Hi, welcome back to Literacy Musing Mondays. I hope you are having a wonderful holiday seasons. We have a special treat for your this week. Our guest poster is Suzanna from Wonder Filled Days.

(Disclosure: Suzanna’s guest post includes Amazon affiliate links which benefit her and her family if you choose to buy copies of the books she highlights. Thanks for your support. )

 

She writes about:

Treasuring Traditions

When we were first married, the culture we were a part of, for various reasons, mostly ignored Christmas, so we did the same.  However, as time changed things and as our children grew older, I started questioning our approach to Christmas.  I started thinking about ways we could honor God in our children’s lives over this season.

During this time, I read Noel Piper’s book Treasuring God in Our Traditions  and realized how important traditions are in our children’s lives.  In it Noel Piper writes about the value of God-centered traditions.  She points out how God, in the Old Testament, established traditions to remind the Israelites, and their children, and their children’s children of His work in their lives.  God instructed the Israelites to observe this feast, or sacrifice that animal, or set up that pile of rocks, so that when their children ask, “why” (and children love to ask, “why), that the parents could say, “It is because of who God is; it is because of what He has done for us.”

God knew that despite our good intentions for passing on the values we treasure, that without a solid plan our good intentions would remain just intentions.   He knew we needed traditions that would endure through the distractions that life holds.  And He knew children need the security and familiarity in an ever-changing world.

So I started researching traditions that would make Christmas meaningful in the lives of our children.  I came across the idea of a Jesse Tree and loved it.  Here was a tangible display for my children to remind them of who God is, of His promise to send a Messiah, and of how Christ was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.

A Jesse Tree (for my readers who aren‘t familiar with this) is a tree, or a branch, to which each day you add a new ornament that tells the gospel story from creation to Christ. There are many resources online for making ornaments for a Jesse Tree and for daily devotionals to read to go along with them.  Of course, there’s Ann Voskamp’s beautiful book, but for those looking for simpler, more child friendly language, there is this lovely idea (http://www.storywarren.com/an-introduction-to-the-family-advent-art-and-reading-guide/)  of scheduling readings from The Jesus Storybook Bible.  And just recently I discovered this great idea of doing a Jesse Tree with picture books. (http://thebleedingpelican.com/the-jesse-tree-in-picture-books/)   I think it will be perfect for Baby Girl, who will be two next year, so that gives me all year to collect books.

I  also made an advent calendar based on the one Noel Piper mentioned in her book- a simple burlap scene where we would add another figure of the nativity scene and read another part of the Christmas story each day.  Both the Jesse Tree and the calendar were meaningful activities that would build anticipation in my children’s hearts for the wondrous miracle that we celebrate at Christmas time- Immanuel, God with us.

To read more of her family’s sweet traditions be sure to check out her blog post today!

Now a little more about Suzanna. Suzanna married her wonderful husband, Paul, sixteen years ago. They have four boys- ages 15, 13, 11, and 7 and a sweet little girl that just turned one. The boys are all good friends (though they have their squabbles) and they absolutely adore their little sister. She credits the good family relationships to the fact that we homeschool. Her family also served in a very remote part of West Africa as missionaries for 6 years. You can find her online at these places:

Wonder Filled Days

Facebook

Pinterest

 

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Now on to this week’s Literacy Musing Mondays Linkup.  First let’s ….

Ashley @Circling the StoryBlog/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/InstagramLeslie@Forever Joyful  Blog/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/Google+Mary @Maryandering Creatively  Blog/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/ Instagram/Google+Tami @ThisMomsDelight    Blog/Facebook/Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram/Google Plus 

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Last Week’s Top Clicked Post!

The Devotional for Women

By Samantha at  Square Peg, Holy God

Follow Mary Hill’s board Literacy Musing Mondays Linkup on Pinterest.   

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Now, it is time to link up to the Literacy Musing Mondays hop! You will have until Saturdays at 12 p.m. now to link up! So come back often.

 

Linkup Rules:

1. Include a link back or the blog hop button linked to this hop on your posts.
2. Link up the urls to your posts not to your blog.
3. Please remember this is a family-friendly linkup.  Although we believe in the right for adults to read whatever they want to read, we prefer to read wholesome posts that feature literature that edify and uplift families. We reserve the right to delete any posts that are not family friendly. We love all kinds of literature and genres including family-friendly inspirational romances, fantasy, or science fiction. We do not welcome anything with excessive violence, sexual content, or cursing. These posts will be deleted.
4. We also want to be loving community by supporting one another. Please make a point to do this this week! Visit the post next to yours and at least one other blogger’s post of your choice! I want to see lots of clicks on everyone’s posts. I know as a blogger, you know how it feels not receive comments, right. Spread the comment love this holiday season. 🙂 Remember it is also nice to follow them on their social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
5. Follow your hosts and co-hosts on their social media.
6. Tweet about the link up too.

[tweetthis]Come join the fun! Link up your family-friendly, book- or literacy-related posts at Literacy Musing Mondays![/tweetthis]

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Linking up with these hops this week: Social Butterfly Sunday,  #LifeGivingLinkup; Inspire Me Mondays at Create with Joy, Inspire Me Monday at Angie Ryg,Mama Moments Monday, Motivation Mondays, Good Morning Mondays, Inspire Me Mondays at Table for 7, Mommy Monday Blog Hop, Tell Me a True Story Blog Party, #Words with Winter Linkup, The Book Nook – Blog Party For Book Lovers!,  Totally Terrific Tuesdays, Women with Intention Wednesdays, What to Read Wednesdays, Mom’s Library,  A Little R &R Wednesday’s linkup, Kid Lit Blog Hop, Booknificent Thursdays, Cozy Reading Spot,  and TGI Saturdays.

 

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