“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.”   Isaiah 11:1

We are starting one new tradition each Christmas at our house. We love advent calendars and we love devotionals for the month of December, so I discovered a way to do both of these in a fun and meaningful way.Those of you in mainline denominations may know about the Jesse tree. I did not. At least not until I happened across one on one of my cyber-trips.

It traces the lineage of Jesus each day leading up to Christmas, through the likes of Abraham, Rahab, King David and Mary. You recount the amazing stories of the people, recognizing God’s Providence and marveling at His intricate ways. The Jesse Tree is a theme that goes back to the middle ages, and maybe before. There were many tapestries and altar pieces in churches devoted to Jesus’ lineage.

The way we celebrate this today is to make a tree. We make ornaments that fit the story of the day and place them on the tree. This year at our house we will use the ficus tree in the dining room. Next year I plan to have a great little tree for the table–or maybe the wall. We will make ornaments over the next year that will be more permanent. This year they will be more “kid crafty” and we will work on them as we discuss the story each day.

Some links to learn more:

• http://www.crivoice.org/jesse.html
• http://www.christiancrafters.com/jesse_tree.html 
• http://www.jesse-tree.com/
• http://www.amazon.com/Advent-Jesse-Tree-Devotions-Christmas/dp/0687009081

If your family celebrates this tradition, I hope you will leave a note and a link to a picture of your tree.