Note: this is Day-7 of, This year, my plan is to share a photograph of a different ornament, decoration, or display each day. Not surprisingly, it’s morphed just a little in practice, and it turns out I’m including iconic images of people, too. Today is no exception.

In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together;
the leopard will lie down with the baby goat.
The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion,
and a little child will lead them all. – Isaiah 11:6

FAMILY: Today’s iconic Advent image is that of our grandchildren, David and Beks. Our particular iteration of “family” launched August 18, 1979; that first Advent it was just the two of us. This time around, 35-years down the road, our understanding of “Rebekah and Derek’s Family” has expanded in more ways than we can count.

Our daughter, Naomi, drove the children down from Richmond for WFPC’s Walk Through Bethlehem event. I’ll write more about that amazing ministry another day, but today’s point is the blessing of sharing The Greatest Story Ever Told with another generation.

A story is only a story if it is told (and if somebody listens); our daughter and her husband, Craig, are doing a great job of laying the groundwork.

The most powerful classroom in the world is the family unit. For parents and grandparents, teaching isn’t optional, it’s just what happens. The critical question, then, isn’t if family will instruct the children, but what exactly will they be teaching?

The prophesy from Isaiah talks about how a child is going to lead God’s people back to the truth, and the fundamental rightness of creation.

In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together;
the leopard will lie down with the baby goat.
The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion,
and a little child will lead them all. – Isaiah 11:6

LEAD US: This time of the year we all have the opportunity to listen more closely to the story of how the Christ child was born to a young couple in an oppressed land, and how that child can be our teacher and our guide.

At the same time, it is often our own children, or our grandchildren, who take us by the hand and lead us – sometimes resisting all the way – back into the place where we can humble ourselves enough to kneel before the manger and to receive the grace that is offered there.

I am grateful for the perspective offered by small hands, un-cynical spirits, and wide open hearts.

And a little child will lead us all – DEREK

Advent: 7 days, 7 images: