The Gift of December- The Jesse Tree

Celebrating the Promise and Coming of the Savior With the Jesse Tree

Having family traditions that center around the Christmas holiday has always been very important to us. Traditions bring the family closer together, create great memories, and help us to keep our focus on the spiritual significance of the holiday season. One of the traditions we enjoy is the Jesse Tree.

The Meaning of the Jesse Tree

The Jesse Tree is a visual picture of the promise of the Savior throughout Scripture, ultimately leading to the promise fulfilled in the birth of Christ. The Jesse Tree comes from Isaiah 11:1-"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." 

Beginning with Creation and following the thread of history through the Israelites and the line of people who would ultimately lead to Christ, the ornaments of the Jesse Tree show God's plan for redemption from the start. For each day, from the first day of Advent through Christmas, there is an ornament that symbolizes part of the redemption story. As we put on each ornament, we read a Scripture that explains that ornament, and we talk about what it means.

Many Advent traditions only focus on the birth of Christ. That's an important event for sure. But the Jesse Tree goes further and reminds us of the big picture. The birth of Christ wasn't just a random, isolated event. God had a plan for His people all along, and that plan, begun at the Creation of the world, continued on through history, culminating in Christ's birth.


Creating Your Own Jesse Tree

To make your own Jesse tree, you can use a real, small Christmas tree or you can draw a tree to place your ornaments on. We've done both through the years, but I finally decided on a tree drawing because I can keep it from year to year and pull it out for the first day of Advent. It's also a good choice for us because we don't have the space to put up an additional Christmas tree. I laminated my printed ornaments and put velcro tabs on the back. The tree has velcro tab spots where the ornaments can be placed.

The tree that you use can have bare branches because the theme verse in Isaiah talks about Christ as the Branch that bears fruit. I like to have the Isaiah verse written out with the tree because this reminds us of the focus of the Jesse Tree.

You will need a set of ornaments to use each day on your Jesse tree. You can print these or draw the ornaments yourself. I'll give some resource links below that I've used to print already made ornaments, There are twenty-eight symbolic ornaments and the symbolism of the tree which you explain on the first day of Advent.

• Dove
• Tree with fruit
• Rainbow
• Stars
• Ram
• Ladder
• Sack of grain
• Burning bush
• Lamb
• Torah tablets
• Ram's horn trumpet
• Clay water pitcher
• Crown
• Shepherd's crook
• Stone altar
• Empty tent
• Fire tongs
• Tears
• Watchtower
• City wall
• Scallop shell
• White lily
• Mother and child
• Tablet and pencil
• Carpenter's hammer
• Star
• Manger
• Chi-Roh symbol (Greek letters for Christ)

We use our Jesse tree for family devotions throughout the month of December. Each day we'll read the passage of Scripture, and then the kids take turns placing an ornament on the tree.

Jesse Tree Resources

This site has a great free printable pack that has all of the Scripture references, a devotional explanation of each day, and printable ornaments.

If you use an Advent wreath in your family, this site ties in the Jesse tree readings with the weeks of Advent, so you could see how the days fall along with using the Advent wreath.

This site has a little different version of printable ornaments if you would like a little different style.

The Jesse tree can be a great way to focus on Christ and the promise of a Savior as well as the fulfillment of that promise. It's also a great way to give kids a big picture view of God's plan of redemption throughout the Bible. It's a tradition we've come to look forward to year after year.




Leah Courtney is a homeschooling mom of four. Her days are filled with being a mom, homemaker, and teacher. In her (very rare) free time, she enjoys blogging, reading, and reviewing books and curricula. These days she’s learning the joys of being a mom of teens. You can read about her family and homeschooling life at As We Walk Along the Road.






Love the way Leah used velcro tabs to keep everything in its place!  This is a great project to do with kids of all ages.  THANK YOU, Leah, for such a wonderful addition to our Christmas celebration!

The Gift of December- Snowman Soup

You have got to take a peek at Rebekah's blog There will be a $5.00 charge for Whining!  Seriously, this lady makes me laugh out loud- often! Here's what she says about herself-

 I like books, classical poetry, musicals, vintage china, scrapbooking, the color red, flip flops, sushi, little boys named Josiah, the smell of lemons and dangly earrings. I am sometimes right, but more frequently wrong. I am sometimes only slightly fruity. Most of the time I am mostly fruity. I am learning to take what I have been given and make for myself and my little family a beautiful life.
Enjoy!  And thank you, Rebekah!



 I am tickled that Michele has let me hang out on her blog for a bit. She is always such a blessing and an encourager. What a treat to be able to share one of my Christmas projects going on at my kitchen table right now!

I LOVE Christmas! I love everything about it. As we begin our preparations for the celebration of the birth of our Lord, my heart always turns with how I can bless others.

Some years, I have a little more to give. Some years...a little less. You know how it is. However, I've learned that a cute and thoughtful gift doesn't have to be extravagant or complicated.

I also like having projects that my son and I can work on together. Not only do we get to share in a fun Christmas memory, but he is learning how to give.

I am sure most of you have heard of Snowman Soup. It's the kitschy little gift perfect for teachers, neighbors and friends. Or your teacher's neighbor's friends.  We are fairly free with our snowman soup.

I first heard of Snowman Soup many years ago. My sister-in-law and her family participated in a secret "pal" kind of gift exchange that took place with other members of their church. One cold evening, they heard a knock at the door. When they opened the door the family found a whole basket filled with Snowman Soup ingredients and a cute little poem. A bag of marshmallows! A box of candy canes, fun Christmas mugs....Everything a family would need for a wintery night at home.

This was the days before Pinterest (can you even remember?) and over the years I have created many versions of Snowman Soup.

The easiest and most economical version is one of my favorites. This year we are assembling snowman soup bags for Swim Coaches, the student teachers from my son's P.E. class, neighbors and church folks.

To create Snowman Soup you will need:

Hot Chocolate mix (you can make your own if that's the way you roll)
Peppermint Sticks
Candy Kisses
Mini-marshmallows
Small clear party bags


This year I even doodled my own little bag topper. I want to share it with you! I'll link to the final product (PDF) at the end of the post. I used cardstock for my bag toppers. I find cardstock is sturdy and makes for a nice presentation. However, you can use plain copy paper if that is all you have. You can make it sturdier by gluing it to a piece of construction paper.

I hand colored this copy. This is a perfect project for the Littles. I am going to also provide you a link with the colored version to make somebody's life easier. The assembly of the Snowman Soup baggies will be enough for at least a few of you (I remember those days). I like using gel pens for coloring. They make me happy. Colored pencils are also a good choice for these kinds of doodles. A finer tip will provide a much nicer result.

For the Snowman Soup poem I enlisted the help of my ever pithy momma. There are plenty of cute Snowman Soup poems out in webland. However, because I doodled this bag topper just for you, I wanted something I could share without infringing on someone else's creative property. Feel free to use this bag topper as often as you want!

After preparing my bag toppers, I gathered my ingredients together...minus a few candy kisses. This project is so economical. A body could get everything he or she needs at The Dollar Tree.

This is the size of the party bags I used. I am a big believer in using what you have. You can even use lunch sacks, but these cost under $1 at Walmart. I like the clear bags so the ingredients are visible.

I stuck all the Snowman Soup ingredients in the bag and folded over the top just a little bit. I tried to take a picture of that particular step, but the end product was too shiny to see. You will just have to take my word for it!

I then folded my topper in half and stapled the whole thing at the top.  I also added a little sparkly bag filler with my Snowman Soup ingredients. Everyone needs a little sparkly bag filler in their life.

This is the back view. I forgot to color his nose! Want to know something funny? Notice the word "SassyFras" just underneath the snowman. My mom and I have a online shop called SassyFrass Art & More. Did you just notice my boo boo? What kind of person misspells their own business on the back of a product? And here I thought I was being clever.

I did add some bling (in the form of some stick-on rhinestones) at the last minute. I looked for my glitter, but couldn't find any. That, my friends, is probably a good thing. I can get fairly liberal with the glitter.

As promised, I am providing links to my doodles just for you!

These links will take you to my Google Drive. You can print off as many as you need to. Set the kiddos down with the Snowman Soup ingredients and have an afternoon (or evening) of Soup making!

Just a few housekeeping notes. I did notice that my Black and White product wound up with some sort of strange line around the doodle. I think the paper moved during scanning. Just cut it off. And if you can remember...Add a another "s" to SassyFras!

Snowman Soup Black and White
Snowman Soup Color

I hope that you will find all sorts of folks to bless with Snowman Soup this year!

The Gift of December- Prepping for Christmas

Welcome to our December series- The Gift of Christmas.  I am so excited to have this series kicked off by a sweet friend of mine, Robyn, who blogs about her faith and family adventures at A Closer Walk!  You can also read about her Israel tours and book her to speak at robyncarrillo.net.  Our family met her amazing family when we first moved to New Mexico years ago and we were blessed to be in their Sunday School class.  It was there that we stepped our of our "Christian" shells and learned what is meant to be a Believer.  Our eyes were opened in so many ways and we thank God for their teaching and leadership.  I know without a shadow of a doubt our family would not be where we are today without having known them!  I love how God works!
So, thank you Robyn for the time spent pouring into our lives and for guest posting for me today!
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Do you look forward to playing Christmas music and setting out Christmas decorations? A lot of work goes into planning, prepping, cooking, buying and wrapping to make Christmas a beautiful and fun holiday.

This year, I questioned if I plan and prepare for the right reason. Instead of spending all my time on the tasks of physically setting the stage for the big event, like Martha did. I need to sit and prepare my heart like Mary did, at the feet of Jesus.

In preparing our homes and our hearts for Christmas, I’ve made a short to-do list.

1. Outside lights

2. Inside aroma

3. Gift bags vs. paper and bows

1. Climbing on the roof and untangling the strings of lights is not a fun task. I usually find an excuse not to participate in this part. We can’t do everything, right? I opt out of the rooftop, extension cords, replacement light bulbs chaos part of the decorating. I prefer to leave in the morning and return after it is finished when my job is to ooh and aah at the results.

I wonder how often I opt out spiritually. There is only one person who can untangle the sin attitudes and actions that have crept up in my life. I love what they do on the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. They write down the sins of the previous year, bring them to the Lord, then burn them as a symbol of repentance and forgiveness.

In preparing for Christmas, I want to evaluate the thoughts and actions I need to ask the Lord, and perhaps others, to forgive me for. Let’s not rush into traffic, long lines and busyness with a frustrated, get-out-of-my-way attitude. Jesus came to bring us peace. Although there has not been much peace on earth, the Holy Spirit can give us peace in our soul, if we surrender our agenda, and ask Him to fill us with His love and joy for others.

2. I love the cinnamon, pine, and sugar cookie smells. Those smells can waft from time spent cooking and baking, or I can take the short cut and buy candles and diffusers. The Bible says our prayers are a sweet aroma to the Lord. I want to spend time reading His word and talking to Him daily, praying and praising Him, especially this month as we remember His birth. I don’t want to short cut my time with Him because of the busyness of the season. Like Brother Lawrence said years ago, the busier he was, the more time he spent in prayer.

3. Gift bags are so practical: no scissors, tape, ribbons, or mess. Yet, the beauty and thoughtfulness of a perfectly tied bow on matching paper is always a treasure. I want to show love to my family and friends with practical gifts and plates of cookies. But isn’t the real treasure spending time with them, actively listening, and taking opportunities to tell them how special they are and how much God loves them? This month can be stressful as we worry about our budget and spending extra money on things. A truth I’ve realized recently is; words are free. It cost nothing to compliment, bless, encourage, and speak kindly to others. In the rush and rudeness this month can bring, it is a beautiful treasure when people smile and speak thoughtful, kind words, whether at home or standing in a long line.

During this first week of December can we take a few minutes to

prepare our hearts?

1. Untangle our sin attitudes and ask for forgiveness.

2. Spend time daily reading God’s Word and praying in the aroma of the real meaning of Christmas.

3. Choose to be a treasured gift to others through our time and our words.

Wishing you heartfelt blessings as you prepare your heart for Christmas.

Robyn

                 

Does God Roll His Eyes?

I am not trying to be flippant, I promise.

Really, today this exact thought went through my head- Does God Roll His Eyes?  I even repeated it to my oldest son.  Who probably also rolled his eyes at me.

Maybe that is what happens when you are living off very little sleep, and a with lot of adrenaline!

Oh, and when you are currently on plan C, or maybe D or E!

You see, we are in the middle of a move.  Which really translates to we are living between two houses right now.  Hang with me, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

If you remember correctly, we closed last week with a slight mishap in the middle of it all.  I know Salem and Ashton will love that word- mishap!  HA!

Anyway, after a few days of painting and cleaning we headed back to our old house to regroup and planned on heading back to Omaha on Tuesday.

Then the weather decided not to cooperate.  Again!

Yes, I knew they were calling for snow.  Yes, I was watching the weather.  Yes, things just kept getting more intense.  Those silly weathermen really know how to make things exciting.

So all of a sudden we went from chance of snow to 2 feet of snow by Tuesday.  Did someone miss the memo that that was the day I was traveling?  In a car.  Followed by the children who had just been in a weather related accident!?!

What's a girl to do?

Change plans at 11:30 at night on Saturday and head out by 9:30 Sunday morning, of course.

No way was I taking the chance of getting stuck for who knows how long until the town could dig out and clear the highways.

You would not believe how fast one can pack 5 people, two dogs,  and one poor fish!  My kids are amazing like that!

Yes, we arrived safely, ahead of the weather.  I have never been so happy to see a house!

You see- we have someone very special to pick up at the airport on Sunday!

Wouldn't want to be late!

And yes, I do think God rolls His eyes.  All the time  At me, at least!

Because I make a lot of wonderful plans and then He reminds me-

Jeremiah 29:11 

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I am so thankful God's plans are the best!  And I am thankful that despite the fact that He must roll His eyes at me pretty often, I am still loved!

Linking up with friends!

Blessings,

The Gift of December- A Family, Faith and Fridays Series

Have you noticed?  December is almost here.  Can you even believe it?

For most, it means a flurry of activities.  School plays and recitals, last minute present buying, parties to attend and houses to decorate.

For us, it is all that and more.  If you have been around here a while, you know that we have almost come to the end of my husbands one year deployment.  Actually, we have gone well over 365 days, but who is counting?  On top of that we are moving and I have started a new job as Product Manager the TOS Homeschool Review Crew.  Yes, to say that December will be a busy month is an understatement.  Good, but busy.

But I did not want to leave this space sadly quiet while I was busy, so I have asked for a little help from some friends.  Some amazing gals have agreed to guest blog for me during December all about Christmas.  Wait 'til you read their posts! They have lots of fun in store for you- I cannot wait to share the posts with you starting December 2nd.

Don't worry, I will be popping in and out, I can't be THAT quiet, and I have a fun giveaway perfect for a stocking stuffer,  Plus, I have a lot of fun planned already for 2016!

I pray you have a beautifully. blessed Holiday Season and I pray you remember why it is we celebrate!  May the Lord bless you and your family this Christmas!

Blessings,