Carrots, eggs, coffee, and a sheikh.

So...yesterday, I was able to attend a one-hour talk by Fr. Allan Samonte, a priest who occasionally finds his name mentioned in the dailies. In one of those articles, he was described by the writer as a priest who "turns mass into a party with God". The talk primarily centered in finding the purpose of God's trials in our lives, and he zoomed in on five particular points:

• ​(Re)direct us
  
• Inspect us
  
• Correct us
  
• Protect us
  
• Perfect us
  

I'm not going to expound on all of those so that you have a reason - if possible - to seek him out at his parish and perhaps listen to one of his talks or homilies. But what I would like to share right now is an analogy he used in the talk.

life's trials are like being placed in boiling water...

And from it emerges three types of people.
There are people who, when put to test, turn soft like carrots. They lose their form. They..."give up".
The other type, on the other hand, when faced with trials turn tough - too tough - like hard-boiled eggs. They become angry. Bitter.
And then there's the best type. These people are like coffee, and when placed in boiling water, they turn...stronger. More delicious. Oh, and they smell better, too. ;)
Personally, I think I'm somewhere around the coffee-flavored egg / egg dipped in coffee range. There are times when trials make me better, but there are occasions when I just lose my temper...I forget how it is to be a daughter of God, and I just...I just become mean. =( So...yeah, work in progress at the moment, but I'm hoping with this realization, I'll gradually and eventually improve until I'm just like the coffee I love to drink.

IN OTHER NEWS...

I'm working on Altair right now, which I'm still hoping to release by next week. Wish me luck! <3