Jesse Tree - Day 6

Jacob's Ladder

a Ladder

Genesis 28:10-17  Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

Jesse Tree - Day 5

Isaac and the Lamb

a Lamb

Genesis 22:1-13  Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”

And he said, “Here I am.”
Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”
And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 

John 1:29b “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world"

Jesse Tree - Day 4

A Call to Abram

Day 4 - Camel and Tent

Genesis 12:1-7   
Now the Lord had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you. 

I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh.And the Canaanites were then in the land.

Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Jesse Tree - Day 3

Inside the Ark

Day 3 - Ark and Rainbow

Genesis 6:5-8  Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Genesis 7:17-23  Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.

Genesis 9:16  "The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  

Jesse Tree - Day 2

The First Sin

Day 2 - Serpent and Fruit

Genesis 3:1-10 
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;  but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”



Isaiah 53:6   
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Counting Down the Days - Jesse Tree Day 1

We (meaning my wonderfully helpful and capable staff children) hauled up the Christmas boxes from the basement storage room today. The last several years Caitlin has been the overseer in the Christmas decorating department. She does a marvelous job. Next year she will have a home of her own to decorate, so it's a bit melancholy I'm feeling this first day of December. A mixture of joy and sadness, memories and hope for the future.

Speaking of memories, a few Christmas ago I posted about Christmas memories and traditions in which I told you about a new tradition we started. We begin each December 1st hanging an ornament that represents a scripture that points to the birth of Jesus Christ on our Jesse Tree. Actually, its a pine garland draped over a doorway in the main walkway of our home. Each evening for 25 days we take out an ornament and read a corresponding Bible passage and follow the journey that leads to Bethlehem.

The Light in Creation

Day 1 - the Earth

Day 1:  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)

Come Christmas Day our 'Jesse Tree' will look something like this

Come follow along as we count down the days until Christmas. I'll be back tomorrow with an ornament and scripture reading for Day 2. I hope you'll find special meaning in the Words we share and the symbols we display.

She Did It Again

And just what did she do, you ask?

Our Caitlin has met the challenge to write a novel in a month. She met her goal earlier today, writing over 50,000 words in the month of November. WaaaHoooo!!
The National Novel Writing Month website has proclaimed her a winner, and everyone here agrees. She's a winner alright!

This novel, yet to be titled, is a sequel to On the Line, the novel she wrote last year. She likes to keep her writing under wraps until finished, and so we have yet to read it, but we are looking forward to helping her polish and proofread and pull it all together for publishing this spring.

NaNoWriMo is open to anyone and everyone. I'm thinking the younger kids and I may all take the challenge next year. What better way to improve your English/Grammar/Writing/Communication skills?

Her first book-hot off the presses

While you are waiting for her next novel, On the Line is available at Amazon.com in both Kindle and paperback format. It would make a terrific Christmas gift for that special someone who loves a good adventure story or who always wanted to be in on a treasure hunt or who just likes an enjoyable story.

Wonder

A couple of months ago I came across Five Minute Friday and have been wanting to join in. LisaJo posts one word early on Friday morning and you are to write - unedited - for five minutes. that's it. easy. fun. Now I see she is taking the month of December off, but I thought I give it a try today anyway. Hoping to pick it up again in January!

Today's word:  Wonder 
 
(GO!)
 
I'm thinking on the word 'wonder' this morning. 
"I wonder . . ."  "Isn't it a wonder?" "Don't you think he's wonderful" "Are you wondering about something this morning?" 
My youngest children will be singing tonight. Singing wonderful words, proclaiming a most wonderous event - the birth of a child. Not just any child, but THE Child.  
Our oldest daughter is due to give birth very soon. Our third grandchild. I wonder, boy or girl? I am so looking forward to meeting him (or her)!
Thinking on these things I am overwhelmed with the wonder of it all, in awe of my God and Creator who knit these little babes together, fashioned them to be just who they are, to be born into this very time. 
I know who the babe in the manger was. Who He grew up to be. Who He IS. Do you?

(STOP.)

oh my is it ever hard to not go back and do some editing! 
You can read what others were thinking and writing this morning over at LisaJoBaker.com

A Beautiful Season

I love this time of year, as we move from a time of focused Thanksgiving 

right into a time of focused Praise for our Lord and Savior.

May your days be blessed.

 photo credit goes to  my amazing daughter Caitlin

Menu Plan Monday - 11/5 to 11/11

Gotta have a plan. Last month we did a lot of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants meal planning. Why add more stress to our days when we can have a plan in place for smooth and easy days?

Last week I got back on track, with my meal plans, anyway. Aahhhhhhh! Feels good! It really does make a difference. Linking up with others at OrgJunkie.com helps me keep accountable, too. It's going to be a full week around here, so it's a good thing I have our menu posted and at-the-ready!

Monday

breakfast-breakfast burritos

lunch-rollups (fill a tortilla with whatever you can find in the frig)

supper-tacos

Tuesday

breakfast-baked oatmeal

lunch-tuna salad sandwiches

supper-chicken alfredo

Wednesday

 

breakfast-whole wheat toast, fruit

lunch-chicken nuggets

supper-venison stew  

(daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren are moving back to the states tonight YAY!!!

 and so the rest of the week we'll be having meals they have especially requested)

Thursday

breakfast-cereal

lunch-quesadillas

supper-lasagne

Friday

breakfast-breakfast pockets

lunch-sandwiches

supper-hamburgers

Saturday

(opening weekend of deer season so the guys are occupied, 

Mom leaves on her girlfriend-weekend-getaway, so family is on their own)

breakfast-waffles/pancakes

lunch-leftovers

supper-pizza

Sunday

breakfast-bagels, cereal, oatmeal

lunch-leftovers, soup, or whatever Caitlin whips up

supper-popcorn!