Not too long ago, we presented our 4-year old great nephew, Huntley, with a gallon jug filled with pennies!  We learned that earlier this year he took all the silver coins from his piggy bank (about $30.00) and presented them to his Mom to give toward a special Mother’s Memorial offering.   Because he has such a giving heart, we decided to “bless” him with the jug of pennies which had just been sitting idly in our garage to replenish his “savings.” Banks don’t accept wrapped anymore and it was just too much “bother” to take them to a coin counting machine.

Huntley was surprised and puzzled but excited to get his jug of pennies!   We made sure his Mom explained to him that we were proud of his giving heart and wanted to bless him with some replacement coins—even if they were just pennies.

Later, I began to feel guilty for not giving Huntley silver coins—I was certain that even a jug of pennies wouldn’t amount to much.  But then I got the pictures and message!  Huntley had proudly taken his jug of pennies to the coin counting machine and had been awarded with $50.00 in cash in exchange!

So of course, I began to think of how this little story could be applied to the parable of the talents!  Instead of just allowing the pennies to continue to sit in the jug, Huntley went to work with what he had!

What abilities or knowledge do you have just sitting idly in a “jug”?  How many times has a music teacher or friend given you several nuggets (pennies) of information that you could use to build upon and grow your talent?

• Tips to learn to read notes efficiently.
• Tips to make it easier to learn simple chords.
• Tips to memorize and use advanced chords
• Inverting chords.
• Basic chord progressions to make your playing smoother.
• Tips on counting rhythm
• Tips on learning to listen to progressions which can be applied to many songs.
• And more .

Of course, “talents” not only apply to learning music but every aspect of our Christian life.  Sometimes nuggets may appear to be just “pennies” when you receive them, but if you will invest time and effort in the “pennies” you receive, they will soon mount up!

Go invest those pennies!