Of Carrots, Eggs, and Coffee

A young woman went to her grandmother 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 grandmother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she 

placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and 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 granddaughter, 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 got 

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 granddaughter smiled, as she tasted its rich 

aroma. The granddaughter then asked. "What's the point,grandmother?"

Her grandmother 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 ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they 

had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her granddaughter.

"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 a 

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 hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

. . .For when I am weak, then am I strong. 

see - 2 Corinthians 12:10