A certain daughter complained to her father about her life and how things have been so hard for her.  She did not know how she was going to make it and she wanted to give up.  She was tired of fighting and struggling.  It seemed that just as one problem was solved another arose.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen, filled three pots with water and placed the fire on high.  Soon the three pots came to a boil.  In one he placed carrots, in the other he placed eggs, and in the last he placed ground coffee beans.  He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently wondered what he was trying to do.  She had problems, and he was making this strange concoction.  In half an hour he walked over to the oven and turned down the fire.  He pulled the carrots out and placed them in the bowl.  He pulled the eggs out and placed them in the bowl.  Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.  Turning to her he asked. "Darling what do you see."

Smartly, she replied.  "Carrots, eggs, and coffee."

He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.  She did and noted that they were soft.  He then asked her to take an egg and break it.  After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.  Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee.  Her face frowned from the strength of the coffee.  Humbly, she asked. "What does it mean Father."

He explained.  "Each of them faced the same adversity, 212 degrees of boiling water.  However each reacted differently."   

"The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting.  But after going through boiling water, it softened and became weak."  

"The egg was fragile.  A thin outer shell protected a liquid center.  But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened." 

"The coffee beans are unique however.  After they were in the boiling water, it became stronger and richer."

"Which are you," he asked his daughter.

When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?  Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

Are you the carrot that seems hard, but with the smallest amount of pain, adversity, heat you wilt and become soft with no strength?  

Are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart?  A fluid spirit.  But after a death, a breakup, a divorce, a layoff you became hardened and stiff.  Your shell looks the same, but you are so bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and heart, internally.  

Or are you like the coffee bean?   The bean does not get
its peak flavor and robust until it reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit.   When the water gets the hottest, it just tastes better.  When things are their worst, you get better.  When people talk the most, your praises increase.  When the hour is the darkest, trials are their greatest, your worship elevates to another level.  

How do you handle adversity? 

Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.  

II Corinthians 4:8-9

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