We have many Christmas traditions at our house, some from my childhood and some we've introduced as our kids have grown. One of my favorites is one that is new to this generation - the Jesse tree.The Jesse tree starts out the month of December bare, but each day it gets an ornament and each ornament has a story. We'll start today by hanging the tiny ornament representing light. We'll talk about God speaking light into existence and we'll talk about how this points to Jesus, the Light of the World.
The Jesse Tree takes us through the entire Old Testament as God weaves his prophecies through the fabric of his people's history. Just as the Israelites had a sense of expectation for the coming Messiah, our family builds a sense of expectation for the memory of his birth.
This little tree gets its name from Isaiah 11:1. "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will bear fruit."
Jesse, father of King David, ancestor to the long-awaited promise.
1 comment:
Patty, I really, really like this idea and would love to hear about the other days leading up to Jesus' birth. We have been trying to come up with ways that we could set up traditions to focus more on Jesus, and I really like this. If you get a chance, e-mail me or send me a message over Facebook about it. Love you! And I'll send my check soon.
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