Red Skelton said:

If you have a talent,
It is a gift from God.
If you develop that talent,
It is a gift to God.

When our children were young, we tinkered with their surroundings. We knew that each of our five children had talents, but what were they? It was important that their talents be developed early before they could wither on the vine.

Suppose that you have a daughter that has a talent for the piano capable of becoming a concert pianist. When the child is 19 years old, you start her on piano lessons. Will she ever be a concert pianist?

All things are possible! But all things are not probable.

What if you start the child on the piano when she is four or five years old? The probability goes up that she will be successful if she decides to become a concert pianist.

I played chess with my oldest son when he was age four. I also challenged his young mind with a little algebra at that time. He had skills that he continued to develop and is a neurosurgeon. But he also plays the violin and dabbles in art, things he was exposed to as a child.

Our daughter has taken a special interest in art and is a professional portrait artist. She also is an accomplished musician. My sons wife here in Idaho is an artist. But she is home schooling her many children. She has some of the children go with me when Im out destroying a perfectly good canvas. She knows that exposure to art is first. Perfection comes when she has more time.

While my wife was pregnant with our youngest, she played the guitar. As soon as we got our new son home and played the guitar near him, he reached out for it. He had heard it every day through his mothers tummy and he wanted that guitar. He took lessons for many years and is an accomplished guitarist. He is also an attorney.

Our son here in Idaho, who is a veterinarian, has thirteen children of which nine are adopted. The family has a performance group that gets gigs around southern Idaho and sometimes tromps down into Utah. The oldest children play in the adult symphony here and three of the children play in the youth symphony. Put about any instrument in their hands and they will play it. They watch their parents and they do likewise.

Our second son plays music, is a juggler and a ventriloquist. He works as a pediatric anesthesiologist. Some of his young patients are dying. He is able to make their last days happier by entertaining them with a magic trick or using one of the other talents he has.

Our four sons were Eagle scouts and lived outside the country for a couple of years. They are all bilingual. This had been very valuable to two of my sons who speak Spanish everyday in their work.

The point Im staining to make is that children need to be exposed to many different things to find their talents. Our son here in Idaho had a big interest in insects. Before he could write, he studied them and then dictated his reports to me. We still have those reports.

My second son had a big interest in marketing when he was young and still does. When he was little, he though it was his marketing skills that sold Christmas cards. Actually it was his big white-toothed grin. Ask a car salesman. He will say,That is marketing.

Kids will find their own interest if they are allowed to. Some children are too restricted to develop the talents God gave them. That is a shame. Show me such a child and Ill show you a dullard. That is a tragedy, isnt it?

Some parents plan the lives of their children for them rather than giving them any say in important decisions. The wealthy sometimes want their children educated in a certain way. The children may have to leave home at an early age for schooling. This is particularly true in some other parts of the world. Sometimes it results in a wonderful education but little joy. We must realize though that a large family business may require this type of training and sacrifices are made. But:

All work and no play makes a dull boy!

Vocational education and training is important, but dont forget that a child has other talents to develop. I guess the real thing a person needs in life is balance. But a little unbalance can reveal a mighty talent to benefit mankind.

Now what was that the great comedian, Red Skelton, said?

If you have a talent,
It is a gift from God.
If you develop that talent,
It is a gift to God.

copyrightJohn T. Jones, Ph.D.2005