June 4 – “Water Day”

Water Day at school?  I sure don’t remember ever having a water day when I was in school.  What could it mean?  Studying the intricate colonies of creatures that inhabit the Gulf of Mexico?  Or perhaps using a microscope to delve into the mysteries of a tiny droplet from a typical drinking fountain?  Maybe a look at the fascinating actions of the tides and how they respond to the gravitational pull of the moon? 

Well … not so much.  At Cailyn’s school it meant a bucket of bubbles and wands with multiple bubble holes.  It meant a water bottle sprayer station where you could “choose your own weapon,” so to speak, and face off against other squirts with squirters.  Or in some cases sneak up behind a teacher or another unsuspecting adult and nail them with a stream before racing away in a tirade of giggles.  Of course if one of those adults happened to have an umbrella-shield, it took a little more ingenuity to complete the attack.  It meant a few of those little kiddie pools filled with water so you could relax a moment and escape the heat or perhaps refill your squirt-weapon.  But most of all it meant one of those giant, blow-up water slides.  Of course with the number of children they were trying to service, it also meant a really long line, but the kids were adaptive.  They went down two at a time.  A teacher was assigned to the duty of seeing that no one went down face first.  Safety first.  All in all it appeared to be a really fun day. 

And no, I’m certain we never had a day like that when I was in school.  Am I bitter?  Nah.  Too old to waste time being bitter.  After all I did have quite an effective shield …

Psalms 18:2 says, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.  He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Father, thank you for being my shield against the pesky squirts of evil that surround me.  Amen.