Advent

It has been fun to begin our Advent celebrations. We have taken out our decorations and started our Jesse tree devotions. I have printed out all the Bible passages for these, after compiling them in full in a word document. This makes it easier for our family to do them, as we don't have to look up each passage in a different part of the Bible each evening. If anyone would like this document for the purposes of your own devotions, please email me (sherrindrewATgmail.com).

Elnathan was mainly interested in removing decorations from the tree, rather than putting them onto it.

The tree is now safely on our dining table. We love to decorate it with stars and angels, and some meaningful ornaments such as a handpainted wedding momento given to us by the hostess at the bed and breakfast where we spent our wedding night. We look forward to adding Jesse tree decorations as well, which will remind us of what God has done for us through many Biblical events.

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Drew Birthday Traditions

This year we had the privilege of considering the way we wanted to celebrate birthdays now we have children. I am grateful for Dave's leadership in saying that he wants the children to receive only one toy from us for each birthday. Why? "Life does not consist in the abundance of posessions", as Jesus said, and we don't want birthdays to become more focused on "getting" than they need to be. Also, family give us lovely gifts so the child already gets more than one present. Since I could only buy one toy, I put a lot of thought into which one! We ended up getting the Plan Walker (pictured above).

The tradition I'm most excited about, though, is our decision to also give away a gift at each birthday! We chose God put us on this earth to be givers, to remember the poor and to promote the gospel. How exciting to be able to do that at each birthday! We chose  iThemba Lethu for Nate, as we already support this orphan/HIV care ministry. Elnathan has visited there while in South Africa and had his picture taken for our album. I think that when he is old enough he will enjoy choosing his own gift recipient. Dave chose Door of Hope orphan care ministry for his birthday. In October it will be my turn. Yay! Of course, we continue to give throughout the year but this is something special for the birthday person to choose.

In addition to this, I started a small book to write notes of thanksgiving about the birthday child. We want to remember what God has done over the years and give thanks! Birthdays can be another way to remind ourselves of what our true life purpose is. We have some precious messages in Elnathan's book already. For more ideas on birthday celebrations, see Green and Simple Birthday Parties. How do you like to celebrate birthdays and praise God for the gift of life?

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The crown Jesse tree ornament

Today I started and finished the crown Jesse tree ornament. In this picture you can also see a couple of the beaded ornaments we purchased in South Africa. I love the angel in orange because it reminds me of the way African women dress!

The crown Jesse tree ornament relates to 2 Samuel 5:1-5, which speaks of David becoming king. We know that Christ fulfills God's promise that David's descendants would rule forever. Many biblical truths can come to mind when we look at this ornament. God has sent us his perfect king to rule over us forever. In our sinful nature we want to rule ourselves, but when we become Christians we choose that Christ will be Lord of our lives.

I used little beads I had left over from making other projects to represent jewels on the crown. I'm enjoying working with the soft felt, and it also seems like a child friendly fabric!

I hope that this ornament will give rise to some good teaching opportunities and discussions with Elnathan in years to come.

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The Rose Jesse Tree Ornament

Our church has been holding wonderful "Fun with Felt" craft nights, and at the last one I took the opportunity to start our Jesse tree decorations! I am happy with the rose I was able to create with the materials provided, and think it looks quite similar to an opened rose like this one . . . 

 

I felt deflated, though, when I got home and looked up the passage that is suggested for use with the rose ornament. Isaiah 9:2 -7 doesn't seem to have much to do with roses! What do you think? The only thing I thought of is that perhaps we could talk about the way flowers die quickly but Jesus' government will have no end.

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Starting a Jesse Tree

The Christmas season is a wonderful opportunity for teaching about Jesus Christ, and creating family memories. Like most opportunities, it also comes with temptations. What should be a time of focusing on the gospel together often becomes a season of stress and family conflict. To my surprise I have already fallen into some of those temptations this year, and it is not even December. I believe that most Christians want to focus on Jesus at Christmas, but deliberate efforts have to be made in order to achieve this. The amazing truth is that God became man in order to save us! How can this truth dominate our Christmas season?

One way to ensure that our Christmas is focused on Jesus is to create special family traditions that seize the opportunities the season offers. A tradition that has been recommended on many sites and in Noel Piper's book Treasuring God in Your Traditions is that of the Jesse Tree. The Jesse Tree tradition helps families to pay attention to the way the whole Bible leads up to Jesus Christ. Many adults struggle to understand the way the Bible fits together. The beauty of this tradition is that year after year, the images and devotions reinforce the way the Bible leads up to Christ. Giving children a deep understanding of God's plan in the Bible is a wonderful gift for them to take into life. Having a Jesse tree is a fun way to give this gift, as children will enjoy the different decorations for each day.

You can read suggested family devotions for this year from the Reformed Church of America. You can also read Lindsay's compilation of pictures and links about their family's Jesse tree. The image above is courtesy of RE at St Thomas More School. This picture represents just one of many ways to incorporate a Jesse tree into your home. I am not sure yet whether or not we will have a separate Jesse tree or incorporate the little decorations into our existing tree, bringing one out each day in the lead up to Christmas. I am sure the tradition would still be memorable, even if there was not a separate tree. I also need to work out how to incorporate our existing lovely advent calendar. We will probably just use this as an additional lovely decoration and fun visual reminder of the meaning of Christmas.

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