice...OH...I gave notice...like..."I'm done today!" He was a bit upset...(and so was my dad!)...of course at the time I didn't think I was wrong, but as time passed I realized that for AT LEAST my dad's sake I should have given more notice...and frankly, I should have talked with my dad about it! STUPID! (Hey Dad...I'm still sorry for that!!) After about a year I wrote the manager a letter and apologized for how I handled things...told him that I wanted to be a man of integrity and I just BLEW IT! The lesson I learned is that you just shouldn't burn bridges...I claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ and I just didn't handle that well...not for the job or for my dad...and you just NEVER know when you might need a job or the help of someone you are GOING OFF on! What sparked this story was a guy from our church used to the the worship pastor at a church in Michigan...and when he was leaving that job he had a choice to make...he could either go off on everything he didn't like...OR he could finish well! He chose to finish well...really well and here is the CRAZY PART... Because of that...he was able to go back their this week and talk about how his family was going to go to China...and the people gave him a SIGNIFICANT amount of money!! HOW COOL IS IT that he and his family were able to do this! Had he burned that bridge...had he said things to hurt people on his way out...had he not finished well...this opportunity would have NEVER happened! 2 Things...make sure you finish well with whatever you are doing! If for no other reason than for the sake of your Savior Jesus Christ! AND...who do you need to talk with and apologize? Apologize for the way you have handled something...in your family...former boss...coworkers...store clerk??...go make it right and STOP burning bridges!