The grandma took the carrot out of the pot after a while and asked her granddaughter to explain what had happened to it. The granddaughter said that the carrot had become softer due to the heating water. The sage woman nodded before going on to the following pot.
She then removed the egg and asked about its metamorphosis. The granddaughter retorted that the hot water had solidified the egg. After considering her granddaughter’s observations, the grandma nodded once more.
The wise woman finally looked at the pot of coffee beans. She requested her granddaughter to tell her thoughts about the water that the coffee beans had been submerged in and the coffee beans themselves. The granddaughter retorted that the water had been transformed by the coffee beans, giving it a fresh flavor and scent.
The grandmother thoughtfully asked her granddaughter which of the three things—the carrot, the egg, or the coffee beans—she thought she looked most like.
After giving the topic some thought, the young woman understood the deep lesson her grandmother’s straightforward yet poignant illustration held. She realized that, similar to how boiling water shapes an egg and a carrot, life’s challenges may mold us in various ways.
When faced with hardship, the carrot, which is initially tough and stubborn, softens and becomes malleable. In a similar vein, when faced with hardship, the egg hardens with its protective shell. But the coffee beans, the epitome of tenacity and willpower, have the ability to change their situation and give them courage and optimism.
The granddaughter was very affected by this moving story. It reminded her that she had options when faced with obstacles in life. Adversity might either harden her and rob her of her fragility, like the egg, or it may make her weak and pliable, like the carrot. Alternatively, she may take a cue from the coffee beans and use her inner fortitude and fortitude to change the course of events and reach new heights for herself.
Which one then are you? Which are you, the coffee bean, the egg, or the carrot? Never forget that every obstacle presents a chance for development, transformation, and perseverance. Accept the lesson from this story and strive to be the coffee bean that rises above hardship, motivating others in the process.
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This single guy raised 30 children and adopted five more; here’s how they all live now
Being a foster parent means making a change in a child’s life. These people are compassionate and caring and always ready to open their hearts and homes to minors in need of love and kindness.
Lamont Thomas from Buffalo, New York, has devoted the last 20 years of his life fostering children. Speaking to Good Morning America of the time he welcomed the first child, this amazing man says, “In the beginning, I was helping out some friends. They had lost their child to the system. I went on and got certified and became a foster parent. I haven’t stopped since.”
Believe it or not, Lamont has fostered more than 30 kids, five of which he officially adopted. So with his two biological children, Anthony and LaMonica, he became a father of seven.
The first kid Lamont adopted is Michael Thomas. He’s now 27 and recalls the time he became part of the family.
“He was my third foster home and it ended up being my forever home,” Michael said. “He [knew] my biological parents.”
“Lamont never turned [a child] away,” Michael added. “They either aged out or went back home to their own families.”
With seven kids to take care of on his own, Lamont knew he was done adopting, but then he came across a very special case that made him change his mind.
Five siblings aged 5,4,3,2 and 1, who were children of one of Lamont’s foster kids were placed in foster homes themselves. Lamont was sad the kids got to experience their parent’s fate, and his heart tore apart when he learned Zendaya, Jamel, Nakia, Major, and Michaela were separated. Not only they were taken in by four different families, but they were also in four different cities.
Sadly, that meant one thing, that they wouldn’t be raised together.
That’s when Lamont stepped in. He just couldn’t let the siblings spend their childhood without being by each other’s side so he re-certified as a foster parent and adopted all of them.
Some of his older kids had moved from the house already and had families on their own, so Lamont knew he was making the right decision as he could devote all his time to the new addition to the family.
“I was fighting to keep back the tears,” he said of his adoption day with Judge Lisa Rodwin. “Every day I think about it, my eyes swell up. All that we endured to make this happen, it was something.”
This incredible single dad was now a father of 12 children. He knew things wouldn’t be easy, but he was willing to give it a go.
“They bring new energy to me,” Lamont shared. “They’re lovable kids, very affectionate. They deserve to be raised as siblings, and that was my fight.”
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