In my last post you read about the Unexpected, which truthfully is a major part of working with animals. In my time here I have learned God uses our animals to reveal just how stubborn we can be. Other times, He uses animals to soften our hearts to receive something new. Today I am going to introduce you to our Peppa Pig, she wasn’t a pink cartoon character, but she sure was sweet.
Our sow Ophelia has large litters of piglets, and on Boxing Day of 2016 she gave birth to eleven—yes ELEVEN— piglets! It turned out to be one too many piglets for Ophelia to handle on her own, so into the house Peppa came, at a whopping 6 days old. Though my mom was reluctant to allow a pig in the house (can you blame her?), she fell for Peppa just like I did. She took to the bottle quickly and stayed in a box by the fire to keep her warm. She learned her name and claimed me as her human mama.
Pigs have a reputation for being nasty, dirty, and simple animals, but they are actually very smart and particular. They like for their beds to be clean and away from their waste, and they quickly become friendly to humans. When I started helping around the farm, I was more intimidated by the pigs than I was our half-ton bull. Peppa stayed sweet for all of her days, but she did not stay little by any means.
You know how the bible covers some topics more than others? Fear for instance, there is a verse for overcoming fear for all 365 days of the year. That should be enough for me to overcome fear, shouldn’t it? Not for me, I’m stubborn—remember? Though my stubbornness is no match for God, and He sent Peppa just in time to help me overcome a part of my fear. Peppa stayed in the house for as long as we could manage, then she transitioned to a small fence outside, before finally moving to her big home back with her mom in the wooded pasture once she was off of the bottle.
Here is where I faced my dilemma, how was I going to visit my sweet piglet if she was around Ophelia? I was fine in my box of fear, until it meant I was going to miss out on something I loved! Over time, as Peppa continued to come when I called her name, Ophelia and I became friends too. 1 Corinthians 1:27 teaches “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise,” and sometimes we are reluctant to allow God to teach us through things that at first seem foolish or silly. A piglet in the house was silly, but that didn’t keep God from using her. Though Peppa is no longer with us, through a sad accident, I think of her frequently and am grateful for the opportunity she gave to me. What piglet is God calling you to allow into your heart or your home? No matter what it is, I would encourage you to say yes! You won’t regret it!