Anticipating Advent: Our Jesse Tree

It's hard to believe that we are only a few weeks away from the season of Advent, the time of waiting and preparing for the birth of Christ.   In addition to the traditional Advent wreath, several years ago, our family began the Advent tradition of the Jesse Tree.   The Jesse Tree, named after Jesse, the father of David, traces the story of salvation history from Adam and Eve to Jesus.   A new ornament is added each day during the season of Advent and the family shares the scripture story illustrated by that ornament.


I have enjoyed watching Joey lead our family in the nightly scripture study.   The children love helping put up each new ornament and listening to its story.   


There are many options for a Jesse Tree.   I made ours out of a piece of  white felt and purple ribbon.  I like the way this option shows the ornaments in chronological order.   I think that our children will remember these ornaments as we celebrate each year and it will be a visual reminder of the order of events in salvation history.











Close up of the first few ornaments of the tree


I wrote the number of the day, the scripture reference, and the row number on the back of each ornament.   I plan to laminate these and use velcro to attach them -- some day!
The tree, ornaments, and scripture pages store easily in a 2-gallon zipper storage bag.

You can print out these same color ornaments to make your own Jesse Tree.   Here is the link:
http://www.eriercd.org/jessetree.htm

You can find more elaborate ornaments and kits for making your own on various websites, also.

Also, here's the link to an excellent article about focusing on Christ during Advent and Christmas.   I like that it reminds us to slow down and prepare our hearts for Christ.   I share it with the parents in our parish Baptism preparation class and it's a great annual reminder for me.

http://catholicexchange.com/2008/12/02/114596/

 

Comments

  1. Anonymous5 November 2010 at 15:14

    I'll be back to read more about this! Great idea. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete

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