Found this quote on Facebook and thought I would expand on this theme. I hope this topic can be of use to youth ministries, family devotionals, Sunday schools and family home eveneings.

The same boiling water that softens the potato also hardens the egg. It not the circumstances but rather what you are made of.

This could be interpreted multiple ways. Hardship can turn someone bitter or hard. It can also make someone realize that they do possess a grit and determination they didn’t think they possessed. I think of the movie True Grit on this concept. When we read about the stories of many sports heroes they will often relate the hours and hours of practice they endured to refine their craft. As result, they become recognized for their skills.

I’d like to touch upon how once can become soft through challenges. I have a friend who has extreme allergies to many things in life. A second friend could not understand or relate how this person could be so sick. The second person later got mono. That person’s entire perspective changed through their own challenges of having to sleep two days out of three because of extreme exhaustion. Their heart softened to others’ trials because of their own.

Have the family or class discuss various challenges in their lives or people they know about and discuss how challenges has made them software or harder in a positive way.

If you have input on this topic, feel free to present your ideas in the comment section of this blog. Thanks.