"I'm quick on the trigger - with targets not much bigger than a pinpoint I'm number one. But my score with a feller is lower than the cellar oh you can't get a man with a gun! "

So (supposedly) laments Phoebe Ann Mosey, a tomboy girl from western and very rural Ohio. Phoebe, or "Annie" as she liked to be called, was the 5th of seven children born in a Quaker family around the middle of the 19th century. She couldn't bake a pie to save her life, but the did have one redeeming quality, she could shoot wings of flies.

I was chuckling the other night when Mike preached about the parable of the talents. We had just discussed this in the teenage class a couple weeks ago. While clearly its money that gets bantered about, I always like to think that it really is talents that we get from God to use or squander. I mean, some folks win people over by preaching the word. Some by being great teachers. Some are great examples, some are friendly as the day is long, some just "bring people to other people" who make the connection. When I read this parable, of course I think I have at least ONE talent, by rubbing up against people all day long. I could say nothing at all and hide my talent, or I could do something about it. I don't let myself off so easy, though. I bet I could preach if I tried. And I can teach, I can quote scripture here or there, and I can even invite people to church. When I add it all up, I think most of us are closer to the five talent guy than we realize! But even with five talents I could bury them all, so I still must be careful.

"When I'm with a pistol, I sparkle like a crystal - yes I shine like the morning sun.

But I lose all my luster, when with a bronco buster oh you can't get a man with a gun!"

Sometimes I think we have talents that we don't recognize the potential of I was quite impressed with Juan! Here is someone that perhaps a year ago if you'd have said was going to be great on TV he would likely have laughed at you. Yet he's been coming and doing a fantastic job for a while now. I never see him sweat or even look nervous. I don't know exactly what he's saying (since his half of the show is in Spanish!) except when Mike makes some jab at me and I hear blah blah blah Randy blah blab but I think he even defends my good name (at least I hope so!) He seems quite comfortable, his smile is big and genuine, and he exudes the contentment of being a Christian. I can tell that just from the way he sits and the expressions on his face! On his second show we got a caller who spoke to him in length in Spanish, who Juan invited to services. And now we have William visiting with us. Awesome! And I bet Juan didn't even know he had the talent!

"No you can't shoot a male in the tail like a quail! Oh you can't get a man with a gun. "

But what about this poor girl Annie? She was lonely just like anyone else. She was hoping to catch herself a man but didn't know how to act like a lady. What talent did she have that would attract one? The local boys treated her like a sister and were a mite jealous of her fancy shooting. Well, one day down in Cincy Buffalo Bill's show came to town and Frank Butler, the crack shot gun man from the troop, bet a local bartender he could outshoot any and all comers. The bartender was a friend of Annie's and arranged the match. Frank lost of course, and ended up courting then marrying the pretty short brunette who changed her name to Annie Oakley and joined the show.

But I want to tell you a couple more things about this "one-talent" girl. After she became famous, she was later in life accused of drug use falsely. She sued the newspapers and forced them to retract and apologize for what they had said about her. William Randolph Hearst (you knew there had to be a Randy in here somewhere!) didn't want to pay the huge settlement and hired private detectives to dig up some real dirt from her past. After quite a bit of money and time spent - they found nothing.

Finally, when Annie Oakley died it was assumed she had a huge fortune. What people found out is that she'd given it all away while she was alive - mostly to charities.

Yes, this poor little back woods girl seemed to have little talent. But then she used what she had, and found she had so much more than she ever expected. She just lacked opportunity. Once she got that, she used them for good! The thing is, God provides us opportunity every day to use our talents. Are we locked and loaded and ready to use them? Or did we bury them back on the farm?

Randy