Inspirations
Carrots, Eggs, and Coffee Beans

HOME

What Are You Leaving Your Children?
Paint A Thought
God's Tapestry
A Christian's Walk
Within Us
Honesty and Integrity
Beginning Today
Moving The Rock
A Comfortable Silence
At The Window
Relationships
The Wealthiest Man
Three Trees
Stress Therapy
Let Go
Driving Away The Shadows
Forgotten
Standing Still
The Balance Sheet of Life
A Life That Matters
The Story of Your Life
Eternal Instants
Slow dance
Burdens
The Piano Lesson
Nicolo
The Atheist's Holiday
Homecoming
How Do YOU Walk?
Exercise Your Soul
The Art of Letting Go
My Quilt
A Penny Blessing
Are You Empty Yet?
Living By Faith
The Living Water
Always
Installing Love
If Only
God Will Provide
Value YOURSELF
The Pillar of Love
Alone I Am Nothing
We Danced
The Thorn Bouquet
Have Courage
And Think Of Me
Don't be afraid to speak out
The Guiding Light
What are you building?
What Friends Do
Time - Your Greatest Gift
Peace Garden
Roots of Change
Morning Prayer
GoldenGirls
Don't Open Your Mouth
Waiting
Never Give Up On Love
Shining Light
Do You?
Weather Changes
I Hope by Paul Harvey
Happiness
Push On
Scars
Refining Silver
Loving God's Way
Overcoming A Broken Heart
Carrots, Eggs, and Coffee Beans
What's Left?
The Rented Room
When I Am Lonely
Serving Where God Places Us
Clay Balls
God Is
The Oak Tree
Learning From Fear
The Heart of the Soul
Touching Billy
Dusty Shoes
Between You and God
The Shadow of Your Cross
Angels Among Us
The Wolves Within
When Jesus Looks
The Empty Chair
God Gave.................
God Knows
A Walk To School

Are you a Carrot, an Egg or Coffee Bean?
(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 makeit, 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. In the first pot, 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 got soft. She then asked her to take the egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to smell and sip the
coffee. The daughter smiled, as she smelled and tasted 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 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 trials and adversity knock 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 passive heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, 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 a 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 become better and change the situation around you.



How do you handle adversity? Like the CARROT, the EGG, OR the COFFEE BEANS?

Don't tell GOD how big your storm is. Tell the storm how big your GOD is!

--author unknown--