> A daughter complained to her father 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 father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three > pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots > came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second he > placed eggs, and the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let > them sit and boil, without saying a word. > > The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited, wondering > what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the > burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He > pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the > coffee out and placed it in a bowl. > > Turning to her he asked. "Darling, what do you see?" > "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. > He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did > and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg > and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the > hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She > smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. > She humbly asked. "What does it mean Father?" > He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, > boiling water, but each reacted differently. > The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But 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," he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks > on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a > coffee bean?" > How about you? Are you the carrot that seems hard, but with pain > and adversity do you wilt and become soft and lose your > strength? > Are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart? Were > you a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a divorce, or > a layoff have you become hardened and stiff. Your shell looks > the same, but are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and > heart? > Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean changes the hot water, > the thing that is bringing the pain, to its peak flavor reaches > 212 degrees Fahrenheit. When the water gets the hottest, it just > tastes better. > If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you > get better and make things better around you. > How do you handle adversity? > Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean? > "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are > perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; > cast down, but not destroyed."- 2 Cor 4:8
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