Carrots,
Eggs and Coffee
Consider
it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or
encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be
assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring
out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and
steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so
that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no
defects], lacking in nothing. - James 1: 2-4
A
young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how
things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to
make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and
struggling.
Her
mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In
the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in
the last she placed ground coffee beans.
She
let them sit and boil without saying a word. In about twenty minutes
she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed
them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning
to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
She
brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and
noted that they were soft and mushy. She then asked her to take an
egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the
hardened egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee.
The
daughter smiled as she tasted its deep flavor and inhaled its rich
aroma. The daughter then asked, "What's the point, mother?"
Her
mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same
adversity – boiling water – but each reacted differently. The
carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being
subjected to the boiling water, it became weak. The egg had been
fragile. Its thin, outer shell had protected its liquid interior.
But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became
hardened.
The
ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the
boiling water they had changed the water.
"Which
are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on
your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee
bean?"
Think
of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong? But with pain
and adversity, do I wilt and lose my strength? Am I the egg that
starts with a fluid spirit but, after death, a breakup, a financial
hardship or some other trial, I become hardened and stiff? Does my
shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a
stiff spirit and a hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The
bean actually changes the hot water – the very circumstance that
brings the adversity, the pain, the hardship – into something quite
wonderful. When the water gets hot, it releases it's fragrance and
flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you
get better, and change the situation around you for the better.
When
the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you
elevate to another level? How do you handle adversity?
ARE
YOU A CARROT, AN EGG, OR A COFFEE BEAN?
(Somehow,
wake up and smell the coffee takes on a whole new meaning)
-Author
Unknown
*I
found this online and thought it was worth sharing.
Blessings,
Cindy
Rolka
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