I was at Costco picking up a few items when I came across these Hot Coco Bombs. In a blink I thought: “That’s just what marriage is like! The happy newlywed couple definitely needs these!” So, into my shopping cart they went.
I can hear you wondering: “And how exactly is marriage like Hot Coco Bombs??”
These Hot Coco Bombs are little chocolatey orbs of goodness, filled inside with a surprise of marshmallows. The instructions on the back of the packaging says to simply drop one of these Hot Coco Bombs into a cup of hot milk or coffee. Ooooooo!! Now doesn’t that sound delicious!! A Hot Coco Bomb in a cup of coffee!
First off … let’s start with the name: Hot Coco Bombs! Yes, for sure that is a very accurate word to describe the first few months of marriage. As my pastor, Pastor Mark, has often stated: “After the wedding comes the war. Satan didn’t even show up in the garden until after the honeymoon.”
In mine and hubby’s marriage, the biggest fights we ever had in our entire marriage occurred during those first few months we were married.
It’s hard. Learning how to live with someone is hard.
It’s hard enough living with your immediate family whom you grew up with. But moving in and suddenly living together with someone who is now your spouse … there’s going to be some bombs that go off. Any married couple will attest to this fact.
Not only that … these Hot Coco Bombs have a surprise hidden inside. You can’t see it. But in the heat of the hot milk/coffee, the chocolate melts away and the inner surprise is revealed.
When a husband and a wife are joined in marriage, they each are like these Hot Coco Bombs … they each have a lot hidden inside which the other has yet to discover.
Their time of dating together is similar to me in Costco being smitten by the beautiful packaging and festive red, gold, and green foil. How delightful! I would definitely like to see what these are like. And into my shopping cart they went. This is what the dating phase is like.
Then marriage … marriage is when you actually take the Hot Coco Bombs out of the beautiful packaging, unwrap the festive foil, and drop that chocolatey orb of goodness into a heated cup of milk/coffee.
Oh dear! That surprise inside was not what we were expecting!!
To be sure, the first few Hot Coco Bombs truly delight us with a sweet surprise of marshmallows. (this would be the honeymoon phase) Sparks are flying as the honeymoon is hot and spicy.
But then the honeymoon ends. Life goes back to normal. And the normal, ordinary days of marriage heat up with normal, ordinary daily stress! And in the heat, the chocolate melts … revealing, much to our great dismay and shocked surprise, a whole Tablespoon of cayenne pepper!!
That is a terrible cup of hot coco!! As we gag and cough!
Yes … both the husband and the wife each have a lot hidden inside that the other has yet to discover!
Marriage is about working through the bombs! Yes … marriage does have bombs. And in the heated stress of normal ordinary days, those bombs will go off! The sweet exterior will dissolve away, and we/our spouse will be left with a distasteful mouthful of cayenne pepper!
Keep stirring! Keep stirring up your marriage!
Our blink reaction, in the heat of the moment, will be to toss out that cup of hot coco! Pour it down the drain! Or in other words, withdraw from our spouse. Create distance. Get away from the “cayenne pepper.”
But separation and distance does not make for a healthy, long-lasting marriage.
What to do about the cayenne pepper in your cup of hot coco?!?
Keep stirring! Stir in some additional milk to tone it down. Stir in some sweetness to tone it down. Work together to do something about that cayenne pepper. Keep stirring up your marriage!
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with [milk/sugar].” – Colossians 4:6
In today’s background photo you will see, sitting alongside the Hot Coco Bombs, are two chocolate bars. If you look closely, you will notice that the flavor of the chocolate bars is: Spicy Hot Chocolate. And if you were to turn the chocolate bars over and take a look at the ingredient list on the back, you would see listed among the ingredients: cayenne pepper.
It is possible to make delicious Spicy Hot Chocolate … using cayenne pepper!
You just need to figure out the right amount of the spice.
Marriage is like Hot Coco Bombs!
Marriage has its delightful times of marshmallows, whipped cream, and peppermint … for a hot cozy cup of romantic sweetness! And marriage also has its times of cayenne pepper … for a fiery hot mess to “keep you stirring.”
Keep stirring! Keep stirring up your marriage!
“Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” – Hebrews 10:24
