Fences

This was a horrible weekend. My chickens were killed by my neighbors dog. The black lab broke free of it's tether, dug a hole under the fence and attacked. We were devastated. They were more than egg layers, they were our pets. We knew their quirks and personalities and it has been very difficult to let them go in this way. Shortly after everything happened, a friend from the ward came by to see how I was and I told her what happened. She was pretty sympathetic, having grown up on a farm.
We got to talking about it and saw some interesting gospel lessons in what happened. She had just gotten back from her sister whose husband had just left her for younger, prettier girl. They had been married in the temple, both served faithfully in their callings, had 4 daughters, and appeared to be a very happy, normal family.
On the surface my backyard looked pretty safe. Fully fenced, lots of places to dig, and fully fenced. And I took that fence for granted. I knew of the weak spots, but I knew no animals lived in that yard. I never, ever could have imagined a dog digging under the fence so I let my guard down. And as each day my ladies remained unscathed passed, the more relaxed I became.
I do that with my family too. We go to church, pray, have FHE, read scriptures...our family is fully fenced, right? But Satan is there, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Do we really know our childrens' friends? Do we nitpick at our spouse or yell at him and the kids? Do we spend so much time worrying about the kids that we neglect our marriages or even ourselves? How many times have I skipped personal scripture study because I read with the family?
We can't be paranoid, but we can't just assume that having a spiritual fence up means we're safe from Satan. Even the prophet and apostles are not immune to him. Let's be careful to not be these people:

And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell. 2 Nephi 28:21

And if you have chickens or ever plan to get some, protect and watch them like you would a 9 month old.