Build a hedge to protect value | Nuggets of Faith

Medieval castles often were surrounded by a moat to provide a protective barrier to those who would have evil intentions for the residents of the castle.

One of the reasons China built the Great Wall was to protect its northern border from enemies. A previous president endeavored to build a wall to protect the southern states on the Mexican border from people crossing illegally into the United States. We build fences around our homes as a form of protection. Hedges are built to divide property lines. Barriers are important to protect that which we value the most.

You can often hear radio commercials about home titles being stolen by criminals. Companies exist that create a lock or a hedge around your property's deed so you are notified if anyone tries to steal your property. If your mortgage doesn't have the right loan-to-value ratio, you can be required to pay a mortgage insurance to hedge the bank's risk of foreclosure. In fact, the entire insurance industry is a hedge against death, auto accidents or litigation.

The most important agreement we ever enter into is the marriage covenant. What protections to we build into our marriages to protect them? What hedges are in place to ensure that which we value is protected? Occasionally, you hear of a couple who have been married 70 or 75 years. They may not think of how the protections in their marriage as hedges, but people with that many years of matrimony likely can tell you of safeguards they have placed into their marriage.

My mom and dad were the closest of any couple I have ever known. No two lives could have been more entwined than theirs. They truly loved spending time with each other. They loved to go on walks and dream of the day they would retire and have more time for each other. My late father was always careful to not allow himself to get into compromising situations. A lady at the company where he worked had taken interest in him and started asking him to go to dinner with her. He told my mother about the advances, and she told my dad to go back and say, "My wife and I would love to meet you for dinner." He did and that ended the interest from that woman. They had established hedges in their marriage … hedges of protection.

In an article discussing the subject of protecting your marriage, author Nancy Anderson stated, "A hedge makes the statement, 'Private Property, No Trespassing.'"

Vice President Mike Pence was ridiculed for the hedges he had placed in his marriage. You may remember he wouldn't dine alone with a female. Billy Graham walked in integrity and was well known for declining to eat alone with a female. That's actually a strong recommendation in a book called "Hedges: Loving Your Marriage Enough to Protect It" by Jerry B. Jenkins. I highly recommend this book, and more importantly, I recommend you read this book with your spouse or fiancé if you are not married as yet. It can save you a lot of heartache down the road; but more importantly, give you a foundation of strength from which to build a great marriage. You may find yourself building some hedges for that which you value the most.

Tony "T-Bar" Barnes is a 28-year veteran of the Marine Corps and Air Force. He is also retired from the Department of Veteran Affairs and can be reached at [email protected].