Well . . . I do not know where another month went!  I was so sure that June would be different ~ graduation . . over!  Grad party . . . over! Projects . . . done! (Well, mostly!)  Summer . . . here!

But no such luck!  The month flew by and I basically just stay afloat!  Lord willing, I think life has turned a corner ~ hormones . . . checked & updated!  We’ll see in a few days what my ‘crazy’ thyroid is doing 🙁

Independence Day!

Yesterday was the 4th of July ~ America had another birthday and we celebrated the freedoms we have in this country.  It was a quiet day for me . . and I loved every minute of it!  This is the week my husband and kids go with Swanson side of the family to fish in Canada.  I usually spend the 4th by myself . . . it’s ok, I’m pretty use to it.

I spent some much needed time with my Bible, notebook and pen! AH!! It was so good.  With all that life has held since mid-March and my ‘wiring’ to have silence, space and solitude . . . this week couldn’t come fast enough.  Although, I struggled with a touch of the flu and many ‘projects’ in my house STARED at me . . . it was a relaxing week and I paid little attention to the clock 🙂

So, what does the title of this post have to do with what I’ve shared of my personal life, you ask?  . . . .well, NOTHING actually.

As I’ve done some ‘pile purging’ in my office I found a story that I found on the internet many years ago.  My one daughter read it and thought that I should put this out there again.  The story seems to have no author to it . . . BUT . . . if you are out there and you read this, forgive me and let me know who you are and I will give credit where credit is due.

This is a story to challenge you to think about how you respond to adversity.  Enjoy!

“Carrots, Eggs, & Coffee”

A young mother 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 a 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 20 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.  She then asked her to take an egg and break it.  After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.  Finally, she asked her 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 ~ but 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 coffee beans were unique, however.  After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water and released a fragrant aroma.

“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?”

How about YOU? Which are YOU?

Are you the carrot?  Are you strong but when pain and adversity comes do you wilt and become soft and lose your strength?

Are you the egg? Do you have a malleable heart, but when the ‘heat’ is turned up does your heart change?  Is your spirit soft but after, say, a death or a breakup or with financial hardship, or some other trial, do you become hardened and stiff?  Does your ‘shell’ (the outer you) look the same, but on the inside are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

Or are you like the coffee bean?  See, the bean actually changed the hot water ~ the very circumstances that brought the pain made it change.  When the water got hot, the bean released fragrance and flavor.  If you are like the coffee bean when the ‘heat’ in your life gets turned up (to the boiling point) do you change?  Can you see how the ‘heat’ can grow you and bring glory to God and you can become a fragrance to those around you?  Your ‘aroma’ is looking like Christ in your ‘heat’.

So, how do you respond to adversity? Do you become soft . . . hard . . . or a fragrant aroma?

Blessings my friends!