Even though I’ve frequently whined about how commercial Christmas has become, in the past I haven’t put a lot of effort into reclaiming the holiday spirit as it was meant to be. This year I hope to start a simple tradition in our family that will help all of us focus on something other than consuming food and gifts.
Hubby and I had been talking about creating a “reverse Advent calendar tree” with our girls. We envisioned setting up a small tree and allowing them to put a special ornament on it each day in December. While we were still in the planning stages, however, I read about the Jesse Tree at SimpleMom. We agreed that the Jesse Tree was a much better idea, and easier to pronounce, than our reverse Advent calendar tree.
I love the the Jesse Tree because it’s simple and beautiful. Each day in the Advent season we will read a short (2-3 verse) passage of Scripture, talk about it, and hang a related ornament on our Jesse tree. The readings have been selected to take us through the highlights of the Old Testament that point to the promise of Christ.
So right now we’re in the midst of assembling our Jesse Tree. As usual, I got my mother-in-law involved, who provided us with a beautiful branch for our tree. And then she spray painted it white, so it looks simple and stunning. She also found a lot of appropriate ornaments in her own collection, so I don’t need to make nearly as many as I thought.
My mom has joined in as well, digging through drawers of thread to get me just the right shades for the minimal sewing I’m doing on the remaining ornaments. By the way, I’m making them all out of my new favourite material, felt, which I’ve discovered is nearly indestructible and surprisingly easy to manipulate. Here’s my progress so far:
Sounds fun, doesn’t it? We’re looking forward to November 30th when Advent starts. I’ll get you a picture of the whole thing when we’re ready.
What an excellent idea! Tasha’s cousins will also be joining the Jesse Tree tradition this year. After reading your entry I promptly spent a great deal of time looking up Jesse Tree Devotions and Ornaments. Since trees and bushes are something we have a lot of here (!) I have no doubt that I will be able to get a tree set up this weekend. Felt, and other crafty supplies are not available here and therefore we will make do this year with some nice pictures printed off the computer and glued to bristol board. However, since this is a tradition worth continuing I hope that I will be able to keep my eyes open for intresting ornaments and trinkets over the next few years to replace these paper ones.
Great idea! I can’t wait to begin.
I’m glad that you’re starting this tradition, too!