Advent is here! God Bless you and your families this Christmas. I hope you can find a few minutes each day to set aside for Him. You will be blessed! Its also a great way to talk to your children about Jesus. I know a lot of moms feel awkward talking to their kids about God. How to make the little ones understand something and Someone so very big. Well, this is a great time of year to start talking! There are also TONS of Advent resources out there you can use. I thought I’d write a bit this morning about what we do here in our home and share an Advent resource I wrote up for my kids, along with a few other resources we use.
I spend a good part of my time in November preparing for Advent season and I try to make every Christmas season revolve around this special time of learning and celebrating. Teaching my children what it means to participate in worshiping the holiness of Jesus is the single most important thing I can do at Christmas.
We love using our scripture chains, Advents calendars, Jesse Tree, Advent book, etc. Here is a link to other material we used for Christmas last year and the year before.
This season we are using our Jesse Tree lesson in the mornings along with the Names of Jesus and Scripture verse chains and Advent books. I have three kids eager to help so having lots of things for them to take turns with is a plus! There is always an ornament to hang or a small door to open—everyone gets to do something special!
Believe it or not, I found myself wanting one more Advent lesson for my kids. I know there is an overload of Advent material out there in the pinterest world but I found a few great ideas this past year that I saved. Beginning with the Way of Light wreath made by Caleb Voskamp. His mother is Ann Voskamp, authoress of 1000 gifts and one of my favorite blogs A Holy Experience. We love this wreath. The wood carved figurine of the pregnant Mary riding a donkey, slowly making her way into the spiral of light towards Christmas—beautiful and meaningful to our family. We will be lighting a candle each night before dinner and reflecting aspects of what the coming of Jesus means to us.
The second idea I loved but unfortunately, could not use for our family. 25 Days of Christ was, at first glance, perfect for what I needed. We love our AM advent time with the Jesse Tree but I really wanted to include stories about Jesus for our evening devotionals with Daddy. I wanted to give Jesus his own tree. A Jesus Tree. After a quick pinterest search I stumbled upon this link to 25 days of Christ. Everything all ready written up and an ornament kit available for order. I clicked on the link and found that they were all ready sold out for this season. I decided I could make my own ornaments and just use their devotionals….. until I clicked on the link and discovered that this was a Mormon website (had to google the term “Nephites"). Ahhh, never mind. So while the credit goes to the Mormons for having this great idea…the book of Mormon is occult material and I need to keep this biblical for my kiddos.
So I went through the gospels and pulled together 25 accounts for a Jesus Tree. I have included them below to share with you. We made our ornaments last month and are so excited to add them to our Jesus Tree. Feel free to use it with your own kids. Swap out your favorite passages, lessons, parables if you want something particular for your kids. There are no devotional lines included. I like to read straight from the text and ask my kids questions depending on the day. Praying beforehand is also always a must. Not just with the kids, but on my own, before I even gather them to read from the Bible. I truly believe and have learned repeatedly that asking the Holy Spirit to go before me and open my children’s minds to understand what they will hear, blesses our time and makes things go so much more smoothly. He always provides the right questions and words for me to give my kids from His word.
A quick word about ornaments. This doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. Even just a small square of paper with a drawing on it is enough to illustrate your point. Sew a loop of thread around it and its ready to hang. Done and done! If you are feeling artistic and want the 3D specific ornament—go for it! :)
This was Cubs idea for the story of the paralytic. We made him a little stretcher :)
And our cross will serve as the Jesus Tree. I put a few tree trimmings behind the cross and we will hang our branches all around the cross.
Here is the write out…ENJOY!
Jesus Tree
Day 1: Birth of Jesus
Scripture: Luke 2:4-7
Ornament: Bundle of hay
Day 2: Shepherds
Scripture: Luke 2:8-21
Ornament: Sheep
Day 3: Wise Men
Scripture: Matthew 2: 1-12
Ornament: Star
Day 4: Jesus in the Temple
Scripture: Luke 2:41-51
Ornament: Scroll
Day 5:Baptism
Scripture: Luke 3:21-22
Ornament: Dove
Day 6: Fishers
of Men
Scripture: Luke 5: 1-11
Scripture: Matthew 5: 14-16
Ornament: Candle
Day 8: Calms the Storm
Scripture: Matthew 8:23-27
Ornament: Boat
Day 9: Feeding of the 5000
Scripture: Matthew 14:13-21
Ornament: Basket with fish and loaves
Day 10: Jesus Walks on Water
Scripture: Matthew 14: 22-33
Ornament: Footprint
Day 11: Jesus Heals the Paralyzed Man
Scripture: Luke 5:17-26
Ornament: Man on a stretcher
Day 12: Woman at the Well
Scripture John 4:13-14
Ornament: Bucket of Water
Day 13: Jesus and his friend Lazarus
Scripture: John 11:43-44
Ornament: scrap of muslin
Day 14: The Little Children and Jesus
Scripture: Luke 15:15-17
Ornament: A picture of your children
Day 15: Triumphal Entry
Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11
Ornament: Donkey
Day 16: Washing the Disciple’s Feet
Scripture: John 13:1-17
Ornament: Small sandal or bowl
Day 17: Body
and the Blood
Scripture: Matthew 26:26-29
Ornament: Wine goblet
Day 18: Gethsemane
Scripture: Mark 14:32-36
Ornament: a tree
Day 19:
Betrayal and Denial
Scripture: Luke 22: 54-62
Ornament: Rooster
Day 20: Trial of Jesus
Scripture: John 19: 4-6
Ornament: crown of thorns
Day 21: Crucifixion
Scripture: John 19:16-18
Ornament: Cross
Day 22: Burial
Scripture: Luke 23:50-53
Ornament: Stone
Day 23: Resurrection
Scripture: Matthew 28:1-10
Ornament: Lily
Day 24: Jesus Appears to Thomas
Scripture: John 20:24-29
Ornament: Handprint with nail hole
Day25: Jesus Ascends
Scripture: Luke 24:50-53
Ornament: Cloud
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