"TAXI TALES" ...Mechanic Tribulations...

"HONEST COMPETENT MECHANICS???"

    One of the most highly sought after service industry commodities in most of our Lives to day is a Good, Fair, Fast, Efficient, and most importantly "HONEST"  Car Mechanic?

    Especially if your business is Transportation/ Taxi Cabs!

...Is there such a place or such a person that meets that need or fulfills that all important criteria?


...I reckon that most anybody can stand in the middle of most business districts in just about every city, town or village in America, throw a rock in every direction and hit a shop that claims to perform these services, pay anywhere from $75 to $150 an hour for labor with 75 - 100% mark up on parts.

...More often than not we walk away from these schisters swearing that never again will we have our pockets picked and our hard earned dollars wasted on shady, sketchy, scam artists.

...You know what I am talking about because unfortunately most of us  have fell victim to these con artists.

....A good an honest mechanic is worth their weight in gold and when we find them, we will sing their praises to the high heavens, and will recomend them to all of our family, friends and associates.

...and before you know it... that business will be rewarded with more clients than they can keep up with...They have to hire more help, expand their operations, and it can become exceedingly difficult to get your car fixed as quickly as you once did?

...Personally I am willing to put up with scheduling difficulties rather than feeling like I've been bent over, given a lube job without the common courteousy of a reach around...LOL!

...I can tell you this about myself and our Family Business, although I am far from being perfect or anything close to it...

...As a True Christian, things like Ethics, Honesty, Truth, Integrity, Fair Play, going the extra mile to do the right thing are important values, concepts, and reputation, or a good report are part and parcel, tools of our trade.

That is why, at the end of the day, as much as that old nature, that human side of me that grew up in a tough and ugly neighborhood, that guy that wants paybacks...Is not the "GUY"
that I really want to be.

...Jesus told us to turn the other cheek and to rather suffer ourselves to be defrauded if necessary in order to be a good ambassador of justice and that which is right even though we are being wronged!

But Momma didn't raise no fool and Jesus also said to be wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove???

...Trust me when I tell you, I don't always act like a saint,  There are times when I lose my temper and allow people to push my buttons to the point of making me mad enough to make a Preacher cuss $#^%*()*^#$.......!~

...In the Taxi Business we have to work real hard to overcome the common perception that a Cab Driver is out to rip you off and take you for the long ride around...

...More than a few times when I got into a conflict with a Fare over the price of their ride or they start in with that spiel about jacking up their fare...My response has been I am sorry that you feel that way and if I am unable to convince you otherwise?

...The ride is on the house I would rather give you a free ride than have you walk away feeling like I have robbed you...

...So you might ask yourself,  what is this all about?

...Why go into all this?  What are you trying to say?

...Current experiences inspire me or motivate me to kind of let it all out...
... work through my emotions, a sounding board if you will to get some feed back...

...To put some distance between my anger and frustrations before I act, rather than going off half cocked and doing and saying something that I will later regret...

...It can also serve a need to inform a reader to not go there, waste their time or money, or maybe encourage someone to support or patronize a business that is worthy of their hard earned dollars.  To inform that this is someone you can trust, or not!!!

...I can tell you that I have found a great Mechanic whose shop I have spent thousands of dollars with over the past 2 years who has gone well above and beyond the call of duty on many occasions to service our vehicles...

"COMPLETE CARE AUTOMOTIVE"...Owned and operated by Matt McClung It is just past The Pumpkin Mans Farm West on M-43 across the street from the Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery Between Kalamazoo  and Vanburen County 269 - 668-5169

... I have never felt cheated or over charged or that I was being billed for uneeded repairs...I always felt that they appreciated my business and were more than worthy of our support and recommendations...

...This kind of mechanic, Matt's shop is a rare find in todays marketplace and much sought after by John Q Public.  The one problem this caused us, is  they have become so busy now that I sometimes have trouble getting my repairs done as quick as I need them...

...As a result we have had to recently resort to a plan B if you will and thought that Possibly an old friend from my wife Beth's childhood might be a safe bet...Someone we could trust in this day of the internet, Facebook and all...

...But the Jury is still out, although our deliberations appear to be coming back with an all too familiar conclusion...

...After 3 or 4 shots of letting Pete attempt to do the right thing and therefore earning our confidence and our business...

...All I am left with, is a feeling that this guy is unprofessional especially after leaving voice mails on my office managers phone filled with expletives, cussing, cursing and threats...

  ...I have already been overcharged for previous repairs that I paid...
... had unauthorized work performed on another vehicle...

... a ridiculous estimate given on a vehicle that needed some front end work, but was estimated an almost complete overhaul from front to back...
... And then presented with a ridiculous bill for the estimate, 

...I have purposely left out the name of this business As I am not out to get paybacks or hurt the guy,  Maybe if he reads this he'll have a change of heart or Philosophy on how to run an honest and successful business...

...A good cab company can be a great source of advertising for a good mechanic as we provide rides all the time for individuals who have just left there car at a shop to be repaired or take them back to pick up their vehicles after they have been repaired...

...Often times the conversation  on the rides  turns to a rant and rave session on all the horror stories over car repairs... experiences, and there by opening the door to pass along a good word of mouth reccomendation  or a thumbs down on a mechanics shop.

...I have even passed out Matt's Business cards and Phone number out of our appreciation for his good work...
If you need a good mechanic that will treat you fair and honest then call the good folks at ...

Complete Care Automotive 269-668-5169, and ask for Matt.  Tell him That Michael from GodSpeed Taxi reccomended him.  They are truly a business worthy of your Patronage




Michael

"GOD'S GRACE" "HIS WORD" "MY PRAYER"

"The steadfast Love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercy never comes to an end,
They are New every morning,
 New every morning,
Great is Thy Faithfulness Oh Lord,
....GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS!"


...Thank God I am Not God...
...If I was God I would have given up on me a long time ago...And maybe you Too!

...But if I understand God's Word correctly... And Believe that it is literally true?

...And I do!

 ...Then, what I feel, and what I think is irrelavent.

...GOD SAID IT, I BELIEVE IT, AND THAT SETTLES IT!...

 "For by Grace you (I) have been saved through Faith, and that not of (Myself) yourselves: It is the Gift of God,
  Not of works, lest (I) anyone should boast."

"Though your sins be as Scarlet, They shall be white as snow"

 " If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse Us from "ALL" unrighteousness." 

....Father, Please forgive me for all my many failures and remember how full YOU have made my heart in regards to all the truths that you reveal to me moment by moment....

....The only goodness, happiness, joy, and love I possess is what you alone have imparted to this flawed Mortal Coil...

...Create in me a clean heart...

...Oh God,  And renew a right spirit within me...

...Cast me not away from thy presence oh Lord...

...Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me...

...Restore unto me, the joy of Thy Salvation and ...

...Renew a right Spirit within me!!!

...YOUR WORD IS TRUE FATHER SO I COMPLETELY REJECT THE LIES AND CONDEMNATION THAT THE ENEMY CONSTANTLY BOMBARDS WITH...
...SPIRIT OF SUICIDE, DEATH, HOPELESNESS AND FEAR...
... YOU HAVE NO POWER OVER ME OR MINE ANY LONGER...
 ... I HAVE OVERCOME YOU SATAN, AND ALL YOUR DEMONIC MINIONS BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB AND THE WORD OF MY TESTIMONY...

....IN THE PRECIOUS... BEAUTIFUL... WONDERFUL... HOLY... POWERFUL... AWESOME... "NAME OF JESUS"... I ASK, THAT YOU FILL ME WITH YOUR "HOLY SPIRIT"...
...ANOINT WITH POWER FROM ON HIGH... "YOUR WORD"...
... AS YOU INSPIRE, MY MEAGER ATTEMPTS...
... TO TELL OF THE WONDEROUS THINGS...
... THAT "YOU" HAVE DONE IN MY LIFE, AND THE LIVES OF THOSE THAT  MAY READ THESE PAGES...

...MAY THESE TESTIMONIES GO FORTH...
... AND BEAR MUCH FRUIT...
... AND NOT RETURN UNTO THE HEAVENS VOID...
... MAY THAT FRUIT REMAIN AND BE MULTIPLIED...

..."YOUR GRACE" OH GOD IS A WONDROUS THING... ...HELP ME TO BE AN INSTRUMENT OF YOUR GRACIOUSNESS...

IN JESUS NAME AND BY HIS GRACE

Brother Michael

TRYING TO FIND MY WAY BACK HOME

....................NEVER ENDING STORY CONTINUED...TESTIMONY!.............




.......................MY LIFE AFTER CHRIST APRIL 12, 1981 A.D..........................



"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new!" (Apostle Paul)



To all my loyal followers, which basically consists of mostly my family at this point, I will try and be more faithful in the telling of my story and HIS STORY which I know is basically our story from this point forward.



I am aware that it has been incredibly difficult to follow the history chronologically...

... and in order...

... because of my frenetic style of jumping back and forth from the past,

... to present day concerns and musings...



...I will try and help out by reminding you,

... I last left off, on the Post, dated 3/23/09,

... Titled, "TRIUMPH" The Rest of The Story! Part 3 Doug.



...I've already told the story several times, About Doug Tuttle's untimely Death, and the impact that His life and Death had on me...

... and how that event actually saved my life, and changed it, and my future / destiny forever.



I however, cannot say it too often, that Doug's Death was not in vain...



...His legacy has continued until this day and beyond in all of the lives that have been changed for all good and eternity...



...It was shortly thereafter on April 12, 1981, In Deridder Louisiana, at The Texas Avenue Baptist Church, I finally surrendered my old life, and sinful ways, to become that new creation, the Apostle Paul told us about, when we make Jesus Lord and Saviour of our lives!



... ONE OF THE ABSOLUTELY MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS OF MY LIFE!!!





...An amazing thing happened three weeks after I landed In Deridder Louisiana...





..................................... "I BECAME A CHILD OF GOD!"...................................









...I left my young wife and 2yr old daughter Aimee behind in Kalamazoo, while I tried to seek my fortune, find adventure, and escape the law, in the oilfields of Louisiana.... I lived, with my uncle Barry and the now suddenly Deceased, Doug Tuttle, 20 years young!!!





...We didn't know it at the time, Doug had been poisoned by "White lightning," He had shared a few sips of it with me that night, and by the grace of God... I didn't drink enough of it to do to me what it did to Doug a few hours later...







...Two blocks down the street, Ashamed, shy and very embarrassed, I walked into that Church a few minutes before the service was over...



... Sunday morning, April 12 1981, Palm Sunday as it turned out, last day of the revival meetings, at Texas Avenue Baptist Church...



...The Pastor,.... Hollis Roberts, was giving an invitation...

... to any who would,

to turn from their lost lives....



... to Jesus, the "Light of The World"...



...At That moment, I was transported, I seem to float down that center aisle...



...I "BEGGED" God, to forgive me all my wicked sins, and save my lost soul...



...I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, living as a slave to my addictions, and sick appetites...



...I wanted to be delivered, and I wanted to live a new and better life...



...Suddenly, the weight of the world lifted off of my grieving battered soul....



... and I was filled with inexplicable joy and happiness.



...I knew in my heart, and felt it in my body and soul....



...That my wicked, wretched, miserable, horrid slate, had been wiped clean.



...God heard my petition, and granted to me a new and better life.





...A life worth living...





...a life with a purpose...



... HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!





...I truly had been born again.!!!!





...Wow, was my bride ever surprised,... when she got that phone call later that afternoon!



...Her wild, crazy, dope dealing criminal of a husband called her and...



... Declared, that he was now a 100% Bonafide Jesus freak.



...Her life, and the life of our child were changed at that moment forever.



...God brought true REVIVAL to that little church that day.



...I was on fire for the Lord, and began to bring everyone I could,

to that same loving Savior, that so willingly, and freely accepted a poor and miserable wretch like me...



... The change in me was so drastic... my conversion experience,

was so dramatic, it was infectious,

contagious, just about everyone that was in the realm of my influence,

wanted what I had found.



That tiny Church, Baptized more new converts that year,

than they ever had in their history.



6 months later I surrendered to Gods call on my life to Preach the Gospel,

and Texas Avenue Baptist Church, Pastor Roberts, the deacons, elders and the members of that church examined me, and extended to me a license to preach and practice the Gospel Ministry of The Lord Jesus.



...Throughout my entire life up to this point on this day when I became officially recognized and commissioned by my Local Church and Sent forth by one of the largest Protestant Denominations in the world, The Southern Baptist Convention, Home of Such Spiritual Giants as Billy Graham and Charles Stanley, to name just a small few...



...Who would of Thunk It???



...What a foolish Prediction, assumption, or even an ambition on my part???



...Almost an impossible, unlikely dream!



...But isn't that just like our loving, and most gracious Heavenly Father?



I Cor. 1:25

"Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men," verse 26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.



verse 27 "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;"



verse 28 "and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen: and the things which are not; to bring to nothing the things that are,



verse 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence."



verse 30 "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus; who became for us wisdom from God-and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--



verse 31 that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord."



...In mine own eyes and I am sure, in the eyes of the rest of the world, the most foolish thing God ever did was to call out Michael Bowling Sr. to preach the greatest story ever told...



...I don't know if there has ever been a more flawed individual ever created under heaven, a person more unworthy and unlikely failure than myself???



...Surely God has made a terrible mistake and a foolish choice in this instance...



...The disappointments are too numerous to recount!



...Truly I know how the Apostle Peter and the other Disciples must have felt when they denied their Lord and ran off in His greatest hour of need...



...Oh yes, there has been many miracles and victories that took place because I started my race well...but now in my early Fifties I feel like the prodigal son...



...My greatest hope is that I might find my way back to that Loving Father with the ring and the robe and the fattened Calf...



...From April 12 1981 until now December 26 2011...



...There is a lot of "HIS" Story and too much of "MY" Story to be told...



...TAG ALONG AND WE WILL BOTH DISCOVER TOGETHER HOW THE REST OF THE STORY TURNS OUT???



WWJD



Brother Michael Sr.

Merry Christmas ???

                     .....Merry Christmas 2011 ???.....


              Just barely past midnight, so "OFFICIALLY CHRISTMAS MORNING 2011....

"Joy to the world, the LORD is come, Let Earth receive its KING"

......"MERRY CHRISTMAS"......

...Sorry Folks....I'm not feeling it this year!

...I Know with all my heart That Jesus is the reason for the season, and that Christ is Christ-mas...



...But you have to know that almost 3 days ago on Thursday Dec. 22 @ 6:00AM at the Kalamazoo Airport my Wife Beth, Daughter-in-Law Jessie, Michael III (3Peat), Kiera (Gidget The Midget), and Newborn Grandaughter Olivia wrapped our arms Around our  son Michael II (Repeat) bowed our heads and Prayed to our Heavenly Father to protect and keep Him safe from all harm!...

Michael II is a Son, Brother Husband, Father and Friend to many... He's Really his Momma's Boy!!!!


...  Sargeant Bowling...Surviving 6 months already!.. 

... having Heavy Hearts, Swelled with Pride, Full of Anxiety... 

...Bathed and Covered in Prayer... Send him off   "AGAIN!' into harms way  in Afghanistan!!!

    ...As Proud as we can be, He carries the same Torch of courage and honor that his  Grandpa Edmonds Did in WW II !...

...Also a  Sargeant and Combat Medic serving with honor and distinction in the European Theatre, and the South Pacific...

... Clyde Enos Edmonds, My Wifes Father, My Personal Hero...
... Saved Many  lives and received numerous Medals of valor in the great war against Hitler's Germany and the Empire of Japan!...

"God Rest His Soul"

....Our son comes from good stock, and we all try and buck up, put on a good Brave face...

...The Kid's Just Know that Daddy is fighting against the BAD GUYS because he's an Army Soldier.

 ...The NewBorn Olivia Laid eyes on her Daddy for the first time,...
...Her Daddy Held His third child... just a few days ago...
....They got to spend 11 days together and then He is gone again...Back to the Battle field!

   .... May Strong War Fareing Angels watch over and protect him and his troops until they  all Return and are  Re-United once again with us at Home...


.....Every Fiber in my being wants to rant and rave about My feelings and opinions on the Poltics of  this war and how unwilling I am to shed one more drop of blood of God's most Beloved in all His creation,Mankind!..

...Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Gentile, Hispanic, Arab, Asian, African, Australian British, Civilized, Greek, Barbarian, Atheist, Agnostic, Whatever Whatever!...

....Jesus Died For all of us That we might Know Him and Spend eternity with Him!

...He commanded us to love one another....!



...Words can't express how proud I was when we attended Tyler's Graduation from Boot/Basic Training @ Fort Jackson, South Carolina...!!!!
 
We are so proud of Michael's and Tyler's willingness to put it all on the line for what is supposed to be our fight against radical Islamo Fascist Terrorism... .........PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!


...I have to believe though with all my heart that their is not one Hot Blooded Father or Mother's or their Patriotic families that would be willing to trade one ounce of their loved ones Precious blood for one barrel of foreign crude oil...

...Family, Freedom and God's Kingdom...His will be done... are the values worth fighting and dieing for...!

And I no longer believe we are in the middle east for those noble reasons!

...I SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, AND OUR SONS 110% WITH ALL MY HEART AND PRAY FERVERNTLY FOR ALL OF THEM, EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY AND GOD HELP ME...I EVEN PRAY FOR OUR SO CALLED ENEMIES.... BECAUSE, THATS WHAT THE CHRIST OF CHRISTMAS COMMANDED ALL OF US TO DO!...

...Forgive me for not being able to make and be Merry this year...My poor heart is heavy and broken...I've tried my best to put on a Happy Face...

...SORRY!


...PLEASE!!!!!



"PEACE ON EARTH AND GOODWILL TOWARDS ALL MANKIND!"

BARUCH  HASHEM ADONIA

DAD  AKA Michael D. Bowling I