Benjamin's generosity is accelerating. At first, he was leaving a single peanut butter cup by my computer, or sewing machine to find when I woke up. It was sweet. If ever I would forget to look, he would remind me gently and watch with expectant eyes for my excitement. Plus, he knew there would be a hug.
The truth is, I had forgotten to be exuberant, about simply greeting him each morning. Maybe I was engrossed in writing, and barely looked up when he came down the stairs. Other times, I was gone before he was out of bed, and we might not connect until late in the day.
But he enjoyed making me happy, and if one treat was good, five were better. He got creative with tiny stacks of chocolate, wearing cookies for hats. It was adorable. And yet, the sugar intake was over the top.
Don't tell him, but I started sneaking the candy back into the container. Knowing him, and his facility with numbers, he probably
noticed.
Ben does not go to the store often, and had to get creative about his sources. He will slip extra cookies into his pockets after church, not for himself, but for his stash. He gifts them to me, and my sewing students, and anyone else he can think of. The post office used to have a bowl of hard candy, and for a time he was cheerfully offering to fetch the mail.
But he depleted that option so quickly they took it away.
It all feels reminiscent of how God blesses us. We are not the origins of goodness, it turns out. God leaves it around in places we can find it, and waits to see if we will share it. Because, as Benjamin has discovered, it is pretty fun to do.