Families,
It’s November, and that means that Advent is upon us! This year, technically, Advent starts on Sunday, November 29th and carries through Friday, December 25th.
This is such a special time, and I want to encourage you to start an Advent tradition for your family, though I know most of you already do this. For us, we have done the Advent wreath, the Jesse Tree, scripture readings, and various nightly devotions. I won’t lie and say that it’s been “picture perfect.” I spent an entire fall one year creating beautiful felt ornaments for our Jesse Tree only to get to the following Christmas and realize that I had misplaced every last one of them! And the Jesse Tree itself! Whoops 🙂
I wanted to direct you to a few resources to use this Christmas season (and maybe a few things you’d like to add to your Christmas list!):
Good News of Great Joy Advent Devotional distributed by the Committee on Discipleship Ministries (CDM). Click HERE to see a sample. I have a hard copy of this and definitely recommend. It even includes hymns at the back that you can sing together with your children. It’s very simple, concise and easy to follow (about a 5 min devotion/discussion/prayer).
The Jesse Tree. This term comes from a tree branch decorated with symbols representing the stories of people in Jesus’ family tree. In Isaiah 11:1 we read, “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” The Jesse Tree devotional includes a scripture passage for each day, a set of questions, and a symbol that can be made into an ornament to hang on the Jesse Tree. This probably takes a bit longer, and you will need the various ornaments for each day of the season.
If your family would like either the Good News devotional OR a copy of the Jesse Tree devotional (with ornament craft included), please email me. I will place an order on Monday, 11/16 (Jesse Tree devo is a print-out I have now – from a reformed resource I found at the conference last month).
Additionally, here are two special books that chronicle the redemption story and might be good for your Christmas list:
The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones. This is a sweet storybook for young children which chronicles various bible stories and how they relate to Christ’s coming (not literal bible translation). It also has beautiful illustrations.
The Biggest Story by Kevin DeYoung. This is a new book out this year that comes highly recommended – a telling of the redemption story from the garden of Eden all the way to Christ’s death on the cross.
In addition to these, I will direct you to the website for the Committee on Discipleship Ministries (CDM) as they have various resources and books to recommend there as well. Check out the “children’s ministry” toolbox for other books and devotionals you may want to purchase this Christmas season.
If you have any questions, please let me know! Again, I will place an order or make you a copy of the aforementioned devotionals this week if I have any interest! Make sure to mark your calendars and begin to prepare your family’s heart and minds for this wonderful Advent season that is upon us!
In Him,
Ashley