One of the benefits of being a pastor with a parsonage is that while you don’t own the house, the church takes care of the maintenance. So, when the old garage door opener broke last year, our church paid for a new one to be installed.
Before becoming a pastor, I tried my best to do the maintenance and repair on our own homes. If you know me, I don’t like spending money I don’t have to. Cathy and I never had a garage door opener until we got a parsonage. Having one is a treat! Not having to get out of the car in the rain, snow, cold, and wind can spoil you.
A few months after the new opener was installed, the door wouldn’t open or close properly. No problem. I disengaged the opener and we just opened and closed the door manually like we always did in our own homes. That, of course, meant getting out of the car in winter weather whenever we left home or returned. Cathy doesn’t complain, but I’m sure she was thrilled.
After a few days, I decided to see if I couldn’t fix it myself. I googled a few YouTube videos and tried three different things with no luck. One time I thought I might have had it figured out. I was very excited! But after a few tries, things seemed worse than when I started working on it.
Before becoming a pastor, I tried my best to do the maintenance and repair on our own homes. If you know me, I don’t like spending money I don’t have to. Cathy and I never had a garage door opener until we got a parsonage. Having one is a treat! Not having to get out of the car in the rain, snow, cold, and wind can spoil you.
A few months after the new opener was installed, the door wouldn’t open or close properly. No problem. I disengaged the opener and we just opened and closed the door manually like we always did in our own homes. That, of course, meant getting out of the car in winter weather whenever we left home or returned. Cathy doesn’t complain, but I’m sure she was thrilled.
After a few days, I decided to see if I couldn’t fix it myself. I googled a few YouTube videos and tried three different things with no luck. One time I thought I might have had it figured out. I was very excited! But after a few tries, things seemed worse than when I started working on it.
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I knew the opener was likely still under warrantee, but I had so wanted to fix it myself. Now I wondered if by messing with it I had somehow voided the warrantee. I don’t like asking for our church to fix things. I especially don’t like having our church pay for things if I’m the one who made a mistake. After putting off telling the church for a few weeks, Cathy let the board know at a meeting.
I hate making phone calls, but I swallowed my pride. After a couple of days, I called the garage door company one afternoon. At a little after 8:00 the next morning Paul showed up. Within 5 minutes he had checked and adjusted the 3 parts I had tried to fix and the garage door was working perfectly. He said it looked like they had installed it a few months ago so we were good to go. I don’t know that Paul even gave us any paperwork.
I like fixing things. I don’t like asking for help or making phone calls. But Cathy went for weeks without the garage door opener that our church had kindly provided us because I wanted to fix it, and then waited to ask for help when I couldn’t do it myself.
Do you ever let your pride get in the way of getting things done? Do you, too, ever let your anxieties keep you from acting? I have too many times. When I put off doing what I know I should, the anxiety doesn’t go away. I waited weeks to get something done that took Paul from the garage door company 5 minutes to fix. Unfortunately, my pride and my anxiety affected Cathy, not just me.
Is there something you’ve been putting off? I’ve got a list myself! Getting help from Paul reminded me that it’s best if we just go ahead and ask for the help we need to get things done.
I hate making phone calls, but I swallowed my pride. After a couple of days, I called the garage door company one afternoon. At a little after 8:00 the next morning Paul showed up. Within 5 minutes he had checked and adjusted the 3 parts I had tried to fix and the garage door was working perfectly. He said it looked like they had installed it a few months ago so we were good to go. I don’t know that Paul even gave us any paperwork.
I like fixing things. I don’t like asking for help or making phone calls. But Cathy went for weeks without the garage door opener that our church had kindly provided us because I wanted to fix it, and then waited to ask for help when I couldn’t do it myself.
Do you ever let your pride get in the way of getting things done? Do you, too, ever let your anxieties keep you from acting? I have too many times. When I put off doing what I know I should, the anxiety doesn’t go away. I waited weeks to get something done that took Paul from the garage door company 5 minutes to fix. Unfortunately, my pride and my anxiety affected Cathy, not just me.
Is there something you’ve been putting off? I’ve got a list myself! Getting help from Paul reminded me that it’s best if we just go ahead and ask for the help we need to get things done.
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