I personally look forward to Lent. Lent forces me to stop and refocus my daily life as well as my spiritual life. I try to remember to sacrifice and pray throughout the year, but Lent is that big push to try even harder. Most of the year, life becomes so busy and I get wrapped up in all the comings and goings that God can get pushed further and further down the list of “important things to remember. ” So Lent is such a great refocus time.
     My husband and I have often used the days of Lent to focus on Jesus’ life with our children and we plan to again this year. So today I wanted to tell you about an eBook that Jon, my husband, and I have created. We joined together to create a set of eBooks for you, your family, and/or your classroom to use during this Lenten season.
The main eBook, “Journey with Jesus ~ Daily Bible Readings and Meditations” is a 47 page eBook that contains a Bible reading for each day during Lent. All of the Bible readings are about Jesus and His life. The Bible stories begin with Jesus’ Presentation and continues to Jesus’ Resurrection. Each of the daily readings includes a beautiful work of art that depicts the story and a thought-provoking meditation that brings the story into your everyday life. 
Here is one of the 47 meditation pages:
This eBook is also accompanied by two other files. One of the files includes images to make ornaments to hang on a “Jesus Tree”, and the other is a “Journey with Jesus Countdown Chart”

Jesus Tree
The “Creating a Jesus Tree” file, which accompanies the Bible story and meditation ebook is designed to help you create a “Jesus Tree” for your home or classroom. These pages include a set of the artwork images in miniature so you can create ornaments for your “Jesus Tree”. After reading and discussing the daily Bible story, have the children find the matching image and hang it on your “tree” or place it on a Lenten bulletin board. 
To create the tree simply collect a handful of branches and arrange them in a jar or vase. Our tree is about 2 feet tall (from table to the top branch). If you can’t get real branches, many craft stores sell artificial branches. Some even sell artificial branches with lights! You could also hang them on a real or artificial indoor ficus tree, or arrange the images on a bulletin board. Add a picture each day!
 
The Daily Countdown Chart
The “Journey with Jesus” eBook also includes a Daily Countdown Chart! This cute chart will help younger kids keep track of the days they have completed and the number of days left until Easter! The child needs to color in one “stepping stone” each day during Lent. Start coloring the “Stones” on Ash Wednesday and color one a day until Easter! The little images on the chart correspond with the stories you will be reading in the “Journey with Jesus” eBook!
 
~*Companion eWorkbooks*~

The Companion eBooks can be used along with the “Journey with Jesus” Bible Reading and Meditation eBook. They are extra worksheets to reinforce the stories you have read and discussed.

There are two different eWorkbooks.

Copywork eBook 1 with Drawing Prompts

The first companion book is great for younger children and has a page for each day of Lent. Each page includes a copy work section and a drawing section. The copy work section includes a Bible verse which has been taken from that day’s Bible reading and meditation. The lines are Primary lines. Journal eBook 2 with Art Prompts

The second companion book is designed for older kids, and each page includes a drawing section, a Bible verse, and an area to add personal thoughts, a note to God or other Journal meditations. It can also be used as copy work if desired.

You can purchase these in our Download Store!
 Have a blessed Lent!
May you grow closer to Jesus!
~Jennifer
And Jon says “Hi!” too!

2 Comments

  1. Hi Jen!I am loving the Jesus tree concept! Thanks for sharing….it's truly beautiful! Will look into all your offerings. I can picture reading scripture and placing the charms on the tree with the family throughout the season…I love the whole idea too of the bare wood for the tree representing the wood of the cross, rather than a full evergreen tree! The austere look is so meaningful!And Lent, YOU'RE not ready?…oh my goodness, do you believe we still have our tree up! ( and not the Jesus Tree either!) For some reason, having a few Lenten decorations as well as a couple of Lenten related books all set right next to it is not make me crazy!) Jen, i hope you;re feeling a bit better…we've been praying for at night with all of our intentions and other friends' concerns too.xoxoxoxo\”See\” you soon in the blogosphere:)

  2. I'm glad you like it Chris! I do believe you still have your tree up! I remember a year when ours was up past Valentine's day. Then my mother took it down for me. I was so sick due to pregnancy. Moms are so sweet! I often joked with the kids that we should let the tree stay all year and just redecorate it every month! 🙂 Actually, we do redecorate the stick tree each month(ish) Remember our Snowflakes? they were on that stick tree. I'm still \”fighting\” doctors trying to get answers, but at least I know what my problem is. Now we just need to decide what to do about it. I have a feeling I'll be going back in for surgery again this summer. I want to wait till after school. Thank you so much for the prayers!! (3)

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