Strolling along a fence line in Rolling Hills, Wyoming, I found myself on the same side of the fence as a group of proghorn. (We never call them that here, we call them antelope, despite decades of patient instruction by wildlife biologists. Biologists share painstaking research of the proghorn genetic line to prove to us they aren't antelope, and we all say that's very interesting, and call them antelope anyway, just like we call the fluffy death cows buffalo and not bison. But in deference to the patient wildlife biologists who are in charge of naming wildlife, I'm going to call them proghorn today).
The pronghorn weren't very afraid of me, and rightly so, but they didn't want to be on the same side of the fence with me, either. But they were a little bit stuck.
Proghorn have a strange prejudice when it comes to fences. If they can scooch under them, they will. They never want to go over fences, only under.
As I walked closer to them, the proghorn began actively searching for a way under the fence. I must have been between them and their preferred exit, because they couldn't seem to find one. They started walking away from me in single file beside the fence, scanning for weaknesses. All the while I was slowly getting closer, the world's most laughable predator, yet their concern was growing. They came to a place where two fence posts had fallen and the top lines of barbed wire had snapped. They could have easily stepped over the remaining strand of wire and avoided me, and I could see them turn their heads toward the possibility and consider it, each of them, before hustling past instead, looking for way under. A few feet further on, the lead proghorn found a spot where the fence was built on a slight incline beside the road and the sandy soil had eroded under the fence, and he shoved himself through, scraping his hide on the barb wire, his hooves enlarging the hole as he scrambled under. I was very close to them at this point, and their concern was turning to panic, but did any of them take advantage of an easy escape over the fence? Nope. They lined up behind each other, shoving themselves under the fence and pushing the others with their noses to make them hurry, getting more and more agitated as I approached. At last the skinniest, straggliest one at the end of the line shoved himself under, only a few feet in front of me, and they all took off, so pleased to have escaped.
And I giggled and thought, I bet there are times when I’m facing a problem, and I’m just not willing to see any other solution than the one I’ve already planned. There are probably times where my Heavenly Father watches me with amusement and a little exasperation thinking, "Why in the world didn’t she take advantage of the solution that I just gave her? She could have stepped right over the fence to freedom." And here’s me insisting on going under the fence. And if possible, at the same place I went under it last time. Thankfully, being stubborn doesn't stop the Lord from giving us good ideas, whether or not we’re willing to accept them. That’s today’s reason to smile.