Falling Down, And Getting Back Up

For a righteous person falls seven times and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of disaster.  Proverbs 24:16

The Bible is speaking of men who trust in the Lord, and though they may fall over and over again, he won't stay down.  He depends upon God to provide a means for him to get back up.  God sustains you.  He is the rigid framework that holds you up.  He dusts you off and sets you back on your way.

Speaking of falling down, we had a 1 inch rain yesterday.  It was pleasant, refreshing.  After the rain ended, I glanced in the garden and what I saw was a little discouraging.  I didn't think the rain and wind was bad, but it evidently was, because about a third of our sweet corn was lying on the ground, blown over.  It had fallen and on its own, it didn't look like it would rise again like our righteous man in the Proverb.  The sweet corn is beginning to tassel, and it's important for the corn to be standing tall so that all the kernels will be pollenated.

Tasseling

My mind began thinking of quick ways to stand it up and support it.  I grabbed the sledgehammer, some baling twine and four t-posts and went to work.  I hammered in a t-post at the beginning and end of both rows of corn.

Here is the second row:

I tied the baling twine together to make a long rope and I encircled all the corn and tied it back off.  The idea is that of a 'seat belt' for the corn.  It will hold the corn upright even when the strong winds blow.

Corn that was just blown over on the ground is now standing tall again.  Time will tell if my sweet corn seat belt will work, but at least for now, there will be no tickets for seat belt violations in our corn patch.

But wind blowing the corn over is not the only problem we have in the corn patch.  Take a look at this right here.  Can you see how the tops of the corn on the first several stalks have been eaten?  That damage is not from a bug, or worm.  No sir, that is damage from a goat (or nine others), but who's counting?   

The temptation is much too strong, and the goats fall to the temptation, leaning way over the fence to eat the corn.  What to do?  Barbeque the goat?  That will come later. 

For now, I'll simply build and obstacle.  The obstacle will prevent the goat from leaning in and eating our corn.  I simply got a cattle panel and tied it into the fence to prevent the goats from standing on h ground and gobbling up our corn.

Three days and counting and the cattle panel worked!  There was no new damage to the corn from the troublesome goats.  There are new challenges everyday - from wind knocking the corn down to meddling goats eating the stalk.  Every day is new.  Though we may fall, we get back up!