The Power of One

Let’s do a little introduction first. Since I can’t seem to figure out how to do captions with the photos in the blog, let me tell you who they are. The first picture is of Dr. Jon Stockrahm and me after a bunch of us went to see The Blind on Tuesday evening. Funny story, as we went to snap the photo in the cinema lobby, we saw we were standing next to a poster for the upcoming movie, “After Death”. We decided, that although it is a faith-based film, that probably wasn’t the best background for this particular story. Haha. The second photo is Andy & I with Marlin & Christy Stutzman. Now, to find out why these photos scored a spot in today’s blog, read on.

The term “Power of one” tells how one person’s life impacts another. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the person doing the impacting has no idea they are making an impact. They are just walking out the call of God on their lives, not realizing they are impacting others through their obedience. In this blog, we’re sharing how a couple of “Power of One” seemingly chance encounters were woven into the tapestry of our lives to bring us to this point.

Andy is fearless. I, by nature, am not. Although we always had a dream of owning a restaurant in our home, God had to get rid of some fear baggage I had been carrying around in my life before that could happen. In 2009, we met Marlin & Christy Stutzman. God used our friendship with them to change the trajectory of our lives.

Through the Stutzmans, we saw their fearlessness in starting new businesses, trying new hard things, and not falling when they sometimes failed. It was watching their confidence and fearlessness that finally gave me the confidence to start the Bee-stro. I am not exaggerating when I say there would be no Bee-stro without the Stutzmans. It was their power of one.

If it wasn’t for the Bee-stro, we would have never had the opportunity to meet the Stockrahms. In 2019, a sweet college student, Emma Stockrahm, encouraged her parents to try the Bee-stro after seeing it on social media. If Emma had never encouraged her parents to come here, we would not have had met her parents- Lynn and her husband, Dr. Jon Stockrahm. It was Emma’s power of one.

Andy started going to Dr. Stockrahm after meeting him here at the Bee-stro. About the time the Stockrahms started coming to the Bee-stro, Dr. Stockrahm changed his business model. He chose to change his business model because he wanted to practice medicine the way medicine use to be practiced. He became a provider in the MDVIP program. For lack of a better term, it’s a wellness concierge program in conjunction with the Cleveland Clinic. The upfront cost of $1,800 a year per patient seemed steep until Andy started going and witnessed first-hand the quality of care. Intense yearly physicals, same day or next day office visits, home visits if you couldn’t make it to the office, literally no waiting in the waiting room for your appointment, and having Dr. Stockrahm’s cell phone were all part of the package. It was the way healthcare use to be.

It had been 20+ years since I had gone to the doctor for any type of physical. In 2021, before we made the final decision for Andy to retire and come on board working at the Bee-stro, I decided I should have a physical. Since this would be the first time in over 20 years that I would actually need to produce an income for our family budget, I wanted to make sure I was healthy. I joined MDVIP and became Dr. Stockrahm’s patient.

Now, I am not a very good patient. I tend to forget to take my cholesterol medicine. Although my Instagram is full of saved exercise videos, and we have almost a complete gym in the garage, I rarely exercise. And, I prefer chocolate to vegetables.

So, it was a throw out sentence, not a concern at all, when I mentioned off the cuff at my yearly physical that I had been spotting. It was nothing really. Probably (hopefully) the start of menopause- finally.

Dr. Stockrahm wasn’t buying it. He said, “You’re getting a ultrasound.” To be honest, I fussed, but to get Dr. Stockrahm off my back, I went and got the ultrasound.

He called and said I needed to follow up with a gynecologist. I tried, really, I did try, but by the time they called me back, I had quit spotting and thought all was clear. They did, too, because they told me to call back if I needed them.

Then I went back to Dr. Stockrahm for my 3 month follow-up. He asked, “What happened with the gynecologist?” I told him the story. He said, “No. You’re going to the gynecologist. We need to rule out cancer.” That was NOT the word I was thinking. I was thinking, “Finally, menopause! Freedom from periods!”

By that time, the spotting had begun again. I did make an appointment with the gynecologist- twice, to only be rescheduled both times. The third time was the charm. The gynecologist is definitely not on the MDVIP program.

When I finally had my gynecologist appointment, I told her, “I am only here to shut up Dr. Stockrahm.” But, come to find out, he was right. If it hadn’t been for Dr. Stockrahm and his persistence, I would have never found out I had uterine cancer and since they tell me the form of cancer I had was the most aggressive kind, the story I would have told would have been very different than the one you have read. That’s Dr. Stockrahm’s power of one.

Consider this particular portion of this blog series as a PSA. First, get with a doctor you know and trust. One that spends time with you, hears you, and follows through. If you don’t have that kind of doctor in your life, well, I know a guy…

Second, be obedient to the call of God on your life. By just living a life obedient to Christ, you never know how your life may just be the power of one in someone else’s life and change their life’s trajectory. Or maybe even safe it.

Part 6 of 6- Moving Forward, tomorrow.