God's Dream: Picture Book on God's Love for All People

      God's Dream is one of my favorite books to read to my kids. It uses very sweet illustrations and gentle language to describe God's love. The book describes how no matter our differences: race, gender, religion, nationality, we are all children of God, and can bring God's dream into fruition by showing love to one another. I particularly appreciate the nondenominational language, and the wide variety of children included in the illustrations. A cute dog and a cat are even included as examples of God's love, which my kids think is particularly fun.
     In addition to talking about the general message of the book, the kids like to examine the different children in the story and ask questions about the clothes, or what each other children are doing. Looking at the picttures, we have talked about how people kiss cheeks to greet one another; about yarmalukes; about traditional dress and about praying on prayer mats. Also, because Amani is going through an "all boys are terrible' phase", I like that they books shows a boy and a girl arguing then resolving their issue as an example of creating God's dream.
     The creators of this book are heavy lifters when it comes to theology and children's literature. For me the big draw of this book were the book's illustrations done by LeUyen Pham. They children have these large eyes and sweet round baby faces, and the backgrounds are different types of traditional prints from around the world. Pham has author and illustration credits in all kinds of children's formats including comic books, short illustrated novels for younger readers, and original picture books. She has worked with all the big names including Mo Willems, Juliana Moore, and Alexander McCall Smith. Basically anything she does is fantastic. 
    Desmond Tutu is a prolific writer on multicultral theology. A Nobel Peace Prize Winner for his work during apartheid, he is a leading religious thinker throughout the world. He has written about 20 books for adults, largely about forgiveness, and approaching differences with love. His most recent book, written in cooperation with the Dalai Lama looks adorable judging from their two sweet-old-man faces smiling on the cover. was a leading religious author throughout the world. The combination of Pham and Tutu basically makes this book essentail component of your library if you are truly committed to recieving your "liberal Catholic" ID card.

Candlemas and Starting To Grow God's Garden

     I did it! I finally did it you guys! I got together a Candlemas celebration that was worthy of the adorableness that is Candlemas. You would have been so proud of me. Granted, we did not do the celebration on Candlemas, because- c'mon, do you not know me at all? The point is we did it, with candles and seeds and praying and stories, and everything, and it was super fun.
     This year I decided that our Candlemas imagery was seeds. Halfway between winter solstice and spring eqinox, Candlemas is the point to shake off the winter blahs. Bulbs start to sprout out of the ground, and animals come out of hibernation. It is traditionally a time to prep the farm for the upcoming season. It's also the day wer remember the Anointment of Jesus at the temple, which I figure workds perfectly with the seed imagery. Stay with me here. Jesus is getting bigger. He's not just a sleepy, lump anymore; he's a reaching, toddling, gurgling baby with a personality. His annunciation- basically his baptism- welcomes Jesus into the Jewish community and starts him on God's path. Mary Joseph, Ana and Simeon weren't sure where his path would lead, but they could tell that it was important and would bring everyone closer to God. It all ties together: seeds, growing potential, the start down our path as a child of God: boom. Nailed it, right?
     So, imagery secured, we started our celebration with God's Dream by Desmond Tutu. The book uses gentle language and sweet illustrations to describe God's dream as loving each other as his children regardless of race religion or creed. It is one of our favorites. The story helped us make our Prayer Garden, based on the Wish Garden on Living Crafts. The kids drew pictures about ways that they hoped they could bring God's dream into being. I told them that these pictures were prayers, and prayers are like seeds. We begin by seeking God's way in our hearts, and by then, trying to follow the path of love, we will make God's home on Earth. It is the only true way to be happy. Warren drew a picture of a fireman helping an astronaut. Amani drew a picture of her helping animals.
     Next for the garden portion. I had bought some small seeds, and combined them with the seeds that came with the Fairy Garden Amani had received for Christmas. The kids buried their prayers in the soil, and sprinkled the soil with seeds. WWe also had to repot some orchids, so, you know, two birds. Remembering that longer sunny days were on the way, we placed a candle next to our flower pots, and Amani emphasized that we should all stop drop and roll should the flame suddenly roar out of control and consume the porch in flames. Safety first, guys.

In our prayer, we asked God to help us reach our goals so that we can bring happiness and light to the world.  Then we had granola bars. Grains are seeds. Delicious and seasonally appropriate.
     The kids really liked it, and I think having the flowers growing inside will help them remember the idea and give us something to reflect on and talk about as we watch the plants grow.

Celebrating Advent with The Jesse Tree

     I had been thinking about doing a Jesse tree with the kids for a few years. It's crafty, and involves a lot of fun Old Testament stories. I'm always looking for ways to add to our religion-centered our Christmas traditions, and this one can be designed to be a daily reminder of our faith in the overwhelming seasonal blitz of cookies and Christmas movies. Not that I have anything against cookies or Christmas movies; it's just nice to have balance.




     So a Jesse Tree links stories of the Old Testament as a way to the very beginning of God's relationship with his people. I began with this post from Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs which focuses on stories in The Jesus Storybook Bible. It's particularly nice that at the end of each story in this book there is a sentence or two connecting back to the coming of Christ, a reminder that God's relationship with us began with Creation, moves through the entire Bible, culminating with the birth of Jesus.

     I mostly used the same stories Kelleigh used, but I added stories that have female protagonists, and others that stories that I just like. Since some stories I wanted weren't included in the Jesus Storybook Bible, so I added to our Jesse Tree volumes with the Usborn Illustrated Children's Bible Stories and Everlasting Stories by Lois Rock. For me, the tradition is not so much about tracing Jesus's actual family tree with specific stories and or symbols, as it is an opportunity to remember that the story of Christ didn't begin with the New Testament, but at the very beginning of God's love for his people.


     As for corresponding ornaments, there are so many options. Kelleigh's page includes a link to printable and/or felted ornaments, but I wanted kids to be involved a bit more in the ornament making, so I opted for the idea Alicia Michelle posted about using metal key rings. We used gel pen markers and as long as we were careful not to smudge, we were very pleased with our results. We hung them on this fake birch tree that we use for lots of different holiday traditions. Some people have a special tree, some people put them on their Christmas tree. There's really no wrong way to do this.


     I would highly recommend checking out some of the Jesse Tree ideas on Pinterest. There are a bazillion cute ways to create and display your ornaments along with all kinds of ideas like ornament trading party, and little songs and lessons you can do with your kids. I am way to lazy to do any of those things, but I like to pin them in a Pinterest board where I live an crafty, full engaged virtual existence, complete with a jaw-dropping wardrobe, and a fridge full of make-ahead healthy meals.

Sigh. Oh, Pinterest-Me: You're the best.

Here is our list with the stories we used with the accompanying ornaments: Some are them are traditional symbols, some are just items that work and are fairly easy to draw.

From Alicia Michelle's post:
"How To Celebrate Advent With a Jesse Tree"

1. Adam and Eve: Fruit
2. Noah: Boat
3. Abraham: Star
4. Isaac: Ram
5. Joseph: Coat
6. Plagues: Burning Bush
7. Ten Commandments: Tablets
8. Joshua: Horn
9. Ruth: Wheat
10. Samuel: Crown
11. David: Sling Shot
12. Esther: Scepter
13. Daniel: Lions
14. Jonah: Whale
15. Mary and Gabrielle: Angel
16. Elizabeth: Baby in a Belly/Oval
17. Baby Jesus: Manger

"But Wait, Claire! There are only 18 stories listed here! What about the other days of Advent?"

To that I say, "Shhhhh!!"

     I had originally wanted to read one story every night, but then I remembered some other fun Christmas stories that I also like reading, and some nights I forget. The left over ornaments we just added to our Christmas tree. Next time I think we may just do it a few times a week, but we will definitely still do it. The kids were not always 100% into the story, but they loved hanging the ornaments and were always excited to learn what we were reading next.

     Do you have an engaging way to focus of Christ during the Christmas season? Have you tried the Jessee Tree? I'd love to hear what creative personal touches you use that helped make your Advent fun and meaningful.