Are You the Carrot, the Egg, or the Coffee?

*This one’s long, but I think worth the read*

Ah Facebook…  It is both good and bad.  Today I got a nugget that I really felt the need to share.  And by share I mean more than hit the share button on Facebook, but I felt I needed to put it on my blog.

You all know I’ve been going through some adversity lately, and, I know some of my friends who are going through adversity with life changes and other things of life.

As I’m in this period of my life, this time where I’m feeling like I’m off the plate, I am often feeling a little invisible, wondering how I can bring light to the world outside my home.  I know that my primary ministry right now is inside my home.  I fight it a little, though, because I want to be more social than I am able to be right now.  I want to give to others pieces of my heart and have them trust me with theirs.  I want to be able to serve my friends more when they need a little something.  I really enjoy being able to do things for people, like bring them a meal, take them to coffee, take their kids for a little while so they can have a minute.  I find an enormous amount of joy in doing for others.  But, right now, I’m tapped out at home.  I’m struggling to make it through my own daily tasks and am unable to give out to others.  It is very difficult for me to feel this way.  I know it is a season, and I know I’m doing as the Lord wants right now, but it is still hard. 

I have often used this blog as a way to give a little emotionally to the world.  I hope to make you think, and hope that together, we can make each other better people.  It is a give take relationship, but I haven’t been giving a lot here lately either. 

As I was praying about and reflecting on some things in my life last night and this morning, I really felt  that God was telling me that I need to be present in the way that I can.  Then I read a blog post by the former chaplain for the DOK that really spoke to me about being part of a whole.  And then as I mindlessly scrolled through my main window to the world- Facebook- I read the blurb below about the Carrot, Egg, and Coffee.  And it really hit me--

There are people around me who are feeling emotionally beat up.  I can’t physically be there right now (because, let’s be honest, my two Littles do NOT foster an environment of peace and tranquility LOL), but I can write….  I need to be an encourager to the people around me.  To be more present where I can- in writing.  Finding the time to do this will prove difficult, but I know from past experience that when God calls me to do something, He finds a way to make it happen.  So, look for some more activity on here from me soon. 

I hope you will enjoy this and it will speak to you like it did me. 

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 that as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her grandmother 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 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 then 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 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 granddaughter then asked, "What does it mean, 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 of your life. 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?
How do you handle adversity? Are you changed by your surroundings or do you bring life, flavor, to them?
ARE YOU A CARROT, AN EGG, OR A COFFEE BEAN?

As for me, I think I have been each of the three and can be each of the three at any given moment.  I like to think I’m the coffee, but if I’m really honest I’m the egg a lot too.