As a young family we have the exciting opportunity to create our own traditions that center around the Lord and bring our hearts into greater fellowship with him. About a month ago I shared our plan for a new family tradition. We decided to mix things up with our Christmas tree by combining it with the “Jesse Tree” tradition. I am not going to lie.... there was a moment of hesitation as Richard and I started to pull out our limited supply of Christmas decorations and I realized how many ornaments would not make the cut (basically all of them). I am so glad that Richard was there to remind me of my purpose and desire to focus our hearts on the Lord with our Christmas tree rather than simply pretty ornaments.

    So, on December 1st we headed to Lowe’s (great trees by the way) and picked out our perfect tree (one that was pretty, but didn’t break the bank!). Richard brought it in while I got some hot cocoa and cinnamon butter bread ready. Once the tree was all set up and covered with beautiful lights we began our new tradition. One by one we pulled out the simple ball ornaments that I had prepared beforehand. They were pretty in shades of gold, red, and green, but their true beauty came from the names that adorned them. Each ball carried a precious name that the Bible gives to our Lord and Savior. Reading the names out loud to each other, from Bright Morning Star to Author and Perfecter of our Faith, our hearts were reminded of our great God and the many different facets of his personality and dealings with man. Our night quickly became about the Christ and not about a tradition. Several times we looked up references to the names that we were less familiar with and as we did, our hearts were stirred with the love we have for our Savior.

    As we finished the tree the prophesy in Isaiah 1:11, “A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots.” came to life for me. Here was a visual representation of the “shoot” and “branch” that came from the line of Jesse and Saved the world. Praise God! The next night we hung our first “Jesse Tree” ornament, a simple picture of the earth, a reminder of God creating the world. The tree has slowly, but surely had more and more ornaments added to it that represent different points in salvation history all the while proclaiming the one who was behind it all, Jesus.

    I am so glad that we chose to break away from our old traditions (traditions that we loved, traditions that had great sentimental value) and traded them for something better, something that has driven my focus back to the Lord every morning as I do my quiet time on the couch beside it and every evening as we add another ornament to it. Yes our tree is a little less exciting than others; it might be a little less impressive than most; it could even seem plain and excessively orderly, but it is far more than I could have imagined. I can’t wait until the day when Elliot and our other children will join in the tradition with us and joyfully proclaim the glory of our King!

P.S. I also can’t wait until Christmas Eve so I can finally put up that star!!!!!!