Okay, I'll admit it: I started playing Christmas music yesterday. I'm getting ready for one of my favorite family traditions. During Advent we do a Jesse Tree, with readings and ornaments from the Old Testament that lead to the birth of Christ. I've noticed my children don't always have a good sense of how the different events relate to one another. For years, I've wanted a Bible Timeline to provide a context for the stories we tell. There are several commercial ones: most have a lot of text and dates and are more involved than I need. I really like this one with all the pictures, but its 10' long! That just won't work for our home. So I obsessed over it for 48 hours, and made my own. I drew a simple cartoon history of the Old Testament. It doesn't include every prophet and king and favorite story (because otherwise it would be 10' long!), but it provides a big picture, so when you're reading your favorite story you can point and say, "this happened here." I'm hoping it will help my kids develop a sense of the continuity of the story. I drew the timeline over 5 sheets of paper, but through the magic of Adobe, I've squished it onto a single printable page. Yes, ONE page. The pictures are tiny, but they are simple and readable, so I think it works. And its for you, too! Wishing you a good Advent and blessed Nativity! Grab the printable PDF here - it includes a black and white page, and one with a little color. If you don't want the teeny-tiny version, you can order it in poster from Zazzle in various sizes and paper qualities. Its also available as this pretty 17 x 24" poster printed by Fine Art America. (Be sure to select: Size: natural.)
