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Subject: a fresh new way to look at life...... A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...

You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way
again.

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. It
seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three
pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon
the pots came to a boil. In the first, she placed
carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and 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. She
then asked her to take an egg and break it. After
pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled
egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The
daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The
daughter then asked. "What does it mean, 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 softened and 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 become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have 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 hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually
changes the hot water, the very circumstance that
brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hour is 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?

Count your blessings, not your problems.

Thank you, Rose. It is a beautiful story, and so true and wise.

Vicki

Earlier today I posted an article on a carrot, an egg, and a coffee bean.

I have thought about it a lot and several things have come to my mind. I feel that we are all three.

It is absorbing the love of Christ as the carrot absorbs the water, that our lives are changed into His love. The hard heart we once had now becomes the home of Jesus, the temple of the Holy Spirit.

The egg becomes tough when it is in the water, and so does the shell. It is not that we are hardened, but that we become plyable. We are changed through the love of Christ which we receive, and in that love our lives are forever different, but we can still be moved. The shell which in some ways could be the Holy Spirit protects us, also allows us to fend off the inciduous darts that the devil throws at us, it allows us to hold on to and receive more of the Lord. Like earthen vessels we leak, the shell while protecting us, allows us to absorb more of God. Each time we leak we desire to gain more of Jesus, because we hunger for more, we desire not to loose what we have already gained.

When we have received the love of the Triune God then we are able to step into the world, sometimes with fear and trepedation and a little shakey. But we realize that the fear and trepedation is only of God, because our heart leads us forward in all situations to Jesus, that is our desire. So that we share the sweet aroma of Christ with the world. It is only through all of these things that we become the image of Christ to a hurting world. And if we never suffered we would not be strong enough to go forward and share ourselves with a hurting world because we would not understand where others are at. Like the coffee bean in the water, we are able to release more od Jesus into the world.

Since God became man, so we could become more like Him, it is necessary in my mind at least, that we have some of each of these in our lives. He truly understands us because He said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." In His becoming man He suffered, He was tough in His times of temtation, He gave us the example to live by, and we propably never will completely understand this life until we sit at His feet in heaven. Then we will rejoice because that pain that we suffered helped to bring one more soul into heaven.

Rose

Rose,

Great story! I'm going to copy it and bring it to Liturgy Sat. night.


Nicky's Baba

Agreed! A great moral lesson. Thanks.