Too much sweetness

Winnie the Pooh always offers a dollop of kindness and wisdom, but in his own life, Winnie is seriously lacking self control. He never intends more than a taste of his honey, but somehow devours his entire jar in a matter of minutes. It's okay Mr. Pooh, you are just a model of normal human behavior.
We all must be taught to restrain ourselves from licking our sticky fingers and begging for more. “If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it” (Proverbs 25:16). My five year-old illustrated this verse into reality the other morning. He requested two slices of toast with honey. After letting him slather on his own honey for slice number one, I warned him to "go easy" on the second slice. A few bites in and he suddenly halted his feast. "You need to finish eating so we can get ready to go," I encouraged. But I was quietly informed that there was too much honey on his bread and it was making him feel sick. We seem to have more "teachable moments" in our home by breakfast time than I had in an entire year teaching school!
This natural self-indulgence permeates more than just our bellies too. A little more sleep anyone? Or more chocolate? Or how about a little more coffee? I'm certainly no stranger to that battle.
I read another great desiringgod.org article recently that echoes this struggle. Scott Hubbard writes about the dangers of becoming a "sluggard" with regard to regularly indulging our impulses.
"When we habitually give in to “just a little more,” we feed the sluggard within: We dull our senses. We refine our selfishness. We wring and squeeze God’s gifts until they break. And we train our bodies to find self-denial offensive" (Hubbard, "Just a Little More").
It doesn't help that when you try to set up your own boundaries, satan will actually prey on societal standards and well-meaning assumptions of others around you. "You deserve a break." "You've worked hard your whole life." "Think about yourself sometimes." "You rarely indulge." I have seen these unclouded expressions muddy the waters. When my boys get a little dose of sugar, a little extra screen time, or a little special excursion, it seems the minute those "little" treats are over, I hear that they weren't enough.
The only cure for the nausea that accompanies excessive honey is not in the form of a pill. It's the sweet taste of satisfaction. It's knowing that God's gifts are exactly what we receive and better than we could construct with our own excessive hands. It's taking time to deny self in order to know what denial actually feels like. It's the wisdom that comes from a heart check by reading truth rather than a gut check from what "feels good" in the moment. It's knowing that when we do get an opportunity to taste honey, we thank God for providing the perfect amount because the days without honey can be just as sweet!

Too much honey would make my boys look like real summo wrestlers!

We indulged in some sweets for Grandad's 75th!
We are keeping the Smith name alive with all these boys!

We loved seeing Papa, one of the first CubBuster fans!

I think there's a little resemblance here!

We love our shirts Papa! 

We also have a "quatro" onsie, and a Madre, Padre, and Papa shirt! ;)

Levi snagged my phone and accidentally got a great shot of his feet in relaxed pose. Notice his tendency to turn back in when not standing. 

Even with some flexion, his feet are prone to face each other. We go back to orthopedic next month for a check up! Praying we don't have to go back to leg braces. 

Thank you for continuing to pray for little Levi too. He is starting his first taste of two-day a week school on Tuesday with the "older twos". He knows he gets to be the "big kid" in class, which we hope will boost his confidence a bit. The sneak peek this week simply highlighted his intense shyness. His teacher said that he stood in one spot the whole time, but at least he didn't cry! Praying little man will keep growing in his social skills along with all his other sweetness.

~Sweet Buster