Our Jesse Tree

In true Stacey style, I decided yesterday that I wanted to do something for advent.  I definitely felt the need for our family to take Christmas back to its roots...Christ.  It's not that we haven't been talking about Jesus' birth every year at Christmas time, but I've noticed that the kids are very influenced by everything around them..tv, movies, other kids, etc.  So much so that I've asked Sophie several times what the meaning of Christmas was and she said, "Santa Claus."  Please, friends, don't go up in arms because I'm not anti-Santa.  In fact, I have a book I bought at the Christian bookstore that about the real Saint Nicolas and how he ministered to families way back when.  I grew up with Santa.  I watch movies that include Santa.  But I do personally think that Christmas has become too Santa focused.  What is Christmas all about?  Christ.  I am constantly reminding Sophie that we give gifts at Christmas because we're celebrating the birth of Jesus, just like we would celebrate their birthday.  But Jesus came to the earth, was the son of God and he died for us...and we celebrate that with gifts...not because of how good or bad they were or if they wrote a list to Santa.  This year I put the word out on facebook that I was looking for some advent ideas...semi-crafty, Christ-centered, cheap.  I got several great ideas, but I decided to go with this one:

 The Jesse tree.  I had heard of this before, but had no idea what it was.  Honestly, I thought someone named Jesse (probably a kid) came up with the idea to put some special ornaments on a tree.  Now I know...the Jesse tree is a way to take the focus of Christmas back to the lineage of Jesus...from the beginning at creation on up in time.  Here's our little Jesse tree.  Since I waited til the last minute and didn't want to buy stuff....I went and got a tomato cage from our shed, tied the prongs together at the top, wrapped it with a small piece of garland and extra Christmas lights, and put a bow on top.  I also added one of our old tree skirts...green and white gingham fabric...to the bottom. 

 Ann Voskamp, known for her book "One Thousand Gifts", has offered her blog readers/subscribers a free copy of her advent reading plan and free printables for the Jesse tree ornaments...color and black and white.  I looked at some other advent reading plans, but this one just seemed special to me.  I really like Ann's style.  I've never read "One Thousand Gifts"...I've heard of it and heard good things about it...but just never read it.  But I peeked into her blog today and was really drawn to it.  She has a lot of neat freebies on there.  I subscribed to her blog and later in the day got an email that included the link to the advent packet.  Above are all the Jesse tree ornaments...printed, glued to construction paper, hole punched, and strung.  A few still needed to dry, but I've got most of them done.

Here's a close-up of a few of them.  Aren't the pictures beautiful?!  I love some of the things she encourages you to do as a family after each day.  I really hope that we can do all of it even though we'll be pretty busy over the next couple of weeks.  I think this will not only draw us closer to each other, but closer to our Savior...who is worthy to be praised this holiday season!

God bless you...and Merry Christmas!  : )