I Think Maybe We’re All Boom Boom …

My youngest daughter was sharing with me yesterday about a cute situation she follows on YouTube, etc. The excerpts are done by a young man named Hayden Kittler, who is a rancher in Montana … and his herds are American Bison. She was telling me about one of the bison that he considers a pet as much as a part of the herd … and apparently the bison looks at it the same way.

It seems more than once, when Hayden’s been gone from his cabin for a while, he’s forgotten to make sure the door is completely latched. Boom-Boom seems to consider that an open invitation to come on in and make himself at home. As you might imagine, he creates a pretty sizable mess as he spends his time exploring … after all, he is a sizable animal.

In the episode she was talking about, Boom-Boom had once again gained entry to the cabin and was able to wander around for who knows how long before his owner/friend came home. And what he finds is probably completely frustrating for him – but was quite amusing to me.

It seems that as Boom-Boom was ambling through the kitchen he made his way almost all the way around the kitchen table. But as he came down the path between the wall and the table, heading back toward the door, he encountered an obstacle that he didn’t know how to handle. So – he just stopped. He seemed to be sure he was stuck, so he was patiently waiting for rescue. And his rescuer was, of course, Hayden. Would you like to know what formidable object had this bison so completely trapped?

It was … wait for it … a wooden kitchen chair!! Yep, the poor guy was defeated by a chair – one that he could have completely destroyed just by continuing his walk and shoving it out of the way or lowering his head and butting it. Instead, he was standing there looking totally flummoxed. And when Hayden came to help, he was very skittish about that process also.

Hearing the story, and then later looking the video up online and watching it for myself made me smile and chuckle both times. Part of the reason it’s so cute to me is because Boom-Boom obviously has no concept of his own power. But it also caused me to realize that I am prone to do the same type of thing in my own life: trying something new on the computer that makes my brain freeze and I come to a total standstill right before I melt down. OR someone I’m close to being in a situation that makes my heart hurt and I can’t find a solution, so I decide my hands are tied. OR getting to the end of my emotional resources and collapsing in tears and/or throwing my hands up in defeat. In each of those scenarios, like Boom-Boom, I’m sure I’m stuck … so I remain stuck. Until someone comes to my rescue or I finally turn to Jesus on my own.

Now, I’m not going to claim that I have any idea of how or what Boom-Boom was thinking in his “stuckness”. But his story does make me realize, ALL of my “impossible” situations are nothing more than wooden kitchen chairs to my Lord – and he can move them as easily as Hayden moved the one blocking Boom-Boom’s progress. And, like Boom-Boom I can slow the process down by not remembering my rescuer’s strength and getting skittish about trusting him. Remember, the Scripture says: “Be still and know that I am God.” Did you know another way to translate ‘be still’ is “LET GO”? Hopefully over the course of time, I will remember more quickly who it is that holds me, and I’ll get better at both of those.

If you’d like the visual memory of Boom-Boom’s challenge to remind you, just google “Boom Boom the Bison.” You’ll find more than a few video clips … but if you have children, I’d suggest screening them by yourself first and then deciding if you want the kids to see them. They might not be what you consider language appropriate.