FAMILY TRADTIONS: THE JESSE TREE

November is normally the cue for Christmas music and lights and trees and all the other details that encompass Christmas.  I’m not normally one to jump on that wagon yet…I’m a patient holiday enthusiast.  But deep in my marrow, I am a planner.  So Christmas photo shoots are being planned and Christmas jammies are saved in my virtual carts and I’ve started my gift list.  Not that I would push my personality traits on anyone, but I would like to direct your attention to one of our favorite family traditions that might require some early planning if you choose to create this tradition in your home too–which I highly recommend.

The Jesse Tree is an old tradition of placing ornaments on a tree that represent Bible stories of the Old Testament up until Jesus’ birth.  Usually starting on the first day of advent, you can read the story and place the ornament on the tree each day.  There are many versions of this, but not many on the market.  My friend Robin created beautiful sets.

As you can see from some of these photos, my kids have loved this tradition well.  Baby Moses has a kid-drawn Sharpie face and the door with lamb’s blood has a little extra done with crayon.  My kids look forward to this every single year.  We usually sit down every Sunday night and read seven stories, covering the whole week.  We’ve also set our Christmas Eve table with the last five stories in the set and red them together over dinner.  You can do this tradition any way it works for your family.

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