When our expectations as parents are too low

Our firstborn son turned 12 this summer.  When I tell people I have a twelve year old there's this inevitable look and tone that says how sorry they are for me.  Those teen years are looming ahead!  Sometimes I'm not quick enough on my feet and fail to get across just what a blessing our son is to us and the kind of young man we fully expect him to continue growing into.  And what makes us think our son will continue growing into a godly man and not into a rebellious teenager over the next few years?

Timothy- "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity."  1 Timothy 4:12

Daniel-  "...young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve..." Daniel 1:4  "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself..."  Daniel 1:8

Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael- "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.  But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."  Daniel 3:17-18

Josiah-  "Josiah was eight years old when he became king....  For in the eight year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images."  2 Chronicles 34:1, 3

David-  "And Saul said to David, 'You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.'"  "Moreover David said, 'The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.'"  1 Samuel 17:33, 37

Samuel-  "And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the Lord and men." 1 Samuel 2:26  "So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground."  1 Samuel 3:19

These young men were no different from our son.  They were all human, like our son.  They all had faith in God, like our son.  We have absolutely no reason to think that God will not continue working in our son, like He did in the biblical examples above. 

Sometimes our expectations as parents are too high.  Sometimes they're too low.  This is one of those times.