The Parable of the Coffee Beans

There was once an intelligent

teacher who experimented the
boiling water
She put three pots of water over the fire.
In the first pot, she put some carrots.
In the second pot, she put some eggs.
In the third pot, she put some coffee beans
that had been grounded into coffee powder.
She boiled all three pots for 15 minutes.

Afterwards, she took out what she had

put in the pot of boiling water.
The carrots which were hard became soft

The eggs which were soft inside

became hard.
 The coffee powder
disappeared.

But the water had the

color and the wonderful
smell of coffee.
Then, she thought of her life as a teacher.

It is not always easy.

It is not always
comfortable.

The life of a teacher is

trying and difficult.
 Things don’t happen as
we wish.

People don’t treat us as

we hope.

We work very hard but get few results.

The boiling water is like the problems in our
life as teachers.
We can be like the carrots.

We go in We come out
tough and strong. soft and weak.
We get exhausted.
We lose hope.
We give up.

We lose our fighting

spirit.
We can be like the eggs.

We start with a
soft and sensitive We end up very hard
heart. and unfeeling inside.
We hate our job.
We don’t like our students.

We become hard-
hearted.

The warm feeling is gone,

only bitterness remains.
We can be like the coffee beans.

The water does

not change the
coffee powder.

The coffee powder

changes the water!
The water has become different because of the
coffee powder.

You can see it.

You can smell it.
You can taste it.

The hotter the water, the better the taste.

We can be like the coffee beans.

We can make something good out of

the difficulties we face in school.
 We have the knowledge, the
skills, and the abilities.

We have the potentials to change the lives

of our students for the better.
We can make our school a better place for
work and learning.
To succeed, we must try… and try again.
We must believe in what we are doing.
We must not give up.
We must be patient.
We must keep pushing.

f i cu l t i es
di f

probl
ems
handle with care
The problems and difficulties at school give us the
chance to become stronger… and tougher …and
better teachers.
 What are we like when things
do not go well in school?

Are we like the carrots…

or the eggs…

or the coffee beans?

Be like the coffee beans!
Change the people
around you at school.
Influence them with
your good work…even if
others resist change…
…even if others
harbor ill feelings
against you.
…be a positive influence.
Bring about change!
After all, in the final

Analysis, God will be

your judge.
 u .. !
k Y o
a n
Th