"Attacked With a Water Balloon" - by Rev. Weldon Bares

I recently conducted a small wedding at Prien Lake Park. It was very hot, but a meaningful time.

There is a water play area at the park. After the wedding was over, I had to walk right past the play area to get to my vehicle.

A family was celebrating a birthday at the park. Probably 15 children were running around playing in the water area. They all seemed to have water balloons or water guns.

I could see the potential risk. I knew what I was doing, but I still decided to walk on their turf. A little girl, who seemed to be around four years old, with pigtails, came running towards me.

I smiled and said, “Are you having fun?” She said, “Yeah.” And then she hurled a water balloon towards me as she laughed.

Her parents and grandparents at a nearby pavilion were mortified and shouted at her to stop blasting that poor man.

I couldn’t help but laugh. The little bit of water that got to me felt good on the hot day. Actually, it was just what I needed: a little girl laughing and some cool water.

It was a reminder to me that was helpful. It was a reminder to stop worrying and stressing about little things that I have no control over. It was reminder to laugh. It was a reminder to enjoy the day, to enjoy the moment.

Jesus certainly understood our propensity to worry, and he said, “And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12: 25-26)

A word, perhaps, that all of us need to hear.