One Day at a Time: Our Jesse Tree

Last year we discovered a great treasure. For years we struggled to keep Christ in Christmas amid the bustle of pre-Christmas shopping and endless preparations, activities and distractions. Consumerism was definitely taking over our Christmas despite our efforts to prevent it. Then last year I was looking for ideas for advent and there it was, a blog post about the Jesse Tree.

The Jesse Tree is not a real tree. It is symbolic. It represents the lineage of Jesus which began with Jesse, King David's father.

"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch shall grow out of his roots.^"

Isaiah 11:1

The devotions begin on December 1st. Each day in December, up to and including Christmas Day, there is a wonderful devotion that tells, incrementally, the story -- the real story -- of Chist. We purchased a little book from Amazon last year, The Advent Jesse Tree which we really enjoy, but there are many versions and you can choose the one that is just right for your family. Last year it was about $5, this year I saw one for $232 so it is wise to shop around.

Each day includes a memory verse, a list of hymns to sing and two sets of devotions with corresponding prayers. One devotion is for children and the other is for adults. They both have scripture readings that correspond to that days particular story about Christ. Each day also has a corresponding symbol which can be made into ornaments. Here are some of ours:

We made these by hand last year out of felt, using an online source for inspiration. Here is the link. Feels Like Home Blog, it also has a devotional similar to the book for younger children.

We hang the ornaments from branches that we suspend from our ceiling because of our cats, who really love the branches to eat, and the ornaments to play with.