Edith Buller-Breer
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My grandfather, Anthony H. Unruh, faced a David and Goliath situation many years ago. Grandpa was living in Montana in 1932. The United States was experiencing the Great Depression.
Montana was very rugged, untamed country. Living was hard. Temperatures could plummet to 40 degrees below zero in winter.
My grandparents had five children and then misfortune struck, not just once, but three times.
First my grandparents lost a baby. Three years later, grandmother died after giving birth to another baby, and then that baby also died. It might have seemed like Goliath was winning.
When grandmother passed away, there were five older children. The oldest was thirteen. My mother was seven. The youngest of the five was only six.
Many people encouraged Grandpa to split the five children up and send them to different homes in the area or to South Dakota where they could live with relatives. In another similar situation, the children were sent to an orphanage.
Grandpa certainly faced “an outsize challenge and [was] forced to respond,” as Malcolm Gladwell mentions in his book, “David and Goliath” (5).
It would have made more sense for a very busy farmer to turn his children over to the care of others. But Grandpa refused to heed peoples’ advice.
Of course, Grandpa had to work twice as hard as his neighbors. He not only had the farm work, he also had to be mother and father to his five children. He was determined to provide for his children.
The story of the battle between Goliath, a seven-foot giant, and David, a small shepherd boy, can be found at this link: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=I+samuel+17%3A+1-51&version=NET. David wins the battle and Grandpa did too.
Grandpa demonstrated his faith and the importance of family in raising five motherless children. His three oldest sons become missionaries, my mother became a pastor’s wife, and the youngest son ended up taking over the farm.
Most grandparents have a story of a difficult battle, a Goliath, they faced. Life is full of struggles. What story have you heard your grandparents tell that ends in victory?
Sometimes battles last a long time. But Grandpa had the courage and determination to persevere. Goliath did not win.