Celebrating Advent

I can't believe it's December already!! With the busyness of this season, I have been thinking through ways that I can help keep the real meaning of the season, (celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus) before my children.

In doing so, I came across two great ideas in celebration of advent!

1. Jesse Tree (I found this idea at rocks in my dryer!)
The idea of the Jesse Tree comes from Isaiah 11:1

"A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots."

Jesse was the father of David, Israel's greatest king. He is often thought of as the first person in the geneology of Jesus. God promises a discouraged nation that a new King would rise up out of the family of Jesse to save them and rule the whole earth. Jesus was a fulfillment of this promise. That is why we use a Jesse Tree in celebration of advent. It is decorated with reminders of how God prepared the world for the coming of our King, Jesus who would reign forever and ever.

To create our own Jesse Tree, we puchased a 4ft tree to display in our dining area. Beginning December 1st up until Christmas Eve, we will be reading a devotional each night that takes us through the Old Testament. As each story is told it describes the events or members in Jesus' family beginning with the "root of Jesse" and ending with the birth of Christ. Following the story, we hang up an ornament that symbolizes that specific story.

For example, the first devotional read on December 1st is taken from the passage above, Isaiah 11:1. To symbolize the "stump of Jesse" an ornament of a tree would be hung up. Below are the ornaments the girls made.

On December 2nd an ornament of the world, animals, sun, moon, etc...might be hung to symbolize the story of creation.

If you'd like to get really creative and create your own ornaments instead of purschasing them click here.

For additional information on the history of the Jesse Tree click here or here.

2. The ADVENTure of Christmas Here is another great way to celebrate advent and another great book by Lisa Whelchel! The ADVENTure of Christmas focuses on helping children find Jesus in our Holiday Traditions. It describes the significance behind each tradition such as hanging lights outside, the candy cane, christmas tree, ornaments, gift wrapping, etc…and describes how these customs relate to Jesus’ birth. It even gives simple ideas for little crafts you can incorporate with each story.