Monday, February 25, 2013

Are You a Carrot, An Egg, or a Coffee Bean?

I've heard this tail so many times, and as always it sticks with me. It really makes you wonder how you are when it comes to life, and hard times.
 I sometimes tend to be an egg, I just shut out the real world and hide in myself til it's all over, but then I become a carrot. Soft and limp and weak, I let the world walk all over me and tear me down. But the more I read this and Pray and Seek God, I am starting to know what it's like to be a coffee bean in hard times. To make something good come out of something bad. If you are not a coffee drinker, then picture a tea bag when you read this story. How it's just a bag of tea, but when put in a hot situation becomes something good. Turns the situation into something good. I really like this story and I hope you do too....



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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. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.
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 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. 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 ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, yet 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 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 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 is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another lever?
How do you handle Adversity? Are you a Carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

Friday, February 22, 2013

Because He Gave Up His Life,

 I can give up something too.


 I'm not Catholic, nor am I anywhere near it. I am Irish. But that has nothing to do with it.
Lent, 40 days of giving something up to remember the fasting and life Jesus gave up for us. (Feb. 13 - March 30, 2013)

 I gave up coffee. It was something I was addicted to, and really, it was hurting me. I was having anxiety attacks, and was very nervous all the time. I was having a hard time sleeping as well. So for Lent this year I gave up coffee. It was something I depended on every morning to wake me up, and get me going for the day. But I know now that it was bad. I know coffee is so small a thing to give up compared to Jesus fasting in the woods for 40 days and then giving his life, but it's all I had to give up that was an earthly thing. I can't fast, I'm too skinny as it is and would pretty much die with out my 3-4 meals a day. I don't eat junk food hardly at all. If I do, it's only a little bit and only if I go home or over to a friends house. I don't drink soda anymore. Only if I have a sore throat and am at work, the bubbles help sooth the soreness. Coffee was my only weakness. The only thing I could rid of. But Trust me it's hard. I'm sitting here now wishing I had a nice big mug of coffee while I watch Heartland and update my online social media sites. It's also hard because we live above two cafe's!! 
 But I wont give in. I will have my first SMALL cup of coffee, Easter morning at Church, or at my Grandmas after dinner. And after that, only a small cup every now and then.
 I guess it is kind of silly, a non catholic doing Lint and only giving up coffee. But you know what, it's the thought that counts. And when it comes to Jesus and God, the thought is a wonderful thing, and even the small things add up.

 Other than Lent, not much is going on in this small, sneeze and you're through, town. My darling is at work at the moment, I'm at the apartment listening to the traffic go by, wondering what to make for lunch, and not wanting to go to work later but wanting to stay home and chill. I will be doing my yoga here in a bit after lunch. I love me some yoga. It's so nice and really gets my blood pumping and helps sooth any stress I may have. 
 Well dear friends I am out of things to talk about. 

Til Next time,

Many Blessings,

 ~*Caitlynn*~

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Just something I found, To prove a point.....

That Millions are Trying to Make,














Professor : You are a Christian, aren’t you, son ?

Student : Yes, sir.


Professor: So, you believe in GOD ?


Student : Absolutely, sir.


Professor : Is GOD good ?


Student : Sure.


Professor: Is GOD all powerful ?


Student : Yes.


Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD to heal him. Most of us 
would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn’t. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?


(Student was silent.)


Professor: You can’t answer, can you ? Let’s start again, young fella. Is GOD good?


Student : Yes.


Professor: Is satan good ?


Student : No.


Professor: Where does satan come from ?


Student : From … GOD …


Professor: That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?


Student : Yes.


Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it ? And GOD did make everything. Correct?


Student : Yes.


Professor: So who created evil ?


(Student did not answer.)


Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they?


Student : Yes, sir.


Professor: So, who created them ?


(Student had no answer.)


Professor: Science says you have 5 Senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son, have you ever seen GOD?


Student : No, sir.


Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD?


Student : No , sir.


Professor: Have you ever felt your GOD, tasted your GOD, smelt your GOD? Have you ever 
had any sensory perception of GOD for that matter?


Student : No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.


Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?


Student : Yes.


Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?


Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.


Professor: Yes, faith. And that is the problem Science has.


Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?


Professor: Yes.


Student : And is there such a thing as cold?


Professor: Yes.


Student : No, sir. There isn’t.


(The lecture theater became very quiet with this turn of events.)


Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, 
a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.


(There was pin-drop silence in the lecture theater.)


Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?


Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?


Student : You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low 
light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it is, well you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?


Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man ?


Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.


Professor: Flawed ? Can you explain how?


Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good GOD and a bad GOD. You are viewing the concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.
Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?


Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.


Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?


(The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going.)


Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor. Are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?


(The class was in uproar.)


Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain?


(The class broke out into laughter. )


Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?


(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable.)


Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on faith, son.


Student : That is it sir … Exactly ! The link between man & GOD is FAITH. That is all that 
keeps things alive and moving.



P.S.


I believe you have enjoyed the conversation. And if so, you’ll probably want your friends / colleagues to enjoy the same, won’t you?


Forward this to increase their knowledge … or FAITH.


By the way, that student was EINSTEIN.


feel free to copy and send this on. :)

~*Caitlynn*~

Monday, February 04, 2013

Another Year Gone and Past.

 Yes that's right. I am now a whole year older. I am now 22.
I have been blessed with 22 years of breath, life, blood, family and friends.
 Happy Birthday To Me! :)

It continues to snow here. My momma and little sister just dropped me off after a weekend at home. I stayed Saturday and Saturday night with Momma, daddy and my sister. I ate alot of snickerdoodle cake, and stayed up too late. Sunday my older sister had a get together at her house for the superbowl. My niece made me a cake, and sang Happy Birthday to me. And I got to play and romp with my 9 month old nephew. It was a wonderful weekend. Just what I needed. My darling husband had to work this weekend so he took me out for a nice dinner on Friday night. We went to Red Lobster! One of my favorites. I got treated to a Chocolate Martini and crab legs.
 But now it's Monday and it's back to work. Like the weekend never happened. Oh well. I'll always have the memories of family and friends.

 Many Blessings,
~*Caitlynn