Have You Checked Your Levels Lately? And I Don't Mean in Your Car

I'll never forget my first car. It wasn't the fanciest thing in the world, but man I loved it. The "silver bullet" as my sister and I lovingly called it, was our key to freedom and along with that freedom came some obvious responsibilities. One of those annoying responsibilities to fill up the car once it hit 1/4 tank. The other was to check my oil.

The deal was, every time I went to fill up my car with gas, I had to lift the hood and check the oil. If the oil level was getting close to that bottom line on the dipstick, I had to purchase some oil and go ahead and put it in. This was not too difficult, but as a 16-year-old girl with places to go and people to see (oh, and the cute boy working at the cash register to flirt with), sometimes the oil didn't get checked. Well, let's just say that at times, the oil rarely got checked. And filling up at 1/4 tank? Ha ha.

Here is the kicker. Getting caught NOT paying attention to these responsibilities was horrible. Making the call to my dad because I had run out of gas was one of the worst calls I've had to make (you only have to make that mistake once). Worse than that though, was once in a while on a Saturday morning, I'd head out to the car and who would be bending over with the hood up? Dad. Ugh. All I could think was, "Please Lord, let the oil level be ok". I'd stand there, defeated and guilty, because I had not been checking the oil, and now I'd been caught red handed.

We have so much on our plates these days. I swear my mind and body just move from one thing to the next, trying to give attention to everyone who needs it, help, feed, show up, volunteer, organize, hug, play, worry, work, give, pay, clean, plan, schedule, drive, drive and drive some more. At the end of the day when the kids are finally in bed, prayers have been said and lights are off, there are nights that all I can muster is a glass of wine and a click of the TV remote. The next day, the alarm goes off and I am back at it again. All of this running takes a toll.

Last night I got together with a handful of women for dinner...women from many different chapters of life. One of these women (a DINK as I lovingly call her kind...dual income, no kids:) innocently asked me, "So, how often do you and your husband get out for date night? Like, once a month or once every few weeks?" I stood there, defeated and guilty, because I had not been checking the oil and now I'd been caught red handed. I was 16 again.

As I fumbled for a cute and witty response, all I could come up with was an uncomfortable remark about needing to be better about those kinds of things. Really? All of this scheduling and I can't schedule a little time for a night out with my husband?

How about you? Are you taking care of yourself? Checking your oil? Taking care of your marriage? Fueling up when your tank hits about 1/4 tank? We all know what happens when we neglect the oil and the gas tank. It can be costly.

So, here is my challenge for you this week. Check your levels, see where you are, and determine what you need to do to fill up. Your levels might be fine this week, but then make sure to check them again. And again. And then again. Ignoring these will most likely cause some sort of break down, and that's not good for anyone.

Fuel up. You've got a long road ahead of you.

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