Jesse Tree

 Today I wanted to post about one of my family's favorite Christmas traditions...the Jesse Tree.  I find that most people have never heard of a Jesse Tree, so I'd love to share about it with you because it is very special for us and might be for your family, too, this year!  We use the Jesse tree during our morning devotional time throughout the month of December, and it helps prepare us for Christmas Day and the celebration of Christ's birth.

What is a Jesse Tree?  Well, in it's purest form, it is a tree that depicts in visual form the geneology of Christ (the "root" of Jesse), starting from Creation and Adam up through Christ's birth.  However, my familiy has adapted it a bit to include some other favorite and familiar Old Testament (OT) Bible stories such as Jonah, for example, who is NOT part of Christ's lineage.  You know, Christ did not just appear on Christmas morning--we see Jesus starting in the first chapter of Genesis as God states: "Let us make man in our own image" (Gen 1:26).  From Creation, we see that God has been preparing the way for Christ's birth that would come thousands of years later.

Our Jesse Tree has evolved from several sticks secured in a tin can with rocks and paper ornaments....

to a greenery tree (Michael's) and felt ornaments like the one pictured at the top of this post.  I received this felt set last year as a gift from my parents, but I have seen many on etsy.com or you can make your own!  In fact one year, we were moving in the month of December and didn't have a true Jesse tree--instead, we had a box of ornament cards that taught through the Jesse Tree and we were able to take this with us on the road!  Check out this previous post to check out that box.  So the beauty is it is as basic or as fancy as you want to make it.  The point is teaching CHRIST through ALL of His Word!
Here's how it works...each morning, starting on December 1st, we do a short devotional about that day's particular ornament and Bible story.  Most of these stories are familiar OT stories and are found in most children's storybook Bibles--so even little ones can follow along with the story and pictures.  Then, after our devotional time, we hang the day's ornament on the tree (we keep the tree on a kitchen countertop or in the center of our table) and we watch the tree fill up with ornaments thoughout the month.  On December 24th, we hang the last ornament and read the Christmas story when Christ is born--that day's ornament is Baby Jesus in the manger.
There are many websites with Jesse Tree daily devotionals.  I have used this site for years for the devotionals and have paired it with the printable ornaments from this site.  Last year we switched to this red booklet that came with our felt ornament set.

 

The kids and I have truly enjoyed doing the Jesse Tree during the month of December.  We learn a lot of the OT in such a condensed period of time--it serves as a fabulous OT review and also prepares our hearts and minds to focus on the REAL reason for the season....Jesus Christ!  I hope this post has been helpful to you and yours!  May you have a blessed Christmas this year, and as always, thanks for stopping by!