Have you ever tried to pick up a guinea pig that did not want to be picked up? If not, let me just tell you – it is not an easy thing to do. A reluctant guinea pig will scamper and squirm and hop and twist and buck like a miniature, fluffy bronco.

Also, guinea pigs almost never want to be picked up. Whatever little piggy thing they’re doing is what they want to keep doing. Especially if it’s the quintessential guinea pig activity of just sitting there like a fuzzy potato staring off into space. Whatever reason you have for picking them up does not agree with their plans.

I know this from experience. We’ve owned several guinea pigs over the years, and we currently have two piggies living in an enclosure in our sunroom. They’ve been there since just shortly after we moved into our house over six years ago. A potentially lovely sunroom – currently dedicated to being “the piggy room.”

This past spring, a friend and I toured the Baxter House gardens during the Dogwood Arts Festival. It’s a home in Knoxville with the most incredible landscaping and flowers, and each April the owners open the gardens to the public. From one of the gardens you can see the back of the house, and my friend and I particularly noticed the sunroom.

“Look at that gorgeous sunroom,” we said. “And what a magnificent view,” we said. And then, very gently, my friend added, “I bet there’s not a single guinea pig in there.” That memory makes me laugh every time. But I’m getting a little off track.

My sunroom is still the piggy room, and the piggies like it very much. So much that they do not want to be picked up, ever. They do not want to go anywhere. They do not want to do anything different. Even when going somewhere might mean coming into the house to be petted and loved on and hand-fed bits of Romaine lettuce. Even when being picked up might mean that they are about to get fresh, clean bedding. Especially when being picked up means that they are going to get their nails trimmed, an activity which they detest but which makes them feel so much better once it’s completed.

Guinea pigs DO NOT WANT TO.

You’ve probably guessed where I’m headed with this. I’m pointing out that I often have the attitude of a guinea pig. I’ve acclimated to my situation. I don’t want things to change. I’m fine the way things are. Why do I have to be picked up?

And just like the guinea pigs, when I am picked up – when things in my life change – I protest with all of my might. My heart is just like that little bucking bronco. I get sad or withdrawn. I complain or feel bitter. I spend days or months, or even years, just wishing that everything was how it used to be and reluctant to appreciate what is.

Here’s the truth, though. We never pick up our guinea pigs with the intention of harming them. We always intend to love them, to provide for them. We want to take care of them. Why can I not trust that God wants to do the same thing?

“He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart…” Isaiah 40:11

 I am trying to learn better, to have more faith. I’m still of the reluctant guinea pig persuasion, but apparently even guinea pigs can change. The piggies had their nail trimming just a couple of nights ago, and – as if someone had read them the post I was working on, and they were determined to prove me wrong – they were just as calm as they could possibly be. If they can do so much better, I suppose I could do better, too.

After all, we do have a lot in common. Do you know the one thing that will guarantee guinea pigs scurrying to you, super excited to see you? Mealtime.

Me too, piggies, me too.

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As the end of this year approaches, I want to say thank you to everyone who’s reading this. Thank you for spending your precious time with me. Thank you for sharing some of your heart. Thank you for your encouragement in my new endeavor.

I’m wishing you all a very blessed Christmas, and I’ll see you in the New Year.