Lessons learned from a coconut

I went to the store the other day and Oaklen convinced me to buy a coconut. I have never had one and thought it would be fun to try something new, especially since Oaklen had an interest in it and could be a learning experience. Well, I didn't realize that it would be a learning experience for all of us...

We decided to open and eat it tonight. We looked on youtube to learn how to open it and felt confident that it was easy as pie (er, coconut pie.) I struggled, to get it open. It cracked fairly easily but pulling it apart was the challenge. Oaklen said a prayer that we could get it open and the boys had quite the laugh watching me grunt with all my strength to pry it open.

Finally we called in the big guns (Darrell) and he opened it with his golden touch. To our dismay the opened coconut was moldy! Salem took a drink of the water/juice and Darrell tried a bite of the non-moldy part. It was gross and fermented! We threw the whole thing in the garbage. Did we waste $1.49? I'm not sure, it may have been worth the lessons learned:

* No impulse buying - don't give in to your kid's requests at the store, stick to the list.
* Do your research before you buy - I didn't know how to pick the right one.
* Prayers are answered - we finally got the darn thing open, though we should have "blessed" it and maybe it wouldn't have been moldy. :)
*Strength and perseverance will get you through - My strength was challenged and Darrell's strength got it open.
* You can find fun family moments at unexpected times - Although the outcome was disappointing, the act of learning how to open and opening the coconut was a fun family experience.
* Youtube is informational - It's amazing how much you can learn from how-to clips.
* Have more than one learning resource - Although the youtube clip that we watched was informational, it would have been  better for us to look at a couple different clips and generate their ideas too.
* Looks are deceiving - That coconut looked good but was rotten!
* How-to videos look easy but may not be - Usually how-to videos teach someone how to do something under the best circumstances. That coconut was probably hard to open since it was too old. Sometimes the expert doesn't realize to mention a few points because he's so used to doing it.

Now, there must be an object lesson in this somewhere that I can use for school or church. Any ideas?