A few years ago I saw this awesome advent tradition called the Jesse Tree. The Jesse Tree is named from Isaiah 11:1: "A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots." It is a vehicle to tell the Story of God in the Old Testament, and to connect the Advent Season with the faithfulness of God across 4,000 years of history. The Branch is a biblical sign of newness out of discouragement, which became a way to talk about the expected messiah (for example, Jer 23:5). It is therefore an appropriate symbol of Jesus the Christ, who is the revelation of the grace and faithfulness of God.
The Jesse Tree seeks to tell the story of God's redemptive plan for the world through 25 symbols of the Old and New Testament. The symbols trace the heritage of Jesus Christ from beginning of creation to His birth on Christmas Day. Each day of Advent, there is a Scripture passage to coincide with the symbol, which most families portray as an ornament for their tree (their big family tree or a separate small tree).
After reading up on the activity, I decided it was something I definitely wanted to do with my boys to help us focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Making 25 ornaments though, is no easy task. An old friend told me how her mom's group got together for a craft night and did an ornament swap. Last November, I presented the idea to my moms' group and they were sold. I coordinated the whole night and scheduled for all to get together on Dec. 2nd.
Oliver, however, decided to surprise us all and come 20 days early. I, therefore, did not make it to my own craft night but it went on without a hitch. Beautiful ornaments were made (each lady made 25 of one symbol) and exchanged. It went so well that I was asked to coordinate it again this year, though I'm not in the group anymore.
Because of Oliver's birth, we didn't get to start the tree last year so I was excited to do it this year. For this next month, I'll be sharing more about our tree so stay tuned.
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