Every year since Hubby and I have been married, we've tried in various ways to celebrate Advent as a family. Candles and carols and calendars have been somewhat successful, but always I've longed for something a bit more meaningful. . .yet still somehow kid-accessible.
So this year I'm very excited to have an entire month's worth of family-oriented scripture-based Advent devotions. The booklet (by Ann Voskamp) comes with printable Jesse tree ornaments. What's more, it's free! Click here to check it out.
This is the first year we've done a Jesse tree, which is a tradition that uses ornaments and a branch of some kind to create a tangible collection of people and ideas from the Bible that point to the coming of Jesus.
We started this evening. True to form, I didn't have anything quite ready--no candles (the ones from last years are mere stumps--appropriate, I guess), and the ornaments were not cut out, but we talked about the Jesse tree concept since it was new to the kids, and we read the words from Isaiah chapter 11 that give this tradition its name, beautiful words that prophesy of Jesus' coming:
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 power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. . .
The rest of the chapter also contains some of my favorite scripture, a picture of the glorious peace and reconciliation that Jesus brings. I'll include it, too.
The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.
2 comments:
the Jesse tree sounds so neat - I always have trouble downloading from her site, but I'll give it another shot. (I always start projects insufficiently prepared, too - we improvisers are important to have around!!)
This will be our 3rd year doing the Jesse Tree. We all love it! I love that most of my kids are at the age where they remember things from past years. They are so excited to start the Jesse Tree this Thursday.
Post a Comment