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G2, the happy boy who likes happy meals and holds puppies hostage.

 

On the last day of school, our fifteen-year-old son Luke asked his dad if he could hang out with friends. Scott said, “Okay” and dropped Luke and some boys off at the local pizza parlor. Several hours later, Luke called to say, “I’m at Trent’s house. Can I go to a movie tonight?”

“How did you get to Trent’s house?” Scott asked. “Was your ride legal?”

“No,” Luke admitted.

“You’re not going to a movie. I’m coming to get you.” Eager to pick up Luke, Scott rolled out the door, taking along our four younger boys just before dinner.

After retrieving Luke, Scott took the boys to McDonald’s.”Listen,” he said, “Nobody give me any lip. You’re all getting two things off the dollar menu and water to drink, that’s it!”

The older boys knew their dad was upset and didn’t utter a word, but five-year-old G2 said, “Can I have a happy meal?”

“Nobody’s getting a happy meal because I’m not happy! Now, if there was an angry, betrayed meal, then we could order that. Make that an angry, betrayed meal with a dagger for the toy. Then you could stick the knife in my heart like your brother did.”

“Really, Dad?” said Luke in the passenger seat.

“Really, Luke. You know how I feel about what you did. You broke trust with me.”

Scott is the driver’s ed teacher at Luke’s high school, and he’s always after the kids not to drive other kids around until they’ve had their licenses for a year. This is the state law, but many kids break this law, and often their parents don’t mind.  

Scott minds. A lot. Luke knows this and chose to break the law anyway that day by riding with an underage driver. “I know how God feels now about Adam and Eve eating that apple in the garden,” Scott told me after grounding Luke for a week. “It wasn’t the apple. It was the betrayal of love and trust between the Father and them.”

Luke took his grounding well, and today our family is laughing about ‘nobody gets a happy meal because Dad’s not happy,’ but a point was made that stuck with me.

Many of us know God is hurt by our sin, yet, how many times do we choose to sin anyway? And why do we do this? Probably numerous reasons, but the thing on my mind today is this ~

Luke and his dad really do have a great relationship, but Luke has other relationships in his life that influence his choices. The lesson here: those people you spend time with will affect your relationship with your family. And more importantly, they will affect your relationship with God.

I recently read an article written by a successful CEO. He said, “Find a mentor. A friend in the business who can teach you. Hang around that person as much as you can and learn from them.”

This is not rocket science. When I got serious about writing, I sought out other writers because I hoped to grow in this profession, and I have. We learn from our friends.

All of us need to remember Eve didn’t decide to eat the apple all by herself in the garden that day. Before she broke trust with God, and then led Adam to do the same, she spent time with a snake. There was nothing happy about the meal that got Adam and Eve kicked out of the garden.

Who you dine with really does make a difference.

* Luke’s friend’s name has been changed to protect his privacy. And I’m not blaming Luke’s friend for Luke getting in trouble. We all make our own choices in life. Choose the happy meal, folks. 🙂