{finding joy in the journey...}: Jesse Tree Ornaments

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Jesse Tree Ornaments

A couple of years ago a family friend gave our family the book Unwrapping the Greatest Gift. I have wanted for years to do a Jesse Tree with our children but have never committed the time or energy into setting it up. This year there was some chatter in one of my homeschool Facebook groups about the book and I realized I had it and it was the resource and inspiration I needed! There are many free Jesse tree plans online, all equally great, but I'm an "in hand" person - a book lover who likes to have a guide in my hands.

What is a Jesse Tree?

The Jesse tree is the family tree of Jesus. It goes back to the very beginning, to Creation, it traces His family through the Old Testament, and it ends when He is born on Christmas day. A Jesse tree is a little like an advent calendar, except that it emphasizes the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ.

Thus, I began making ornaments for each of the 25 days for our family, and on a whim decided to do them for each of our sisters' families, too. Yep - 100 ornaments.

Mike worked diligently alongside me this week getting these ornaments done. By my best calculation we have at least 25 combined hours into the craft of making our ornaments, not counting my Hobby Lobby run (ha!). I originally set a goal of completing them by Thanksgiving but I needed the mess cleaned up out of my dining room so we accelerated (and stayed up until 1 more than one night).

Part of the reason I like the Ann Voskamp book is because it starts with the "stump" ornament for day 1. Many of the online versions begin with creation. I like giving the study focus by starting with the the understanding that

"Out of the stump of David's family will grow a shoot--yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root...In that day the heir to David's throne 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."

This reminds us that we're studying the family tree of Jesus and how all the Bible stories tie together.

Plus the stump is a cool ornament.