Personal Journal
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February 5, 1998 Mathew J. Stucki Page 1
Many of the experiences we had in Castle Valley were foreign to us “city folk” and some would qualify as amazing. Take for instance the ordeal when Petunia was nearing the time to deliver her litter of pigs. While I was feeding her one evening, I noticed she was acting unusually anxious. We tried to help make her comfortable by spreading straw in her pen and preparing for the inevitable delivery. She labored and strained and eventually delivered one pig, but we couldn’t believe that was all. She continued to exert and appeared uncomfortable, but no more pigs were delivered for what seemed to me an awfully long time. We could see that something was wrong. So we went to the book we used to look for answers to questions we could not resolve.
We read that a pig usually has a litter of 8-10 or more and that there should not be an extended length of time between the birth of the pigs. This, and the fact that she acted like she was trying to deliver more pigs, persuaded us to investigate further. The book described a situation where one of the baby pigs may die and obstruct the birth canal so that the others cannot be born. To resolve this problem, it indicated that a person could wash his arm and reach up and into the birth canal to dislodge the obstruction. Dad was selected by default to attempt this task. Not knowing quite what to expect, he followed the instructions that we had read in the book, and low and behold, he felt an object inside the birth canal. He carefully grasped the object and pulled it to free the passage for any other pigs. It was a partially formed baby pig, and as soon as Dad had successfully removed it from obstructing the birth canal, Petunia delivered ten more pigs!
As I contemplate on this experience, I realize we can learn a lot more from this story than initially meets the eye. First, I think how as a young man I thought my dad could do anything. Though this experience was frightening for all of us, my father and mother moved forward boldly and didn’t let the fear of the situation overcome them. I imagine my father was terrified having never attempted such a task in his life. But I never felt that from him. Instead, he showed faith and courage, and this is just one of many experiences. When he felt helpless and inferior to the task at hand, he put his trust in God. And that was something we all learned from him.
Second, this is just one example of how the Lord smiled down on us in His wisdom and helped us to accomplish a seemingly impossible task. We spent many years in the valley working on projects I never anticipated, facing obstacles for which I felt unprepared. But Mom and Dad were always faithfully moved forward despite their seeming limited knowledge. My nephew, Ryan Stucki, relates an experience when he was helping “Grandpa” complete some roofing on our home in the valley…
We faced many new obstacles which seemed daunting to us at the time, but the Lord always saw us through and managed all things that occurred in Castle Valley to turn for our good.
of
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February 5, 1998 Mathew J. Stucki Page 1
Many of the experiences we had in Castle Valley were foreign to us “city folk” and some would qualify as amazing. Take for instance the ordeal when Petunia was nearing the time to deliver her litter of pigs. While I was feeding her one evening, I noticed she was acting unusually anxious. We tried to help make her comfortable by spreading straw in her pen and preparing for the inevitable delivery. She labored and strained and eventually delivered one pig, but we couldn’t believe that was all. She continued to exert and appeared uncomfortable, but no more pigs were delivered for what seemed to me an awfully long time. We could see that something was wrong. So we went to the book we used to look for answers to questions we could not resolve.
We read that a pig usually has a litter of 8-10 or more and that there should not be an extended length of time between the birth of the pigs. This, and the fact that she acted like she was trying to deliver more pigs, persuaded us to investigate further. The book described a situation where one of the baby pigs may die and obstruct the birth canal so that the others cannot be born. To resolve this problem, it indicated that a person could wash his arm and reach up and into the birth canal to dislodge the obstruction. Dad was selected by default to attempt this task. Not knowing quite what to expect, he followed the instructions that we had read in the book, and low and behold, he felt an object inside the birth canal. He carefully grasped the object and pulled it to free the passage for any other pigs. It was a partially formed baby pig, and as soon as Dad had successfully removed it from obstructing the birth canal, Petunia delivered ten more pigs!
As I contemplate on this experience, I realize we can learn a lot more from this story than initially meets the eye. First, I think how as a young man I thought my dad could do anything. Though this experience was frightening for all of us, my father and mother moved forward boldly and didn’t let the fear of the situation overcome them. I imagine my father was terrified having never attempted such a task in his life. But I never felt that from him. Instead, he showed faith and courage, and this is just one of many experiences. When he felt helpless and inferior to the task at hand, he put his trust in God. And that was something we all learned from him.
Second, this is just one example of how the Lord smiled down on us in His wisdom and helped us to accomplish a seemingly impossible task. We spent many years in the valley working on projects I never anticipated, facing obstacles for which I felt unprepared. But Mom and Dad were always faithfully moved forward despite their seeming limited knowledge. My nephew, Ryan Stucki, relates an experience when he was helping “Grandpa” complete some roofing on our home in the valley…
We faced many new obstacles which seemed daunting to us at the time, but the Lord always saw us through and managed all things that occurred in Castle Valley to turn for our good.