Jesse Tree Advent ornaments

This is a sneak peek at a few of the ornaments in the Jesse Tree Swap I just completed.

Fiery Furnance


Nativity


Light "Jesus is the Light of the world"


Wheat "Ruth and Boaz"


Dove and Crown "Prince of Peace"

Jesse Tree Advent Ornaments

I love Christmas and we like to start the celebrating, decorating early in the Fowler household.

One of my favorite traditions with the boys is a the Jesse Tree. Now I had never heard of this until about 5 years ago. It was mentioned on a parenting forum I am on and it has become a favorite around here.

A Jesse Tree represents the family tree of Jesus and tells the story of salvation from Creation in Genesis through the Old Testament until the coming of the baby Jesus. It is a beautiful way for us to focus during the holiday season on the true meaning of Christmas.

We use this book of devotionals The Advent Jesse Tree . I like it because they are written for both adults and children, there are hymn options and scripture readings. It has 25 devotions so we do one every day during December.

After we read the devotional the boys take turns adding an ornament that represents the scripture to the tree. When we first started this someone on the parenting board suggested that we do a swap for the ornaments. We each agreed to do a certain ornament (or two) and then we made 25 of the same ornament. We sent them to one person and they sorted them and then we got back a box of 25 different ornaments. It was lovely to see the different ornaments that everyone made and how creative they were. It makes a lovely addition to our tree every year and there are a few favorites.

So what are your favorite holiday traditions. What do your kids look forward too? Do you do a Jesse Tree or some similar Advent tradition? I am hoping to share some other neat traditions in the days to come.

This week I will upload photos of our Jesse Tree ornaments for a new swap I am hosting. Come back and take a look.

We have a bouncing baby CHURCH!

Yesterday we grand opened Church @ Skyline Valley. I will be posting photos in a few days, when I get some from the missions team that was here. (I will admit I was going crazy and did not even remember to get my camera out.)

We have an unofficial count of 125 in attendance. We had a missions team from Central Baptist Church and In His Steps Church in Arkansas helping this weekend. They passed out flyers on Saturday and then helped us host a block party. Sunday morning they were on the front lines, helping with set up/tear down, greeting, and working with the children. We could not have pulled this off with out this mission team. They were such a blessing. We had 23 in our children's programs yesterday so I have a feeling we are going to be busting at the seams soon next week.

I am amazed that over three years ago we were in Copperas Cove meeting with a group of pastors that had a heart to start a church here. I don't understand God's plan. I am humbled that God allows me to be a part of that plan. I can't wait to see what happens in the days ahead.