We treat God like a vending machine....

Why do we treat God like a vending machine. We walk up to the machine decide in our mind what we want, look at the number of it, put our money in, select the button of "what we want" then the item falls into the bottom for us to stick our hand inside and grab the item and get to eating.

Oh now come on and think about it, we do God the same way.

We use God just like this vending machine, we push the button of this machine expecting to get what we asked for from that slot and we get upset when we don't.

We get up in the morning, want a drive through service time with God, because we have no time to really spend with Him, so we ask for a quick word, we might lift up a quick prayer, we ask God to answer this prayer and that prayer and then we move on our way to work or the next activity that has filled our slot for the day. We want to push a button and expect God to give us what we want just like the machine did.

God does want to give us what we want but He also wants us to seek Him and spend quality time with Him. Even though we might think so, this is NOT Burger King and we can't always have things our way.

Let's stop treating God like a vending machine, or drive through service and spend true time with Him and then we will not only see Him meet our needs but He will sometimes bless us with the wants (the button we pushed).

Update on Michael.....

Ok here is an update from Michael's father-in-law:

We went to MUSC on Monday for Michael's doctor visit.

They are saying that with-in the next 6 weeks they will try to but his belly back together.
This will involve removing the grafted skin, reattaching his large intestine, removing the colostomy bag and pulling his abdomen skin back together.
They say that this surgery is horrible.
Michael has got to be in pretty good shape in order to endure this surgery.
He needs to lose about 15 pounds and try and be fit.
By fit they mean he needs to walk and exercise everyday for they say this surgery will be like fighting Mike Tyson.
We are encouraged by this pending surgery and we are hoping Michael's body will function normally when completed.
The down side to all of that is if it doesn't work out, then he will remain with a body function that won't be normal and could remain on the bags forever.

Now some more disturbing news but possible hope in the eventual outcome.
On Wednesday we went to the orthopedic doctors to look at his right leg. It remains as they say dead from the knee down. The main nerve (sciatic) is destroyed from the knee down. The remaining nerves if they grow back will only cause him extreme pain.
The bones were put back together as best they could but it is determined that they are not healing well.
His right foot is always cold and is useless.
He has to use the wheel chair for it is easier to get around rather than use the walker, even though he tries, but the result with a walker is that he just drags the right leg.
Their conclusions are to amputate the right leg from the knee down.
Trust me many tears were flowing at this news.
Granted, it is not the end of the story here.
With all the new advances in prosthetic devices, I am sure Michael will be far better off if the amputation is to occur.
Obviously Michael is going to seek a second opinion but we feel that the doctors are going to strongly emphasize the amputation.

Keep him in your prayers, there is an even longer road ahead.

I'm back....

OK I'm back from vacation and back on track so time to get busy with my thoughts again. Keep in touch

4-wheelin' trip to Colorado....

We drove a total of 4033 miles in the truck, 77 hours and 49 minutes

but get this we drove a total of 294 miles on the 4 wheeler....and every mile was as good as the first.

Check out these names....

On our trip out west here are some of the names of churches that I saw that are very different than any I've ever seen. Check these out.

• The Drunkard Brethren Church
• The Feed Store Church
• Church Unscripted
• Rock of Restoration
• Rhema Bible Church
• Jesus Project
• Fellowship of Excitement
• Blue Mound Church
• Prairie Friends Church
• Mercy & Grace
• Overcoming Believers Church
• Kodak Church
• New Song Church
• Kings Creek Church
• Faith Church

One year ago...

It has been a year ago since Michael McDaniel's car accident...and he still has some areas that are not completely healed per say...

many of you prayed him through recovery....

many of you helped his family financially.......

many of you helped them move into a new home....

many of you have helped them with miscellaneous things since that day...

many of you went to visit him at MUSC....

many of you have continued to pray for complete recovery since that day...

Even though he's doing much better he still could use your prayers....as he is not 100% but you know what even if he never gets to 100% that's OK because you see God allowed him to still be here with his family and all of us....God had a reason then and I'm sure still has plans for Him now.

Pray as Michael seeks God for all those answers and continue to pray for further recovery.
Thanks Michael for allowing me to keep everyone informed of your progress over this year and I will be praying for further recovery.

God's beauty...

It's been several weeks since I've written a post.
Well you see I'm on vacation in Colorado on a 4-wheelin' trip, having one of the best vacations I've ever had.

It is so hard to share in pictures or in words how beautiful this part of the country is. I just want to say you gotta come to believe it. My husband has tried for so many years to describe it to me, but until you ride up into those hills, over 13,000 feet up you just can't describe that into words.

God knew His plan and I'm looking at that beauty each day I'm here. We are exploring every trail we can find. Finding old mining cabins...old mines...found an old fork used by a miner...seeing all kinds of wildlife (groundhogs, mountain lion, sheep, deer, elk, moose, chipmunks, skunks, squirrels, bear)

I wish all of you were here to experience this beauty with us....