Which One Are You

A 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 and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to 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 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 you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter 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. 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 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 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 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 hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest,
do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity?
Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was
smiling.

Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and
everyone around you is crying.

May we all be COFFEE!

March Challenge

In my group CQInternational we have monthly challenges. This month's challenge is Paisleys, Sequins, and Shisha. I have already posted my Paisley's here and I finally got the sequin and shisha done. I will do at least one more shisha this week. I'm not that great of a beader but practice will make perfect huh?

Inspiration

I received Jo's book last week. What some inspiration. I also received one of her beautiful post cards. It's the same card that is on page 18 of the book. I love how Jo done her stitches on these postcards. Now to get the time to go play. The book is small and will fit right in your sewing bag, purse, etc with no problems. I believe she got her new order in if you'd like to order one from her. Here is Jo's ETSY site if you'd like to order one.

Book Giveaway

Susan Tuttle is having a giveaway of her new book Exhibition 36 Mixed Media Explorations and Demonstrations. Click on her name and it will take you to her webpage and you can enter the giveaway.

This book can be found at Amazon

Goldwork

I forgot to post this pic earlier,,this is some more goodies I got while in Georgia.
I am starting to collect threads to do goldwork with. I ordered the book The Beginners Guide to Goldwork. So it should be in toward the end of the week. Got to find me some more gold threads. lol So much I want to do,,not enough time in the day.

Hankies

While I was in Georgia, we came across this vintage store. Of course I don't know much about vintage,,and don't know if what I got is really vintage or not,,but I loved them and purchased them.
These hankies are so beautiful. Can't wait to put them in a block. And I love the material with the fans in them. And the doiley. Just a few items to put in my cq stash.

Snowy Day in Georgia

Talk about wierd weather,, yesturday tornado watches were out for parts of the state and here's what we are getting today. Now why couldn't it have done this when I was home, where I could have done some snow dyeing???? We left home Tuesday night to come down to Athens, well, we are actually working in Logansville repairing hail damage. Now snow ,,,,geez. Keeps this up we might not be able to go to work tomorrow.