Advent: Out of the Root...

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:1, 2 ESV)

Advent: Books & Links

I'm preparing for a little Adventures in Advent workshop next week. I listed resources 2 years ago on my previous blog; and I've had a few questions about resources, etc. So, here they are. What are your favorite boosk or traditions and scripture readings? Jesse Tree? Advent Candles? How do you prepare for the celebration of Jesus' first coming to earth? And how do you speak and teach your children through the daily life about their place in the redemptive narrative of history that promises one day all sad things will be untrue?

I'd love to hear from you as I post and update the next few weeks!

Here are a few of my favorites, I've linked to Amazon, apparently I have some little associate account that I've never used. But, here we go. We'll give it a try, I've linked to Amazon or blogs or websites.

For Adults & Young Adults

Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper

Behold the Lamb of God: An Advent Narrative by Russ Ramsey

    Music to Behold the Lamb of God 

Advent and Christmas with Thomas Merton (A Redemptorist Pastoral Publication)

Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas by multple Authors

The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas by Ann Voskamp

Advent Conspiracy: Can Christmas Still Change the World? by McKinley, Seay, Holder

We Light the Candles: Devotions Related to Family Use of the Advent Wreath

Joy to the World!: The Forgotten Meaning of Christmas Isaac Watts

Young Adult Reading

Tabitha's Travels: A Family Story for Advent (Jotham's Journey Trilogy)

Bartholomew's Passage: A Family Story for Advent

Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent



Donkey in the Living Room
Donkey In the Living Room 

Jesse Tree

Reading from Ann Voskamp's Blog

Family Celebration Ann Voskamp 

Advent Candles

Advent Candle Set ** they usually sell out quickly!

Focus on the Family Advent Reading

Candle Reading by Celebratingholidays.com

    Week 1 

    Week 2
    Week 3
    Week 4

Advent Calendars

Naptime Diarieshttp://www.naptimediariesshop.com/ with Journe ** our calendar for 2014

Online Reading Resources from Daily Blogs or Downloadable:

NoelPiper.com

SheReadsTruth.com
YouVersion.com

Naptimediaries.com (downloadable via Advent Calendar)

AHolyExperience.com

Good News of Great Joy by DesiringGod.com

Some of Favorite Kid Resources:

TruthInTinsel.com for crafts **we'red doing crafts this year...oh my!

The Donkey In the Living Room: A Tradition That Celebrates the Real Meaning of Christmas
by Sarah Cunningham
* This is a super fun reading story to sort of play off the fun of opening a new nativity animal each dady and telling a story.

Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story by Sally Lloyd Jones


The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name by Sally Lloyd Jones


The Adventure of Christmas: Helping Children Find Jesus in Our Holiday Traditions
by Lisa Whelchel


Advent Storybook by Antonie  Schneider

Christmas Sale at Bamboo & Pluff Mud Shop

I've listed a lot of sale options on my www.bambooandpluffmud.storenvy.com site! If it's too challenging to order that way, email me at bambooandpluffmud at gmail.com or message me through my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/bambooandpluffmud.

{Pre-order} Rooted Pendant & Nest Sale

The most popular combination seems to be the Tealish Turquoise Rooted Pendant and the Silver & Pearls nest. So, let's have a pre-order sale to get a jump start on Christmas shopping.

I've launched by Storenvy site, too; and I hope this will help simplify the ordering system. Hop on over and check it out! You can always access this store link from this blog or my Facebook page or Instagram account! I've listed 20 items in this combination. I'll be shipping the first 10 by October 1st and the 2nd batch around October 10th. I'm leaving a little window in the shop schedule for when I'm attending and *working* the amazing Together for Adoption conference.

Advent & Miss Ann Voskamp

In the winter of 2010, before we began our adoption journey, when Justus was about 2 months old, we began our Advent Journey. The hustle and bustle of Christmas had taking it's toll. I'll spare you the details; but I was becoming a Scrouge. Discovering the focus of Advent was an amazing gift to my heart and to our family and we are so grateful to get to share that with our friends. 

The baby that was 2 months old will be turning 3 years old in just a few weeks. So, we prepare for Advent 2013 and our first year to celebrate as a family of five! The other day as I was rummaging in our garage cabinet, I caught a glimpse of the vase for my modge podge Jesse Tree. The broken tree limbs shoved into frosted glass brought a silent peace to my heart.

Days ago, I pulled out some of my favorite Advent books and began to think about the November Advent Worshop. I began to think and pray for the Momma's coming and the families who are a seeking and telling the true redemptive narrative in the only real Story that goes beyond just Bethlehem nativities with a dash of Walmart Santa.

Photo from Holy Experience Blog

And then just today I finally had time to open my email, and something beautiful arrived in my email box from precious Ann Voskamp's blog. I consider one of my "top influencers" if this was a Klout page. She was..sharing about her book dedicated solely to Advent....So, yes, my copy of The Greatest Gift is on it's way; and yes I hope to share it more and more with those of you who will begin to prepare for Advent in November. I hope you'll order it, too! I'm sharing a link right here and it'll be on the side of my blog with my little Amazon deal.

I'm only slightly excited!

Here's the link to buy it now. I'll be adding some of my other favorite Advent Books to a post soon as well!

What will you tell them about their roots?

I remember someone innocently asking us what would we tell our daughter about "her roots". The question began to churn. I realized that wasn't just a question for my daughter; but it was one for all my children. What will we tell them? Will their story begin with His story? Will we pray that their lives go beyond the top soil and into the nutrient rich earth? And for us, will will we ask for the Grace to dig deeper into the Gospel's Story that began with a promise of a Messiah out of the Root of Jesse? So, just what will we tell them about their roots? 

Bamboo & Pluff Mud {the shop}

So, let's skip 5 months of blogging andfill y'all in on one piece of info. 
We are going for it with Bamboo and Pluff Mud Shop.  

I am adding some samples. Nests are generally around $20 {plus shipping}. I post a lot of sales and samples on Facebook and Instagram. But, I will try to keep some samples here, too. 

Email me at jess dot mariecarpenter @ gmail dot com if you don't have FB or IG, you can email orders. But, if you do have FB, please use that to help me track orders. I will invoice you via paypal. Necklaces come on approx 18" hemp

Chain.

Samples::

Sample of sales: