Tommy helped us get Fit 4Faith

Every day last week our departures and arrivals home were accompanied by a grinding, scraping noise, punctuated by a loud bang. Garage door. When the kids asked, "Shouldn't we do something about that?" I replied, "It's not the priority right now. It has to wait. We'll keep using it. It will probably break next week, and then we'll do something about it." (Disclaimer: This is not a good example of modeling problem solving as a parent - yet. )

Ignoring the obvious strain and symptoms did not fix the problem.

Monday was the final day our Eastern European guests were with us. As I pressed the garage door opener to begin the day, including an airport run, our problem became our priority. Bad timing. But problems have a way of doing that when they keep getting pushed aside. Sooner or later, it becomes the priority.


Tommy was the garage door version of a swat team. With my husband sick in bed, I went into "I can solve it" mode and called a repairman.  After he inspected and diagnosed the problem, I learned so much:

• Ever garage door is a different size; ours happens to be an extra wide, extra heavy, solid wood version. It's a lot to lift.
• The door looked good on the outside, but that didn't tell the whole tale.  The neighbors didn't know.
• Our motor isn't ideal for lifting the weight, but if everything else is as it should be, it can handle it.
• Because of the strain on the whole frame, other damage was being caused:  bearings were worn, rollers were destroyed, the track was cut, and the trolley was stripped out.
• Two years ago when we had the springs replaced, the repair team had only patched the problem, not fixed it. That actually made for a bigger problem.
• The amount of use our door gets is considered heavier than normal, so the life is shortened if we don't compensate with better care.
• What we needed was a total inspection of the system, so we could identify the weaknesses, do the complete maintenance, and overcome the real problem.  
• The ultimate breakdown of our down made it hard for us to do what God called us to do during our  missions conference. The door wasn't functioning well at an important time.
• No one else could fix our door but us. 

Because of the issues, the solid door was actually beginning to break. Not only that, but the cable that lifts the door was under so much strain, it was badly frayed, in danger of snapping and dropping the 500 lb door at any moment. The cost of ignoring the problem could've been deadly. Once the repairs were made, Tommy said he thinks our door should have a long life ahead of it.


The Lord has been getting my attention with some "scraping sounds" from my own life. My time and energy are heavily used, but I'm not doing such a great job of doing maintenance and taking care of my hardware. Those who know me might say I don't look unhealthy or like I have a significant weight problem, but appearance just isn't always an accurate way to determine health. I'm really not doing a good job of taking care of myself. It seems like some of the "maintenance" I need always gets pushed to the back of the priority list, but ignoring obvious strain and symptoms doesn't fix the problem.

2 Cor. 5:9 ~ So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

While I hadn't even paid attention to all of the individual parts of my door, the noise was the "red flag" that we had a problem to address.


So, are you taking care of yourself like you need to? Does a Jesus loving girl really need to take care of herself any differently than someone who doesn't know or care about Him? And do you need accountability to address your issues? (I DO!!!)   I can't give you the 24 point inspection Tommy gave my door, but I am really excited about inviting you to get Fit 4Faith with me.

Tomorrow, stop by to do a little "24 point inspection" of your own, and then join me Friday to kick off 21 days of Fit 4Faith. I found an awesome resource to help us out. This is NOT a diet or an exercise plan or a routine. You'll see, along with me, why it matters to care for our frame and why it's one of the godliest things we can do. Over the next few weeks we'll look at some incredibly practical and clear scripture about our physical well being, and we'll look at some applications to life where we live it. We'll encourage each other to care for ourselves for long term healthy physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It's going to be refreshing. It's going to sound so much better than the scraping a lot of us hear.

And by the way, we all agree that our door is now has a peaceful sound that gives us confidence and freedom to go where we need to go. I hope you'll join me and let Fit 4Faith do the same for us together! 

See you tomorrow for the 24 point self check!