It was quite a Labor Day. I thought that was supposed to be a day off! But alas, I found myself laboring because days off have a funny way of becoming project days.
My wife and I headed to Home Depot for 2x4sālots of themāalong with gravel, screws, and 1x4s. What for? Glad you asked. Iām building a wall!
The back of our property has a chain-link fence that does little to stop the wild grapes, vines, brush, and other vegetation determined to invade our yard. Unfortunately, thatās also where I tilled for a new garden. The chain-link fence had basically become a trellis and wildlife highway, so I decided to build three six-foot privacy-fence panels against it.
First came the plan, now we need the materials.
We flipped through stacks of lumber looking for straight boards while rejecting wooden ābananasā that appeared to have been sitting there since Obama was in office. Eventually we loaded roughly 800 pounds of supplies onto the cart, paid, and headed outside.
If youāve never loaded twelve-foot 2x4s into a Ford Edge, youāre missing out. With the vehicle sagging and giant wooden toothpicks sticking out the windows, I carefully drove home. Easy on the brakes. Easy around the corners. Two miles later, I backed into the driveway and stepped out already tired.
I hadnāt even unloaded the lumber or built anything yetā¦but I had a plan and things were in motion.
Proverbs compares a person without self-control to a city with broken-down walls. But walls donāt appear because we want protection. They require intention, planning, materials, effort, and action.
Spiritual boundaries work the same way. Before temptation comes climbing through, before old habits creep back in, before the enemy finds an easy entrance, we must deliberately plan a course of action.
Before the first spiritual post is set, we must understand: God wants us to demonstrate self-control and so we must erect tall spiritual boundaries to defend against encroaching sin and destruction.
Wow! As a landscaper, I’ve built a lot of fences, but never board by board. Great lesson and great looking project! I’d recommend applying a stain, I usually used a cedar colored Olympic brand, to help preserve the wood.
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Thanks, brother! This is the first time Iāve ever built a fence and have been learning a lot as I go. The slats are pressure treated, but I will probably put a protective stain on them when they dry out some more. Thanks for the tip! Have a blessed day!šš»š
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Always stain, never paint. Stain fades but never peels and besides protection is easy to apply and looks great. We once built a quarter mile long six-foot wooden fence between warring neighbors.
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Sounds like quite a war!š
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Eric, I always love your analogies! You look at ordinary tasks and materials and see a spiritual application. Today’s message really spoke to me. There are areas in my life where I need to build boundaries and exercise self-control. Thank you for the reminder! By the way, the fence looks great!
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Thanks Heather! One of my mentors told me years ago that āthere is a message in everything you see.ā Iāve taken it to heart and now I canāt āunsee itā.š
Have a blessed day!
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Perfect image for an impactful message! Awesome fence, too! š
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Thanks Nancyā¦upon further viewing I noticed my video has a really weird wide aspect ratio happeningā¦my fence looks quite wide like a funhouse mirror. Anywayā¦thanks for your encouraging words, have a great night!ššš»
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Excellent post brother Eric – I love how you find spiritual applications in your projects. Thank you for sharing these with us. God bless and guide you in your work š
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Thanks Alanā¦Iām currently suffering a sinus infection so the build has temporarily paused, but looking forward to getting it done!ššš»
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You’re welcome! š
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