×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Carrot, eggs and coffee beans

Last Updated 29 April 2013, 19:46 IST

A newly married girl lost her husband. Deep in anguish, she was contemplating suicide because of several sufferings.

She went to her mother and expressed the adversities she was going through and said she could no longer carry on. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her into 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 eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them boil.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She placed the carrots in a bowl. She placed the eggs in another band bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

She asked, “Tell me what did you see?” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” her daughter replied.
Her mother explained how hard the carrots were but became soft when boiled.

We become weak when adversities face us. She then explained how the eggs became tough when boiled. We become tough and aggressive when we are confronted by rebellion.

Finally, after speaking, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The ground coffee beans were unique. 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?”

After the death of a loved one, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have you become hardened and stiff? Does your shell look the same, but on the inside are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or are you 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 fragrance and flavour. 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 darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? In this contect then, it becomes important to know: Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

The happiest of people do not necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

The Psalmist says, “Weeping comes in the night but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). So do not worry, there is a rainbow after the heaviest rains. God cares for you. Trials are temporary, blessings permanent for those who trust in Him.

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 29 April 2013, 19:46 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT