So my new Christmas tradition this year is to have a family Jesse Tree. This name is taken from Isaiah 11:1 "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." of course talking about Jesus as the "Branch". It's an advent calendar of sorts, with the idea being that you read stories from the Bible each night, beginning with creation here at the first of December and culminating in the glorious telling of Jesus birth on Christmas Day, and relating them all back to how all of the Bible points towards the coming of Jesus. Each day there is an ornament relating to the story for the day that is hung on the tree, making it fun for the kids and an easy way to remind them about the different stories they've heard throughout the month. I combined ideas from different websites and got the idea for the actual tree I hung on our kitchen wall from Family Fun magazine. You can print ornament templates and devotions to go with them here. I just let the kids color them and we'll hang them each day. I'm looking forward to having something for them to be excited about each day leading up to Christmas that is teaching them the true meaning of Christmas and integrating many Bible stories into our days too.
The boys working on the ornaments
The finished ornaments
3 comments:
We used to do that when we were little. I loved it! It was such a great reminder to slow down during such a hectic time of year.
Neat tradition Kristin. You should play for the boys (especially Bennett) Come Thou Long Expected Jesus. There's a verse that says "Come, thou promised Rod of Jesse, of thy birth we long to hear..."
Love it!!!!
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