Jesse Tree: At Your Pace

A friend commented last year that her family wasn't keeping up "as well as they should" with their Jesse Tree. My response: My family doesn't generally complete more than 5 out of every 7 days of the Jesse Tree either. I've prepared a theme, Scripture, coloring picture, and meditation for 7 days a week, but it's perfectly acceptable to pick and choose based on your own family's schedule. A Jesse Tree is a tool to help an individual or family prepare for Christmas as the birth of Christ Jesus. As with any tool, we should not confuse it with the goal. If the tool is not serving the goal, it's no longer useful and should be adapted or left out of our lives in favor of achieving our goals.
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What is the goal of an Advent celebration such as a Jesse Tree? To prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ Jesus. To remember that Christmas is about Christ, not about Santa. To learn about Jesus' family ancestry as our family ancestry in the family of God. To take advantage of "Advent", which means "coming", as a season of preparation for the arrival of our Savior.
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With these goals in mind, I hope my sharing of our family Jesse Tree celebration will be helpful to you and your family. And never, never, feel like your failing at it just because you don't do something every day or don't celebrate it in quite the same way that we do.
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Linked with Works for Me Wednesday