Teenagers, State Law and God

I think some of the greatest mom-son moments occur in the car – the front seat of the car. When the government implemented laws that prevented my little guys from their turn in the front seat, I felt that family relationships declined. However, the other night my son and I had one of those moments – a moment where something just hung by a thread.

This particular son, the answer to a prayer, has been wrestling with God – or rather trying not to wrestle by pretending He wasn’t there. Faith can be shaken in two ways – by challenges that tear at the roots of our faith and by outside influences that try to talk you out of that faith. For a teenager, that can be an shattering combination. Then, just add rebellion to authority and like buttermilk and soda combined, you’ve got a mess on your hands.

‘I’m starting to believe again,” he said. “However, you guys just go overboard on this stuff.”

“Overboard?” I questioned. I said inside my head Keep your mouth shut. Keep your mouth shut. Emotions be gone! Just let him talk. At least he’s talking.

“Yeah,” he said. “You’ve got real life and you’ve got the Bible. Not everything in the Bible applies to real life. You just can’t keep beating people over the head with the Bible and saying all your solutions are in the Bible.”

“But you can apply God’s Word to Everything,” I countered. Calmly, trying to maneuver, say the right thing to someone I love so much – the thread could break so easily.

Man, oh man. He’d been trying to persuade me a few weeks ago that I lived in a Polyanna world. Bad things happened. I didn’t have a clue about real life. He needed to tell my dad who walked out on us that one.

Raising children sometimes feels like a recipe mal-function – you set out to make a milk and ice cream shake and end up with a bottle of bourbon. Where the bourbon came from, you don’t know – however, you know you invested in the milk and ice cream – Marble Slab ice cream, too- only the best. How can it be possible to invest the best of your values into someone and have them regurgitate “oppposite day” values?

Maybe it’s like growing Zinnia’s. It gets a little ugly before it gets pretty.

We were crusing down life’s highway. He kept talking, trying to persuade me. Our exit came and I was pulling off when he said, “The Bible can’t be applied to everything in the world. Like that sign there.”

The thread strengthened. You know, sometimes God is so good – it makes you laugh. I looked at him, laughing and said, “Give to Ceasar what is Ceasar’s and Give to God what is God’s.”

And my son who rarely smiles, broke into a smile.

Score one for Mom and the round to God!