from the root of Jesse....

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—

the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and of might,

the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD

Isaiah 11:1-2

So I was encouraged by our Pastor during our last mop to make sure our home and children are seeking Christ this season.

Specifically, he encouraged us to be like the Magi.

To seek Him, find Him and WORSHIP HIM!!!

I'm amazed at the bombarding stories of Santa, reindeer and other children's magical holiday fun. While that's fine, should we allow it to over cloud our homes. Should that what our children think of when they hear Christmas?

I hope that is not true for my home and children.

I want them to seek Christ always and use this season to further their understanding and love for Him.

One was I've discovered we can do this is by having the Jesse Tree tradition in our home. It is special devotions that lead you to learn different parts of God's story and especially unveiling more of Jesus everyday! The FREE book we are using also has little ornaments you can print for your kids to color and hang on a special tree. Or you can make some out of felt or other materials. Since we started this a little late this year, we opted out of the tree. Instead I made the kids a book and when I read the stories, they color the picture. My kids are young and I'm not sure how great my teaching skills are... but they do remember parts of it. One day I hope they look back to remember this as one of their favorite childhood Christmas traditions.

Here is the link to the Jesse Tree material we are using from Ann Voskamp. She invites anyone to download it as long as they are personally using it.

Here are a few pics of my babies enjoying our new tradition.

E coloring her pages!
I never printed the whole book, just have it saved and read from my laptop!
L proudly showing off his book. I love that it doesn't take much to make my kids excited.

A more detailed shot of our coloring sheets.

We actually got these from some place else (a friend recommended them going along with the journey). When I find that link again, I'll post it here.

What are other ways you try to make Christmas about the coming of our King?

I love learning new ideas and welcome any suggestions!