The Jesse Tree--A New Tradition in Our Home

This year we are starting a new tradition for advent--a Jesse Tree.  Each day, we will put an ornament on  our Jesse Tree and read the scripture and devotional that accompanies it.  We will follow God's story of creation to the fulfillment of His promise, Christ Jesus, and see how His fingerprint is on every story; making it a long narrative--His great plan--to offer us His grace and salvation.  It is my hope that this tool will help prepare our hearts as we wait, to celebrate the birth of Jesus;  that my daughter will see Him as the focus of this joyous season.


The name, Jesse Tree comes from Jesus' lineage starting with David, son of Jesse.  
Isaiah 11  (New Living Translation)

A Branch from David’s Line

 ¹ Out of the stump of David’s family [the tree of Jesse] will grow a shoot—
      yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.
 ² And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
      the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
   the Spirit of counsel and might,
      the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

 ¹⁰ In that day the heir to David’s throne^[b]
      will be a banner of salvation to all the world.
   The nations will rally to him,
      and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.

To get Ann Voskamp's free devotional book (downloaded) for The Jesse Tree Advent, click here.  It is beautifully illustrated and includes ornaments you can print off and use.  We decided to make our own, coming up with our own designs cut from felt.  My almost 8 year old had a ball and came up with some beautiful designs.  Thus far, we have done the first 8 ornaments (see pictures below).  I have looked up various information online for the Jesse tree and found MANY variations as to which Bible stories are highlighted in the devotionals, and which symbol is used on the ornament.  Also, some start with December 1, some start with the first Sunday in Advent.  I have included a list of websites at the end of this blog entry.


However you choose to celebrate this Christmas, I pray that you will prepare your heart to receive the amazing gift of love God offered mankind so many years ago.  Instead of "counting down" the days, wait with anxious anticipation.  Imagine the thoughts that ran through Mary's mind...the wonder of the shepherds as an army of angels appeared before their eyes on a dark night...the sight of the brightest star in the sky you have ever seen...and the humble beginnings of a baby born amidst cattle and sheep in a barn, laid on a bed of straw.  


Blessings,
Lori

Joseph's coat  &  Moses/the burning bush (Anne AshLee did the burning bush)

Issac--Ram (Anne AshLee did this one)  &  Jacob--ladder

Noah's ark &  Abraham--stars in the sky

Creation of the earth (by Anne AshLee)  &  Adam & Eve and the fall of man

Here are some other websites I found with Jesse Tree devotionals/patterns/etc:

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/11/free-jesse-tree-advent-devotional-book/
http://www.crivoice.org/jesse.html
http://www.shalfleet.net/advent/makeajessetree.htm
http://www.jesse-tree.com/
https://www.rca.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=1628

Update on Fair Trade Christmas

Well, I must confess that Black Friday deals did get me off track a bit for my Fair Trade Christmas plan.  I can just about guarantee that a few purchases were far from fair trade.  I got caught up in the sales, the ads, the frenzy of it all.  At some point during the day, it hit me just how far off the mark I had gone.  Fair trade hadn't even crossed my mind until that point.

So, today I went to check out Global Village in Peoria Heights.  It is a fair trade treasure trove!  I did not realize until I went there that the focus of the store is fair trade!  In case you are thinking that fair trade is more expensive--think twice!  I found a lot of reasonable prices.  What can you get there?  Chocolate, coffee, soaps, purses, scarves, decorative objects, linens, musical instruments, dog collars, cards, mittens, clothes...  LOTS of things.  The cool thing is (in addition to them being fair trade) many of them are one of a kind.  You can get a truly unique gift there!  If you are looking for anything that has a plug-in or screen, you will not find it there.  Though, they do have some baskets woven from telephone wires in Africa...  It is neat that you can see what country most items were made in.  My daughter picked out a gift for a friend's birthday while there--a really cute kid's purse made in Guatemala.  Global Village is a small shop chock full of really neat items!  A great stop for holiday shopping that can make a big difference!

One of the biggest challenges in shopping fair trade is for toys.  The best I know of are some European toy companies with good reputations for making safe toys.  Does anyone know of some good resources for fair trade toy shopping (that are also made from safe materials)?  If so, please clue me in!

I'll keep you posted!

A Fair Trade Christmas

Do you ever feel like every time you turn around, you are seeing the same thing.  Something you may have given little thought to before is suddenly there everytime you turn around.  For me, that is fair trade.  In case you are not familiar with the term, fair trade means that the people who made and produced the item were properly compensated for their work.  I see at Forest Park Nature Center that October was Fair Trade month and they are featuring some really neat fair trade products at their trail store (chocolate, jewelry, gifts, coffee, etc).  Then I see an article in a magazine about child laborers worldwide and how many children worldwide work in sometimes dangerous occupations for little compensation.  Then I find out about a market in Peoria Heights that features fair trade products.  OK God--I get it.

I have always cared about the environment and try to make earth friendly choices in shopping and lifestyle.  I have not given fair trade as much thought until this.  I think God is challenging me to do so.  It makes total sense to me-- I should buy products where those who produce them are fairly paid for their work.  I don't feel it's ethical for me to get something for cheap because someone worked for wages that don't even provide them enough food to eat, much less to live on.  However, our consumer driven society has created a global system which often does just that.  It takes some searching to shop fair trade.

Thus, I have issued a challenge to myself.  I am going to do my best to make it a fair trade Christmas.  I am going to try to find environmentally friendly, fair trade gifts to give this Christmas.  I will keep you posted on how it goes!