A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...

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 boil. 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. Her mother brought her
closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg
and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter 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 ... 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 yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an
egg, or a coffee bean?
Count your blessings, not your problems.
Putting others first makes relationships last.
When the door of happiness closes, another opens; but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one,
which has been opened for us.
The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and
heartaches.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you are the one who is
smiling and everyone around you is crying.

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