Praiseworthy Review: The Glorious Coming

I hear so many at this time of year asking, "how can we make Christ the focus of our Christmas season?" One way is by doing Jesse Tree devotions. Last year I went on a quest to find the best Jesse Tree devotions. I think I have found it with Ann Voskamp's new The Glorious Coming.

What is a Jesse Tree? A Jesse Tree traces the lineage of Jesus. The idea is inspired by the bible verse in Isaiah 11:10 which prophecies the coming of Jesus, "At that time a root from Jesse will stand like a signal flag for the nations. Nations will look to him for guidance, and his residence will be majestic." There are a number of different ways to do a Jesse Tree, but most include daily devotions with a small symbol of that days devotion to hang on a tree or banner.

Ann Voskamp is a writer that I have long admired. Her writing can be sampled at her blog, The Holy Experience of Listening. It's beautiful, simple, and straight to the point. Ann graciously allowed me to preview The Glorious Coming and it did not disappoint. The devotions are simple for any child yet powerful enough for any adult. A wonderful activity for a family to engage in to focus on Christ during this Christmas season.

Another thing I like about this devotion is that, like so many of Ann's ventures, it benefits a fine charity, The Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child. And it's a downloadable e-book. This makes it easy to print out the ornaments included to go with each devotion for your kids to color. AND it makes it nice for anyone who has waited until the last minute to start devotions as you can download them today and get started! Visit her page to see samples and download A Glorious Coming today!

Praiseworthy Audio - The Cinnamon Bear

I have blogged before about how much my family loves listening to audio books in the car. It is really a life saver! For years we have listed to this old radio series, The Cinnamon Bear, about two children who discover an incredible bear in their attic at Christmas time. The Chirotoons have made this wonderful series available on mp3 for free at their site. There are 26 episodes so you could listen to one a day until Christmas. This offer also includes a free downloadable coloring book to go with the series. I encourage you to check out the Chirotoons other offerings at their site. They have a lot of very good quality old radio shows available in mp3 format at their site, Living Books for the Ears.