Expectations

Two stories of two men, same age, same size, same capabilities, but totally different….

By Ben

It is the summer of 1770, and 15-year-old Joshua is returning home from two months of surveying in the rugged forests and weather of Ohio Territory. He is on his way to his father’s plantation of nearly 5,000 acres, one mile off the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, in rural Georgia. His father, Jefferson Davis McCanton, is the richest man in all the colonies. He manages a trading port in Georgia owned by the British government. He has 11 ships under his command. Each ship has a total of 70 men working on it, plus nearly 30 more men staffing the port, and more than 300 slaves and slave masters working on his 5,000-acre cotton plantation. He lives in a mansion with over 30 servants working as diligently as ants.

Overall, Joshua’s father has more than 1,100 people under his authority. His ships make regular trips to England, Canada, New York, Africa, France, and India. His stagecoaches are lined with gold and silver, and his stables are filled with 40 stallions. Next to the King of England, he lives in more royalty than anyone in the world.

His children are home-educated; however, Joshua studied for one year at the College of William and Mary, in Virginia. Now at age 15, Joshua is married, and his wife is with child. When at home, Joshua oversees all the daily operations on his father’s plantation. Occasionally, he has captained a ship on its journey, charging valiantly through storms and fighting pirates.

However, a lot has changed in his absence. He returns to the plantation, disgusted and confused. It is silent. Weeds have overgrown the dirt roads, crawling throughout the plantation. He rides past the port. It is also silent, and 10 of his father’s ships are docked at the port, motionless.

He sees a slave walking down the dock. “Yaw!” He shouts to his horse as he gallops down the dock.

“Good afternoon, Lord Joshua!” The slave kneels before the son of his master.

“At ease!” Joshua exclaims. “What hath happened here? All my life, I have never seen more than three ships motionless at one time! This place has always hummed with activity! I demand to know the meaning of this! Do these ships not have journeys to pursue, that they sit here motionless? Where are all our faithful servants?”

“We grieve the absence of our master.” The slave replied. “His ship left for India with him aboard, but he did not return when expected. An entire fleet of the British Navy has gone in search of him, for he was shipping hundreds of pounds of gold. He is assumed to have been captured by Indian pirates.”

Joshua stares at the slave, horrified. He jumps on his horse and goes tearing along the dock, then cuts out and charges up a large hill overgrown with weeds, heading towards the mansion. There, he grieves with his family.

***

Upon his father’s death, Joshua had to take the reins completely. A memorial service was never held, for he believed in his heart that his father--his mentor, his best friend--would return. His father had always been loyal to him; he would return the favor by not giving up faith that he was still alive.

There was, however, one issue. Although the port was government-owned and would present no financial difficulty to the family, there was still a 5,000- acre plantation to operate. Joshua had the experience, but since he refused to believe his father was dead, he would not open the will to accept what money his father had left him. Somehow, Joshua needed to increase his earnings, and the port appeared to be his best means.

He took a gamble. Since he owned the property on which the government-funded port existed, Joshua thought he could persuade the British to increase their payments to him. At one time, Joshua’s father had formed an unlikely alliance with a French port operator. Now Joshua sent word to this man, offering to sell him 30 slaves and 500 acres of land if he would assist him in a small ploy. Joshua would send all 10 ships sailing for New York, making the British believe they were headed back to Canada. Meanwhile, the French fleet would sail toward Joshua’s Plantation, thus making the King of England believe that France had offered Joshua more money to use the port. Joshua reasoned that King George simply could not allow this action, for this port and its operations were crucial to Great Britain’s economic success.

Nevertheless, Joshua’s sense of honor would not allow him to put forth a lie to the British, and so he determined that if the King decided the port was not worth the price, Joshua would allow France to use it. For Britain to attack the port was not a likely scenario, as the King would not wish to incite the French into yet another war.

The plan worked. King George promptly wrote a letter to Joshua, telling him he would quadruple the amount he was paying to use the port. Joshua accepted the deal. The Plantation was saved.

***

It is present day. Justin is a 15-year-old sophomore. He lives with his 30- year-old mother, who was a teenager when she gave birth to him. Justin’s mother has been a Christian for ten years and has been bringing him to church. As long as he attends and sits through the hour-long service every Sunday, she is satisfied with him.

He has a list of expectations, just like Joshua, but don’t get your hopes up. Here is his list: Make your bed every morning. Go to church service every Sunday. Take the trash out on Thursday nights. Don’t drink, smoke, or chew, and don’t hang out with those who do! Very easy expectations to meet.

Due to his lack of involvement in church, and lack of any real challenge in his life, he leaves home on the dawn of his 18^th birthday. The #1 reason for his departure: neither his mother nor anyone else expected anything from him. And he lived up to their expectations.

Do you see a difference between these two gentlemen? Although the characters and stories are but mere fiction made up in my head, I think we can learn an important lesson through the life of these young men.  We can see how much the expectations for young people ages 13-19 have changed over the years. Compare the maturity of Joshua to that of Justin. Joshua was one of his father’s most dependable aids; he was married at just 15 (not positive I recommend that), and through wit and intelligence was able to keep his father’s massive plantation going after his disappearance.

I have been reading a great book called “Do Hard Things” by Alex and Brett Harris. Here Alex and Brett lead a “Rebelution” (a combination of “Revolution” and “Rebellion”) against low expectations. Here they argue for teenagers to use the God- given potential they have. Just look at how much God used teenagers in the Bible, such as David, Joseph, and Daniel! God has, does, will, and is using teenagers for His glory. The question is: are teenagers blinded by such low expectations that they don’t see God's will for their lives? If they don’t, they must!

Until next time,

Ben