GET ME OFF THIS THING!

 Did you realize there is a medical treadmill?  It is very similar to the real deal treadmill---once you are on it and it is rolling---it is very difficult to get off--unscathed.  

You can write medical directives until the cows come home, but if you ever step foot on the medical treadmill---it can become a run-away treadmill before you turn around good.  When you walk in the door of any hospital with a major complaint, they are trained to keep you alive---and they will do their best--no matter your directives.  It is only when the treadmill slows down that things like directives might be looked at.  It could well be too late at that point for the professionals to adhere to your wishes.  I argued with my mother's doctor until the end and he was never happy with me insisting her plan be adhered to.    AND trust me---it is NOT easy to ask that all those machines be cut off and you will meet lots of opposition if you do.  SO---at times---even though we think we have planned well---we end up exactly where we did not want to be.  As my Dear Friend told me---"I am now a permanent patient."  NOT a place most of us want to go.

SO---what do we do when this happens?  Trust God---that He will use you---even in your infirmities.  What a blessing for God to chose to use us---no matter the circumstances.  Who are we to shake our head and tell Him, '"NO!"  What more beautiful picture could we paint, but to be used until our last breath?  None of us want to suffer, why even Jesus asked that be taken from Him.  But in His willingness to be obedient, God used Him in the Mightiest of Ways.  Eternally remembered as the Savior of Mankind is a reward beyond compare.  SO---I am asking God to use us all--in a visible and beautiful way as we continue down the road.  Give us all the grace, Lord, to be obedient---no matter the circumstance.

"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial,

for when he has stood the test 

he will receive the crown of life,

which God has promised to those

who love Him."

James 1:12