“Are you sure we are still on your property?” John wiped the sweat from his forehead, sounding a little apprehensive. John and Linda, dear friends from California, were visiting us on our newly acquired hundred-and-sixty-acre Kansas farm.
Our teenage sons had created paths that wind through the woodlands on the western border of our property. I often jest with friends as we enter this particular woodland that we’ve arrived in Colorado.
We were sharing this cherished spot with John and Linda.
“Yep,” Judd responded with a bit of bravado, “we are still on Swihart land.”
“How can you be positive? We have been walking for a long time! How do you even know where you are?”
How do we know we’re still on our land? The boundaries are clear: barbed-wire fences encircle our hundred and sixty acres, distinguishing our property from our neighbors’. We always share a simple rule with anyone venturing across the pasture:
Never cross a barbed wire fence, and you’ll be on the Swihart farm.
Boundaries are good. Our barbed wire fence around our property told us exactly where our land ended and where our neighbor’s land began. It kept Jerry’s cows out of our pasture and our horses, sheep, and cows safely at home.
Fences symbolize safety and respect, helping communities thrive by maintaining clear boundaries and mutual understanding. That New England poet wraps it up quite well for us who take care of farms and enjoy living in a world of order rather than confusion and chaos: “Good fences make good neighbors.”
In the bigger picture, both historically and biblically, we know that God approves of boundaries and borders. The Bible shows that boundaries are part of His design. ‘From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands’ (Acts 17:26).
I love our neighbors and their cows. In fact, if one of Jerry’s cows came over to the fence, I would stop and talk to her for a while. But, were that cow to jump the fence and come into our pasture, it would cause bedlam to ensue: others were sure to try to follow.
Jerry and Judd were the fence-keepers who maintained peace, harmony, and order simply by tending our borders.
Amen! As always, beautifully written, and a reminder of God’s plans for our world.