Back in my teen years at Poyen, when I was a sophomore or junior, basketball was the one school sport, well, other than talking about the girls. It actually made a good combination. We would have tournaments bringing us into contact with other schools, and other girls. However, back in those days, us guys were too timid to just outright go up to a girl and strike up a conversation and introduce ourselves. Rather, we would sit up in the grandstands together and look from afar and just talk about this one or that one, with a lot of wishful thinking that we could meet this one or that one. It was just a lot of talk and nobody would do anything about it. But one night, one tournament in particular, we were all sitting up there in the bleachers looking and talking, and I decided I was going to do something about it. Now you gotta understand. There was a whole different mentality back then than there is today. We were doing good just to talk to a strange girl, much less take up with her in any way. Well, that night I boldly took a dare, and I said, “I’ll go over there and meet a girl and get a girl friend.” “Naw you won’t Calhoun!” “Yes I will.” And with that I got up, walked down the bleachers, around the end of the court to the other side of the gym, and went up to the group of girls we were talking about. They were sitting on the first row of bleachers courtside. I stood there before them, and said, “Hi. I’m Jackie Calhoun, and I would like to meet you.” For a brief moment they sort of looked at each other for this unexpected greeting, then responded with a hello and we met each other. We talked, and out of that spontaneous unexpected meeting, we all became friendly acquaintances, and I became a friend with one of the girls in particular. We wrote each other from time to time, and would see each other periodically, just on a friendly level. After High School we went to different colleges and married different people, going our separate ways, but it was a good friendship that was found by just boldly reaching out to meet someone.
So many times we hold back and just talk about things and people. “Just Do It!” was a popular slogan. “Git ‘er Done” is one that goes along with it. In the things of God, what would happen in the lives of believers if instead of just talking about prayer, if instead of just talking about getting all that God has for us, and instead of just talking about reaching the world for Jesus, we would get out of the bleachers of just watching the game and walk out there and get it done. New dimensions of life would open up. Lives would be changed. The kingdom would be extended. Just Do It!