The Jesse Tree is an Advent activity that our family started two years ago to refocus our Christmas. We started with a combination of about fifteen homemade and store bought ornaments that you can see here.
Isaiah 1:1-2 promises:
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD—
Every night, we add a new ornament to a little table top tree and read the corresponding scripture, explaining the story behind it in kid friendly terms. Each ornament represents a story from creation to the nativity.
Though our girls are very young, they have LOVED our Jesse Tree. It is our favorite Christmas tradition in a month filled with holiday fun. Throughout the month that the tree is up, we'll find them pointing out their favorite ornaments and retelling their understanding of the scripture.
Our hope is that this will help hide God's word (His story)in their hearts, and that it is a tradition that will be passed on to their children.
In early November of this year, I was invited two Jesse Tree parties! Though we already had ornaments that are family keepsakes, I jumped at the opportunity to complete our set and to have a set to give away.
The hosts, Emily and Marci, each invited 27 people to participate. At our first gatherings, we read through the list of devotionals and all got assignments. We then went home, and made 27
(or in my crazy case, 3x27) of that same ornament. A few weeks later, we got together to exchange, all taking home complete sets of 27 ornaments!
We blogged about our Jesse Tree, and that post has received more hits than almost any other. I'd love to share with you the ornaments that I received. I have two different sets of each ornament, plus those that my family made, for a total of three! Hopefully, my crafty friends won't mind my sharing, in the hopes that somebody will make one for their family!
Isaiah 1:1-2 promises:
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD—
Every night, we add a new ornament to a little table top tree and read the corresponding scripture, explaining the story behind it in kid friendly terms. Each ornament represents a story from creation to the nativity.
Though our girls are very young, they have LOVED our Jesse Tree. It is our favorite Christmas tradition in a month filled with holiday fun. Throughout the month that the tree is up, we'll find them pointing out their favorite ornaments and retelling their understanding of the scripture.
Our hope is that this will help hide God's word (His story)in their hearts, and that it is a tradition that will be passed on to their children.
In early November of this year, I was invited two Jesse Tree parties! Though we already had ornaments that are family keepsakes, I jumped at the opportunity to complete our set and to have a set to give away.
The hosts, Emily and Marci, each invited 27 people to participate. At our first gatherings, we read through the list of devotionals and all got assignments. We then went home, and made 27
(or in my crazy case, 3x27) of that same ornament. A few weeks later, we got together to exchange, all taking home complete sets of 27 ornaments!
We blogged about our Jesse Tree, and that post has received more hits than almost any other. I'd love to share with you the ornaments that I received. I have two different sets of each ornament, plus those that my family made, for a total of three! Hopefully, my crafty friends won't mind my sharing, in the hopes that somebody will make one for their family!
November 29: Stump of Jesse, Isaiah 11:1-2
November 30: Creation, Genesis 1:24-31
November 30: Creation, Genesis 1:24-31
December 1: Adam&Eve, Genesis 3:1-21
(The 2nd ornament is a sheep skin that can be flipped over to represent Adam and Eve's need to cover their sin.)
December 2: Noah's Ark, Genesis 6:5-8
December 3: Abraham & Sarah, Genesis 12:1-7
December 4: Baby Isaac, Genesis 21:1-7
December 5: Abraham's Sacrifice (ram), Genesis 22:1-14
December 6: Jacob's Ladder, Genesis 28:10-22
December 7: Joseph's Coat of Many Colors, Genesis 37:31-33
December 8: Ten Commandments, Deuteronomy 5:1-22
December 7: Joseph's Coat of Many Colors, Genesis 37:31-33
December 8: Ten Commandments, Deuteronomy 5:1-22
December 9: Ruth, Ruth 1:1-23
December 10: Scarlet Chord/Rope, Joshua 2:2-21
December 12 (sorry, photos out of order):
King David, 2 Samuel 5:1-5
December 10: Scarlet Chord/Rope, Joshua 2:2-21
December 12 (sorry, photos out of order):
King David, 2 Samuel 5:1-5
December 11: Horn of Oil/The Lord Looks on the Heart, 1 Sam 16:1-13
December 13: People once lived in darkness, now have seen a great light. Isaiah 9:2, 6-7
December 14: Fire of God, 1 King 18-17-39
December 15: Lion/Lamb (both are reversible), Isaiah 11:1-9
December 16: "Big Fish", Jonah 3:1-4 (One of my 3!!)
December 17: Bethlehem, Micah 5:2-5
December 18: Esther "Coming to the King" (scepter and grapes from feasts), Esther 4:10-17
December 19: Watch Tower, Habakkuk 2:1
December 20: Birth of John the Baptist, Luke 1;5-25
December 21: Baptism/Jordan River, Matthew 3:1-6
December 22: God's Heart, Our Dwelling Place (Mary's Heart),
Luke 1:26-38 (wooden one is mine!)
December 23: Joseph the Builder, Matthew 1:18-25
(jar has sawdust and nails, other is a handmade wooden tool)
December 24: Journey to Bethlehem/to Jesus, Luke 2:1-5
(Felt sandals are mine! LOVE the other one though, made of felt with a tiny star attached.)
December 25: Birth of Jesus, Luke 2:6-21
We LOVE all of our new ornaments, and can't wait to add them to our much loved family Jesse Tree. MANY thanks to Emily and Marci, for their amazing hearts, and foe hosting these parties!
These are based on the Jesse Tree devotionals written by Ann Voskamp, which can be downloaded here. Because our girls are little though, we just read the stories from our children's Bible.
May your Advent be blessed, and focused on the birth of Jesus!
10 comments:
We're doing a Jesse tree for the first time this year and I was just about to go through my ornaments that I started collecting last year and see which ones I'm missing...this will give me great ideas for making those I couldn't buy! (And, you also got me thinking that it would be great to have an ornament for each kid to hang each night...maybe next year!) -Kelly
Hey Rebecca!!! I love this idea. I just took a Digging Deeper class at church and was struck with the idea of Advent. I want to bring our boys to realize what you were just blogging about. I might call you when we get home from my mom's to ask some questions! Thanks for sharing! Kari
Love this tradition! Totally don't think I'll get myself together enough to do it this year (maybe the scriptures, but not the ornaments:), but hopefully next year for the whole thing. Thanks for sharing the link and photos. I need visual aids!
thanks for not calling me out on it the other day when I called it your "Joshua" tree :-) (OK I admit it, I listened to U2 quite a lot in the 80's :-)
What a sweet tradition~ would LOVE to do that but just don't have it in me to make all those. LOL I am going to check into the devotionals though~ Thanks for sharing!!! Love and blessings!
Such a great tradition and so many cute ornaments!!
What a great ornament collection. So meaningful. I am praying for your adoption process. I am a new follower from No time For Flashcards.Vicky from Mess For Less
the jesse tree ornaments exchange is a fantastic idea. i had never heard of it before. we made our ornaments last year, but they are made out of paper and different embellishments. yours are absolutely beautiful! wow. what a treasure and keepsake!
I love your ornaments! We are doing this for the first time this year and am just starting to make mine.
This sounds like a wonderful way to celebrate Advent.
Post a Comment