Daring to do the Daunting

Directions for taking apart a garage door motor.

Earlier this summer, in June to be exact, our garage door stopped working. The motor still hummed, but the door itself wasn't moving up or down. I went to OSH to see how much a new opener would cost and balked at the $200 price. I wondered if I could fix it myself.

I'm not a very handy guy. I don't have much in the way of tools and when I do attempt a project, it ends up taking multiple trips to the store and multiple hours to get it done.

When I was a kid, I'd take my bike apart - all the way down to the frame and put it back together. I wanted it to re-lube all of the moving parts and make it seem like it was brand new. I remember once having extra parts after the bike was reassembled, and found out that I had skipped a couple of steps in putting things back again.

I looked at the garage door and saw that a small plastic gear that works with a worm gear was completely shredded and the bottom of the motor housing was filled with what looked like snow flakes. I went to Fresno Ag, because "if they don't have it, you don't need it." Well, they didn't have it and I needed it! I went on the internet and found the exact part I needed at Amazon.com for only $3.40. I ordered the part and it was here within 3 days. I also found the directions for replacing the part on the internet (you can see a part of it here). I had everything I needed and the whole summer to do it. The only thing I lacked was the confidence that I could do the job.

Could I do it? Probably. I had replaced part of my sewer line last summer. I had also replaced the front door lock in July. Every time I looked at the diagram, I shuddered to think of the task at hand. It was too much for me.

Last Thursday I took time off from work to go to the doctor - that's another story for later. Afterwards, I decided to try the garage door. I followed the directions and got everything apart, but ran out of time. Also,  I had problems getting the old plastic gear off the shaft it was on. I used a nail to get the roll pin (I didn't know what they were until now) out that was holding the gear in place. I went to my father-in-law's and borrowed a punch to get a new pin back in. It took until Saturday for me to get everything back together again, but it all worked and I was pleased with the results.

I won't lie - I had my doubts during the whole repair. I did pray before I began and while I was  working. As I was writing this entry, one verse kept coming to me - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13). I also was thinking about how the Israelites would forget God's faithfulness over and over again when they were wondering in the wilderness. I am just like them, forgetting how God has been with me and will continue to be.

One of the names of Jesus is Immanuel - God with us. At the end of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus says "surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (28:20b) Those are good words to remember.