How is the Jesse Tree going for those of you doing it? We're really enjoying it. I love how much Boo looks forward to it everyday and I love the visible reminders to us of God's love for us in sending his son.
I ended up not finishing a few ornaments and plan to work on them in the New Year. I figured it wasn't worth scrambling to make thrown-together ornaments. So for the devotion on Abraham trusting and following God, we hung up the camel from the kids' Fisher Price nativity.
For the door for the passover devotional, we had originally bought a wooden dollhouse door from Hobby Lobby and were planning on using that. But the Good Doctor and I decided it was kind of funny putting up a fancy wooden paneled door. We thought we could make a more rustic one...but never found the time. So I drew the door symbol on a note card and we tucked that in the tree.
And can you believe I never found a trumpet ornament for the Joshua/Jericho devotional? You'd think trumpet ornaments would be easy enough to find, right? Instead we're using a small wooden flute the kids have.
As for the devotionals themselves, they're going pretty well. We look forward to doing it before bedtime every night, though we've taken to putting the Noodle to bed first most nights. He has a hard time sitting still the whole time and is usually ready to hit the hay by that time anyways. Boo is really drinking it in and enjoys putting the ornaments on and looking at the tree throughout the day.
I'd love to hear how your Jesse Tree is going and how your children are responding.
Hey there!! So glad to hear how y'all's is going! We are loving it too. Just wanted you to know that we borrowed some ideas from you and I linked you here: http://therowecrew.blogspot.com/2009/12/joy-to-world.html
ReplyDeleteThanks again!! Oh, and I couldn't find a trumpet (and several others) either!
Jessica
We too had to let go of perfection. I'll be working on ornaments for next year too. We did end up printing some printable ones from the Holy Experience blog and they actually look great.
ReplyDeleteWe have missed a few days, but overall, our Jesse Tree has been a HUGE blessing. Our daughter (2) is loving it, and points out the Jesse Tree all day. She is learning the most basic of concepts like "Who created Earth?"
It also has been a HUGE example for our family and friends to see the value that we place on the true meaning of Christmas.
Thanks for your example!
I'm so glad we are doing it! My son LOVES to open the "present" each night and hang the ornament. We've always had Bible reading and prayer with him before bedtime, but we never usually asked a lot of questions, so this devotional has been great in getting us to ask questions and making sure he's "getting it." I love that! Normally our evenings are pretty routine, but this month they have been very helter-skelter with either my husband or I not home for bedtime on many nights - that's been a struggle I didn't anticipate. Overall, it's been a success and I know it will get better each year!
ReplyDeleteI know I've said this, but THANK YOU for sharing this. It's truly what inspired and enabled me to do this with my family.
I learned long ago that we would not get to the devotions every night. My husband is a pastor and we have evening events that we must attend throughout the "season". However, I just double up on some of the devotions on the nights we ARE home and somehow we get through most of them. It's important to keep in mind that each devotion you do is better than none at all AND creating an appetite in our children for seeking & worshiping the Lord is key.
ReplyDeleteI also ended up printing some lovely paper Jesse Tree ornaments and laminating them due to time constraints. Perhaps another year I'll get the others done, but I didn't want to miss out on a window of opportunity with my girls just because I didn't have them done. We won't get another year that they are 7, 11, and 17! Carpe diem!