“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 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 on 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, dear homemaker,
handle adversity?
~ Author Unknown—shared with you at The Homemaker’s Society
~Breanna
