More About the Jesse Tree

I just realized that the link I gave you regarding the Jesse Tree was an old link, and not very helpful.  Anyway, I got so many private e-mails on the subject, I thought I'd spend a little more time telling you how we did this.

First, the name "Jesse Tree" comes from Isaiah 11:1-2

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
       from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
       the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
       the Spirit of counsel and of power,
       the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -

The idea, of course, is that Christ came from the "stump of Jesse" (Jesse's "tree", get it?), and all of the Old Testament points toward the coming of Christ as Messiah. 

You will find on-line several different collections of devotionals; many have been written over the years.  Do an Amazon search on Jesse Tree for some ideas.  We used the devotions here; I simply printed them out and put them in a folder.  We tweaked this particular set of devotions every now and then--we really wanted to emphasize how the Old Testament pointed toward Christ.

It is NOT expensive (at least, it doesn't have to be).  You can buy Jesse Tree kits online if you're pressed for time, but gathering the ornaments myself was part of what made it so meaningful to me.  The website we use offers patterns (found here).  You could use these to cut out ornaments from felt, foam or paper.  I probably did four or five of my ornaments this way.  I also bought several at craft stores (many of them, such as Hobby Lobby, put their ornaments on sale for half off very often, and you can easily get pretty ornaments for a dollar or two each).  I tried to get really clever on a few--for example, for the story of the Fall, I found a little plastic apple and glued a plastic snake to it.  For Joseph's "coat of many colors", I found some striped fabric and cut it out in the shape of a coat.  For the devotional about how the prophets told of the coming Messiah, I bought a sparkly key (as in, "the prophets were unlocking the future").  See?  There's no end to how you can get creative on this.

My children loved this.  Every night before bedtime, beginning on about December 1, we'd snuggle up for our brief Jesse Tree devotional.  It was always a great honor as to who would get to place the day's ornament on the tree!  The devotions themselves are brief, but many interesting discussions were launched by our reading.  (If anyone can share the story of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac on the altar without scaring the be-jeebers out of kids, please share your methods.  That's a tough one).

When Christmas gets closer, I'll bring down my Jesse Tree box from the attic and show you some pictures of my favorite ornaments.  Maybe I'll even set up a Mr. Linky so you can share your Jesse Tree projects as well!  I encourage you to try this with your family, even if you don't consider yourself very religious.  It's a relatively easy way to teach your kids why we celebrate Christmas, and you'll learn a few things in the process as well (I certainly did!)

Comments

[Shannon in Arizona]

Thanks for the update! Sniff sniff...I wish we had a Hobby Lobby....boo hoo....I had one in Colorado, but not out here....(sigh).

[Kel]

Thanks Shannon for the additinal info. I love, love, love this idea! I always struggle with how to keep our Christmas celebrations focused on Christ. I don't have kids yet, but I want a Christ-centered Christmas for my husband and myself, and to start good habits now pre-kids. I made an advent wreath last year, and we had an advent devotional. It would be fun to do this too!

Thanks!

[owlhaven]

Thanks for...

[owlhaven]

...all the...

[owlhaven]

...comments!!!

Mary, mom to many

[kelli in the mirror]

I got invited to a Jesse Tree making night last year. The hostess had cut out billions of felt ornaments and we rotated tables, gluing sequins on and collecting all the devotionals. It was really cool.

I'm here from owlhaven, leaving comments for you. :)

[Everyday Mommy]

This is wonderful. I'm so glad you shared it. I'm beginning a series November 1st on how to keep Christ in Christmas. I'd like to link to you.

[aggiejenn]

Thanks, Shannon. This is something I want to start as Caleb gets old enough to really enjoy this. I'm getting lots of ideas.

[Megan]

We've done the Jesse Tree for three or four years now too. I really like it and enjoyed making most of our ornaments out of felt too. I also found a GREAT advent calendar last year here: http://www.desiringgod.org/Store/OtherMerchandise/ByTopic/All/403_Advent_Calendar/ and I LOVE it! I'm so glad I got that and will use it over and over from now on.

[Cheri]

Thank you for posting this so much ...I have had info printed out for a few years but this is the first year that I am actually going to do the Jesse Tree and I'm excited!

I always like to point out the text in that portion of scripture. It was ''scary'' for Abraham to be willing to sacrafice his son...but God never ask us to do something that he hasnt always provided a way for us. KWIM and in that text if you read...Abraham tells his servants to stay there that he and Issac are going up but he says ''we'' will be back. WE ...they were both coming down...praise the Lord!

[crickl's nest]

Oh, the Jesse Tree is so cool! I learn from it each year as we do ours. My sister gave me one a few years ago and this year our ladies' group is doing another Jesse Tree round up. (I'll give this one as a gift)

I highly recommend it!! =)
Christie

[floorplan]

Thanks Shannon! I am highly interested in this!

I personally have very strong feelings against Halloween, it's not the fun dress-up time of my childhood, but has become a time when folks DECORATE with dismembered "body parts" on their lawn ... what is fun about this?

So I use October to really enjoy preparing for the Wonder Season: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. We have not done a Jesse Tree. I wonder if my eldest is too old now (12) but definitely my younger will totally get into it.

Our one habit so far has been to spend October preparing for Samaritan's Purse: Operation Christmas Child. Well, that and making quarts and quarts of apple butter for giving and spreading on hot biscuits come deep January : )

[Sarah's in the midst of it]

I love this! I'd never heard of it before, and since it's still October I might be able to pull this one off! I also liked the comment about the Jesse Tree making night--that sounds like a fun idea! Thanks for sharing this one, Shannon!

[Scone]

I've pondered over how to tell the Abraham/Isaac story properly, too, and just now, reading your question, I got an idea.
How about wrapping Isaac in some ribbon, sort of like a present, and putting him in Abraham's arms? That keeps the Christmas theme, and shows the importance of Abraham's actions-- he was willing to give his son back to God. Plus, of course, it helps to connect the action to Christ's coming, in a "God so loved the world..." way. What do you think?

[Pieces]

Thanks for sharing more information about this. I am really thrilled about doing this with my family this year. My kids will love it!

[DEborah]

We fell in love with the Jesse Tree idea a few years ago. Using a few websites and a book called "Christianity is Jewish" by Edith Schaefer, I came up with a list of symbols and scripture readings that go through the history of the Bible while pointing toward Christ.
We made our ornaments out of sculpey clay the first year (very simple, nothing fancy) and the last 2 years we have spent time as a family crafting sets of ornaments to give away with a copy of scripture reading plan at a JESSE TREE party :) Because I was so clueless about Advent (grew up in churches that did not celebrate) it was easier for me to make it a Dec 1st through Dec 25th thing. Anyway, I think I'll follow your idea and post the readings with photos of ornaments in December, for an online Jesse Tree. It is very fun to read all these different ideas!

[Pass the Torch]

Thank you! I've printed this and plan to add it to my "Experiment" in homeschooling curriculum.

For some reason, it wouldn't print right, but I copy pasted it to a Word document and that worked fine. I think I'll have the kids make the ornaments - even if they're just paper. I haven't decided on how to make the tree yet. We'll decide later.

But anyway, thanks for the resource!