Fences

I just got off the phone with the invisible fence man.  I have had one of those around my property for 17 years.  They work great at keeping the dog inside her own yard.  I am taking Penny with me to my new home and we are moving the fence so she can still a (mostly) outside dog.  David's dog, Oreo, is inside for the most part and only goes out on a leash.  Talking with the fence guy made me think about the fences we put up in our lives.  For the most part they are invisible ones too.  I know I am so guilty of keeping people at an arms length.  Not letting them get too close or my fence just might turn electric.  Some fences are made of bricks.  We layer them one on top of the other until they are too high to reach.  But brick walls eventually crumble and fall.  Leaving behind rubble.  Kind of like the baggage we carry around.  Just rubble from old walls and fences.  Some fences are made of iron.  And good Lord they are hard to tear down.  Those are the kind we typically put up around things that are highly valued.  Like our hearts.  I know the one around mine was made of iron with a padlock and a little voltage for good measure.  So just like the fence I am going to move for my dog I could also move my own fences to my new home.  But I don't want to.  That old rubble of a brick wall.  That's the trash in my life I just need to leave behind.  That iron fence around my heart??  She's gone.  I unlocked that door and slowly let her creak open.  Funny thing about that.  I don't even close her up anymore.  Letting your guards down and opening up the gates to our hearts is so very scary and so exciting at the same time.  Then when you do.....you could just kick yourself for wondering what in the world were you doing!!  I keep my dog in for her safety and I think we just fool ourselves that keeping our hearts locked up is for our safety.  But it isn't.  When Jesus has your heart he guards it.  He protects it.  He tells me to not let my heart be troubled....  He will create in me a new heart.... Not a different one but a new one.  A renewed one.  One of soft, pliable flesh.  One that beats strong.  I have to say when your heart is heavily guarded it beats behind a door of iron and it is such a muffled sound.  But when freed??  It hammers out of my chest.  When I see my husband to be....it beats a rate I can't count.  When I think of our new life together??  I can't control the flutter.  All the while knowing that Jesus is holding this new, fragile heart in His loving hands.  No fences needed.