Nativity Reading: Day 3

One of my favorites.  If you are looking for an excellent book that lays out the Christmas story, answers many questions children have, and offers very theologically correct answers, this is one of the best.  A gift from the crocodile hunter's godmother, we have been reading this book for over 10 years now, and we all still enjoy it!

Jesse Tree: Day 3

ornament a lovely gift from our swap

Today we consider the creation of man.  We again contemplate Genesis 1.  God created man in His image and likeness.  He made man, unique and intelligent; not evolved from any other being.  He made man to walk with Him, to be in communion with Him.  He made humanity that we might grow to be more and more perfected, more and more like Him.  God also made man and woman that they might perfect each other.  The union of man and woman is a sacred one, ordained by God at the very beginning of creation.

Nativity Reading: Day 2

Our book for tonight was Silent Night.  It was fun to have two nights in a row of books that were hymns.  We enjoyed singing these old favorites together!

Jesse Tree: Day 2

world ornament

Today we consider the beginning of our world.  The scripture comes from Genesis 1.  We contemplate with our children the wondrous gift of creation.  God made all things from nothing.  He is the beginning of all, and without Him there is nothing.  He entrusted to Moses the truth of the beginnings of our earth, and we read those truths in the first chapters of Genesis.  In six days, God spoke, and matter came into being, obeyed His every word, and formed itself into the tangible world we experience today, albeit in a less than perfect state now corrupted by death.  Our ornaments today reflect the creation of the earth, and the creation of the sun.

As Orthodox Christians, we must be sure to communicate to our children the un-negotiable truths of the Orthodox faith.

God has no beginning, and no end.

God is the author of all of creation.

God created all things from nothing.

God made each living being of creation according to its kind, to reproduce according to its kind.

handmade from wool felt received in ornament swap

God made man in His likeness and image - man was created a unique being, evolved from no other being or creature.  He was given body, soul and spirit at his creation and was in communion with God at his creation.  

So today we contemplate the beauty and immensity of this creation.  All of creation is God's gift to us.  He prepared an immense banquet table of gifts, with us as the honored guests.  

Nativity Reading: Day 1

As mentioned before, I wrap all of our books relating to the Nativity for us to open during the fast.  It is a tradition that my kids look forward to, and one we have continued for many years.  So I am going to attempt this year to also document each book that we read.  Today, the book selected was The Little Drummer Boy.  It is a favorite here, and we love to sing along.

Jesse Tree: Day 1

I am going to try to document our Jesse Tree readings this year with photos of our ornaments.  Over the years we have participated in several ornament exchanges.  We were also gifted a beautiful bound book of readings.  The set of readings varies from our original ornament sets, so this year I am finally completing our ornaments to match our current readings.  The readings are not straight from the scripture, they are storybook form compiled and written by the queen's godfather (who I hope will consider publishing them at some point!).  But, I can share the scripture basis for each.

Our first reading:  A Shoot from the Stump of Jesse

Today we consider the beginning of this journey through the Nativity Fast, the time of preparation for the birth of our Lord, the Great Light that was long awaited by the Israelites.  We look to the promise that God revealed to His people.  The scripture reading is Isaiah 11.  We contemplate the root of Jesse, the flower that will spring from it, and wonder what/who that might be?

Our ornament is a twig from the yard with a bit of greenery and silk flower hot glued on.

Catching Up

What a busy time it has been.  Over the past few months, I have experienced some extreme highs and lows, from the international gathering of catechists in Arizona (a high) to days in the hospital with our little one with words like encephalitis and viral brain infection being verbalized (an all time low).  Intense joy and intense fear.  We have enjoyed vacations, birthdays, the recovery of motor skills in our little one, and a gratefulness for all of the simple joys of life.  I guess you could say we are having a complete immersion in "real life"!  I hope to share some of those joys with you, and look forward to the beautiful season of advent, and all of the anticipation it brings!  I hope that each of you are well, and I ask that you will keep my family in your prayers.

eta:  our little one is fine - thankfully he has made a full recovery and it appears has no lingering issues. His patron saints are Isaac the Syrian and St. John of Damascus.