Choose Your Path

Fellow Spread The Word Bookstore Owner, Minister Frank Coleman shared this on the Spread The Word Success Training Board / E-mail. Thank you Pastor Frank!

I have read it before and have always been touched by the wisdom in this story. If anyone knows who the author is, would you post it at the bottom in the comments section.
Thanks!! Agape! Kathi

CHOOSE YOUR PATH...
"A young man went to his father and told him about his life and how things were so hard for him. He didn't know how he was going to make it and wanted to give up. He was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

His father took him to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water. In the first, he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and in the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil without saying a word. In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to his son, he asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," came the reply. He brought him closer and asked him to feel the carrots. He did and noted that they had gotten soft. The father then asked him to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, he observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the father asked the son to sip the coffee. The son smiled as he smelled its rich aroma, and then asked, "What's your point?"

His father 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?" he asked his son. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"

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 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're 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?"

-Author Unknown

In His Service, Frank