As I reflected on what to share this
month for the New Hope Blog I came across this story. I found it applicable to
me for this past month has been one of hills and valleys for my family. How
interesting it is to see how people respond to the difficult events that come
to us in life.
“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 hardboiled 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?
May you have enough happiness to make
you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human
and enough hope to permit you to see how blessed you really are.
Connie
Hanten, BCMCLC
New
Hope Christian Life Coach
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