Joseph - New Testament

As the New Testament gospels begin, the Israelites are long removed from their glory days, and exist as a minor captive people in a corner of the Roman Empire. Prophets have not addressed the people in something over 400 years, and the church's remaining leaders, the Pharisees, cannot not be trusted to act in the interest of anyone but themselves.
With all that, there were still some people who were believers, harking back to the days of Moses, Joshua and others, hoping against all evidence that God would once again appoint someone to represent Him and deliver His message again. 
One of these was Joseph, a carpenter in Nazareth. He was a direct descendent of King David, a fact which might have made a difference in his life about six hundred years earlier, but was now so obscure a fact that not even Romans saw him as different from anyone else.
In fact, Joseph wasn't too much different from the people around him, but he somehow retained the belief that men could be inspired when God had a task for them to complete. We know this because he exercised faith in the dreams he began to receive. His betrothed, Mary, was with child, but Joseph was instructed to continue with her, because she would need help. Another dream directed the family to go to Egypt in order to escape the danger presented by Herod's murderous nature directed at, of all people, baby boys age two and under for fear that one of them might grow to be "King of the Jews". Another dream counseled Joseph when it was safe to return to Nazareth.
The scriptural record of how Joseph and Mary managed this huge assignment is pretty bare. The family grew larger over the years, and we don't know if the young Jesus received any special attention or was just seen as one of children, all of them equally loved and cared for and taught the Law and the Prophets.
The lesson from Joseph's life is just this: serving in an obscure place and time, without special fame in one's lifetime, is still a pretty good way to go through life. We cannot know what difference our efforts might make, nor to whom. Children don't have little signs that say "I'm learning now!", but, in fact, they are learning all the time. While they're learning, they could do much worse than getting the hang of being, if not famous or admired, at least respected and kept in remembrance for all the good things they pass on to others.