Carrot, Egg or Coffee Beans.....Which Are You?

I found the following excerpt in a book that I am reading. After reading it, I could do nothing but think. Christians go through so much because Satan is constantly trying to trick us, lie to us and pull us away from the Lord. He puts stumbling blocks in our way, not just any kind you understand because he is a master and when we face adversity, he watches us closely to see what gets us down and how we deal with it. When he discovers our weaknesses; he’s got us! So in all of his craftiness, he begins a relentless pursuit of trying to counteract our pain with false hope and short-lived joy until he has us hooked in his web of lies and deceit. Yes, Satan will tempt us with security in things or people that we desire in this life. But it is only short-lived, it is a cyclical whirlwind and when the dust stops blowing, you are back where you started at. HERE IS THE STORY OF THE CARROT, EGG AND COFFEE BEANS……….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. 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 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 were soft and mushy. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardened egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee.

 

The daughter smiled as she tasted its deep flavor and inhaled 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 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 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 a hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water - the very circumstance that brings the adversity, the pain, the hardship – into something quite wonderful. When the water gets hot, it releases its fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better, and change the situation around you for the better.

 

When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level? How do you handle adversity?

 

Are you the carrot, egg or coffee bean? Somehow, wake up and smell the coffee takes on a whole new meaning.

                   -Author Unknown

 As we go through adversity, and as Christians we will, even more so as Christian women. We will be tried, tested, tempted, pulled, pushed, pried, laughed at, talked about, snubbed and judged. How will these trials and tribulations change us? Will we retreat into ourselves, becoming cold, distant and uncaring? Will we allow the pain to defeat us; drag us down, push aside or send us running from the Lord to the world? Or, will we be conquerors! (Romans 8:35-37)(Ephesians 6:10-12)

 

 

Friendship...What is True Friendship?

Lately I have been grappling with the definition of friendship. What is a true friend? I have thought over the years that I knew the meaning of that word and was elated with all of the “friends” that I thought I had. As I have grown older and gone through so much, I have finally come to grips with the meaning of true friendship. I say come to grips with it, because invariably when you discover the true meaning of anything, there are consequences to that discovery. And a lot of times, those consequences are quite hurtful. While I fully realize that Christ is a friend that you will never worry about leaving you, I believe that He also wanted us to experience the love of friendship on this earth. So upon my awakening, if you will, of the knowledge that those I held as dear as friends did not come close to the accurate meaning of the word, pain followed.


I have discovered that a true friend is always honest with you, no matter what. And that honesty does not include innuendos, only fact. A true friend does not hold you at arms distance one day, and can’t let you go on another. A true friend will always be upfront with you, thereby giving you the option of how you would like to move forward. A friend lifts you up. A friend is always there for you, even when they are tired. Everyone needs support, and a true friend will give you that support even if it means taking them out of their comfort zone, because they know it is only temporary, and your needs come first. A true friend will check on you periodically, if nothing else, to make sure you are okay. A true friend will not play head games with you, because they realize the pain associated with such actions. A true friend will listen, will go through the dark times with you, will always be there with open arms, and not just when it is convenient for them.


Being a friend is not a hard thing to do; it is actually wonderful, loving and fulfilling. To know that you can be that for someone is like letting telling Christ, “Okay Lord, I want to emulate you in every way possible!” Since you cannot be a friend without loving that person the way the Lord does, to become a true friend is to become Christ-like. I have tried all my adult life to be a friend, sadly, I have a bad habit of thinking others have that same mindset. I want all of you to think about how you treat others. Ask yourself, “Am I really being a friend? Am I telling this person one thing, doing another, and not meaning any of it? Am I considering this person’s feelings? Am I out for what I can get from this person? Am I am using this person for my own self-gratification?” If you struggle with these questions, then you are not a friend. Please work on it…how you would feel after years of thinking someone is your friend, to find out, when you really needed that person they were nowhere to be found, and what you thought you had was only to discover the pain of realization that the only thing there was in your mind!