Introducing…Stories that Inspire (from moms like you)

I ran into Julie at a conference last February.  Julie was one of our first members of a Jesse Tree ornament exchange 3 years ago.

Although I don’t know her very well, Julie is one of those people who it doesn’t take long to figure out you WANT to be her friend.  She is a lover of Jesus, passionate about training and leading her children to Him, full of joy and creativity, and a fellow comrade in the Jesse Tree.

So when I bumped into her I was eager to catch up and just spend time with this dear lady.

“This year I made another set of ornaments for my son so he has his own set of Jesse Tree ornaments, and next year I will make another set for our youngest.”  Julie shared.  “I add them to their Christmas box so they can have them when they get older and move away from home.”

I was intrigued.  Julie proceeded to explain to me that she has a special Christmas box for each of her children where she is already adding meaningful and memorable Christmas items.  Among these items was the Jesse Tree tradition.  

“I want each of my children to have a set to share with their family one day.”  Julie stated.

Julie’s family Jesse Tree

I absolutely love this idea.  It reminded me of my grandma.  She too started storing away Christmas items as she got older in boxes for each of us grandkids.  Now that she has passed, I have a few Christmas decor items that were once hers.  They are so precious to me because they instantly take me to my Grandmother’s house and the memory of her.

Can you imagine what precious memories will be stored up with your children if you give them God’s Love Story to pass on to the next generation?  It’s amazing to think that during early Bible times this is exactly how they shared their faith.  It was through telling the stories over and over again.  Remembering God’s faithfulness.

We love sharing the Jesse Tree with families and of course Christ is our reward.  It is a “cherry on the top” though when someone contacts us and shares a testimonial or gives us some feedback on what the Jesse Tree tradition has meant to them.  

And Julie did just that as we browsed through parenting books and waited in line at the Momheart Conference.  After our conversation I wanted to tell someone about it!  I wanted to rejoice in what God was doing!  Thus, an idea was born–

You all hear from me all the time.  (Which you love, I know…)  But each one of you is an inspiration to me and each one of you has an experience.  SO…

I’m excited to share with you this season some stories of families just like you and me who are doing the Jesse Tree, and how God’s Love Story is changing them.

I pray it is an encouragement to you and gives great glory to God.

Here is Julie and her family.  Look at this sweetness…

We really enjoy doing the Jesse Tree.  I feel that I have grown in appreciation and awe of what Christ did (from the beginning of time) and how He is saying all along “I love you” to us.  I hope that is speaking into the hearts of our children, too.

The kids reminded us every night that it was time to do the Jesse Tree.  This has been a TOTALLY different experience this year.  Maybe a little bit of it is the excitement over beautiful ornaments and maybe a little is that they are growing and maturing. 

But really, a big part is that Jared and I are passionately excited to share God’s word and read the devotional, and they just joined in the excitement with us sometimes even creating their own daytime craft to do leading up to the night’s topic.  It really is true that more is caught than taught.  That is a conviction and a blessing. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   –Julie Fricke

Thank you Julie for sharing your sweet experience with us.

Would YOU like to tell us your story too?  We would love to hear from you.  Email me at jacki@jessetreeproject.com and don’t spare any details!

Like Julie, you too can create a meaningful experience with your family this Christmas.  Lead an ornament exchange with us and you are storing up a treasure for years to come!