(Click here for a video of John reading this catch.)

In June of 2020, in the midst of our first serious pandemic scare and resulting lockdown, Jocelyn, my then 4-year-old granddaughter, came up with a statement that prompted someone in the Catch to coin the phrase, Jocelyn for President. The magical statement was: “When the world gets better, we’ll have a pool party, and everyone’s invited.” 

It was a remarkable idea for a 4-year-old, and the more you thought about it, the more you realized that the sentiment behind it was just what the politically divided and fractured country needed. Pictures of Donald Trump pushing Joe Biden into the pool and wetting down everybody in the pool area with a huge cannonball came to my mind. “Everybody in the water!”

Well, she’s done it again; Joci’s come up with another memorable phrase.

This last weekend, Jocelyn participated in a musical put on by a drama program in her school. The musical was an adaptation of the “Lion King” titled “Lion King, Jr.” The show had over 50 kids in it from kindergarten through 6th grade, with spoken parts taken by the older students and the younger ones, Joci’s age, doing singing and some choreography. We were actually blown away by the quality of the production with such young kids taking part. I was half expecting something along the lines of your average church Christmas play, but this was way beyond that. 

Afterwards when we were out for pizza, I asked Joci what she liked the most about being in the performance. Without a moment’s hesitation, she blurted out,“Getting out there and showing the world who I am.” 

Who would have expected that from a 6-year-old? I grabbed my phone and wrote it down word for word. I submit to you that this was not an arrogant statement. As a 6-year-old, I would call it a confident statement. She is basically saying that she is loved and supported and is coming from a healthy sense of who she is. 

It’s important to note that she had a relatively small part in the musical. As one of the younger ones, she didn’t star in anything. No speaking parts. Just singing and some choreography, yet in her mind, she was ready to show the world who she is. Look out world; here comes Joci!

It’s a shame that as we grow older, we have a tendency to lose some of this self-confidence. Life becomes more complicated. We start to compare ourselves with other people. We often struggle with inadequacy and insecurity. But we could all have the same attitude as Jocelyn if we rely on Christ in us, and on the spiritual gifts He has planted in each one of us to serve others. There is no reason you can’t get out there and show the world who you are, because you are not relying only on yourself. Like Joci, you are loved, supported, gifted, and called to play your part in God’s creation. And remember, everything comes from God, not from us anyway. So look out world; here we come! 

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. Romans 12:3

You know, now that Covid rules are becoming more relaxed, maybe things in the world are getting to where it just might be time for that pool party. The important thing to remember about that is: Everyone’s invited!