It is so easy to get caught up in the Christmas craziness. We all know that, so I won't bother talking about what Christmas is NOT about. Instead I wanted to share what we do to help prepare our hearts for one of the most magical days of the year.
In our home, we do something called a Jesse tree. We got the idea from A Holy Experience, and downloaded all the materials for FREE from her website. It is a daily devotional, explaining from beginning to end the reason for Christ. It is quite intense, and very educational. It is also beautiful and practical. We did it last year for the first time, and the girls loved putting the ornaments on the tree. It is so detailed, that we are learning things that just slipped by us last year. It is also good, because the older the kids get, the more they will 'get it'.
This year we picked our perfect stump, and some branches full of thorns to represent our shoot. It sits in our dining room as a daily reminder of why we do what we do. I highly recommend doing this with your kids. After all.... it IS why we celebrate in the first place.
3 comments:
Oh, that reminds me... I was going to reprint the ornaments and glue them onto green cardstock cut into leaf shapes this year. When I first made the set two years ago, I just mounted them on red cardstock squares/rectangles. Last year, the girls suggested that it would make more sense if it looked like the branch sprouting from the stump was actually LIVING. I have cardstock; just need to cut out the leaves! Thanks for reminding me ~ I better get that done by Thursday!!
We've used that same book and ornaments the last two years, too. I'm not a huge fan of Voskamp's writing style, but we really do love this tradition.
We do this as well... well our own version in that we have the pictures glued to felt and then they kind of drape across a branch. We had to shorten or put in our words some of the devotionals, but we loved it. I have the wooden wreath as well that Ann's son makes and we use that as well.
I LOVE your stump and have one in my home that may just be waiting for such a purpose. Looks wonderful
Your right, it is important to remember. I just try not to get overwhelmed by all the wonderful things various families do to help them keep their perspective on Christ.. .sometimes that can be as overwhelming as the rest of the Christmas season...
Funny, I am blogging about Christmas tonight too-tis the season
I LOVE this idea! I'm going to share it with my Mother in Law, I think she'd love it :)
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