A Litter of Piglets

March 9, 1932  10° cold [10° F.].  Strong north wind.  C. Dalkes came over.  During the night the sow had nine piglets.  All were dead.  Cloudy and cold.  I went to Meade to get coal.

Losing all nine piglets would have been a big disappointment for Cornelius.  They had fed the sow for several months, hoping to get a good crop of hogs to butcher and sell.  The sow had eaten for months and now would produce nothing for that year.  Farming could be very tough.  But Mennonites believed that farming was an especially spiritual occupation for reasons such as these – you simply had to trust God to provide, whether it was this year or next.