A Christmas Tale
The tale of three trees is a
traditional folk tale that
beautifully depicts the mes-
sage of Christ’s birth, minis-
try on earth and death on the cross. It is a story that has been
told for many years and speaks to all generations. It is much
more than a Christmas story, but is especially meaningful
during the Christmas season. Read it together as a family, re-
flect on the meaning through your advent season or share it at
the dinner table on Christmas day. Merry Christmas!
This file includes: A foldable mini story book, coloring
page, foldable treasure chest, cut and fold cone trees for
decorating, colored and outlined tree banner,
large and small printable images
On
a s
un
ny m
ou
nta
in t
op
far
aw
ay
, th
ree
litt
le t
rees
beg
an
to g
row
. T
hey
wer
e sm
all
and f
ull
of
dre
ams.
T
he
firs
t li
ttle
tre
e dre
amed
of
rich
es a
nd w
ealt
h.
“I w
ant
to
hold
gold
and d
iam
onds!
I w
ill
bec
om
e th
e m
ost
bea
uti
ful
trea
sure
ches
t in
all
the
worl
d!”
T
he
seco
nd t
ree
looked
longin
gly
at
a li
ttle
str
eam
, fl
ow
ing
dow
n t
he
mounta
in s
ide
and i
nto
the
gre
at o
cean
. “I
wan
t to
sail
the
mig
hty
wat
ers
and c
arry
pow
erfu
l kin
gs!
I’l
l b
e th
e
larg
est,
most
str
onges
t sh
ip i
n a
ll t
he
worl
d!”
T
he
thir
d t
ree
looked
dow
n a
t th
e busy
lit
tle
vil
lage
in t
he
val
ley,
full
of
men
at
work
and c
hil
dre
n a
t p
lay.
“I d
on
’t w
ant
to b
e cu
t dow
n.
I w
ant
to s
tay h
ere
on t
he
mo
un
tain
to
p a
nd
gro
w s
trai
ght
and t
all.
I w
ant
to b
e so
tal
l th
at w
hen
peo
ple
look u
p a
t m
e, t
hey
see
me
poin
ting t
o h
eaven
an
d t
hin
k o
f
God.”
T
he
yea
rs w
ent
by.
Rai
ns
cam
e an
d t
he
sun s
ho
ne
on
th
e li
ttle
tree
s. T
hey
gre
w t
all
and s
trong.
One
day
, th
ree
wo
od
cutt
ers
cam
e cl
imbin
g u
p t
he
mounta
in s
ide.
On
e wo
od
cutter lo
oked
at the first tree an
d th
ought, “T
his
tree is beau
tiful, it w
ill work
perfectly
for m
e.” He sw
ung h
is
axe an
d th
e first tree fell to th
e gro
und. “N
ow
I will b
e mad
e
into
a beau
tiful treasu
re chest to
hold
gold
and d
iamonds!”
Th
e first tree tho
ught.
Th
e nex
t wo
odcu
tter looked
at the seco
nd tree an
d said
, “This
tree loo
ks v
ery stro
ng. T
his is d
efinitely
the tree fo
r me.” H
e
swu
ng h
is axe an
d th
e second tree fell to
the g
round. “N
ow
I
will b
ecom
e the stro
ngest sh
ip in
all the w
orld
!” thought th
e
secon
d tree.
Th
e third
tree grew
sad, an
d h
er heart san
k as th
e last wood-
cutter w
alked
tow
ard h
er. She h
ad g
row
n v
ery straig
ht an
d
tall, reachin
g u
p to
the sk
y. S
he sto
od p
roudly
as the w
ood-
cutter
loo
ked
u
p
at her.
He
did
not
seem
impressed
. H
e
swu
ng is ax
e and m
uttered
, “I don’t n
eed an
yth
ing sp
ecial,
any tree w
ill wo
rk fo
r me.” T
he th
ird tree fell w
ith a th
ud.
Th
e first tree was carried
into
a carpen
ter’s shop, w
here sh
e
was cu
t and
nailed
togeth
er to fo
rm a feed
ing b
ox fo
r ani-
mals. T
he sad
tree realized sh
e was n
ot ev
er goin
g to
be co
v-
ered in
go
ld o
r filled w
ith fin
e treasure. In
stead, sh
e was d
irty
and
filled w
ith fo
od fo
r hungry
anim
als. T
he seco
nd
tree grew
excited
as the w
oodcu
tter bro
ught h
er
into
a ship
pin
g y
ard. “M
y d
reams are co
min
g tru
e! I will b
e-
com
e the m
igh
tiest ship
in all th
e
world
! I will sail th
e great o
cean!” In
stead, th
e mig
hty
tree
was cu
t and h
amm
ered in
to a sm
all fishin
g b
oat. S
he w
as no
t
strong en
ough
to sail th
e mig
hty
ocean
or b
ig en
ough
for th
e
fast riv
er. In
stead sh
e w
as tak
en
to a
quiet
lake
to catch
smelly
fish.
The th
ird tree w
as sad. A
ll she ev
er wan
ted to
do
was g
row
tall and p
rou
d an
d p
oin
t peo
ple to
heav
en. In
stead, sh
e was
cut d
ow
n in
to lo
ng p
ieces of w
oo
d an
d left in
a pile at th
e
lum
ber y
ard. “I w
anted
to p
oin
t peo
ple to
Go
d, n
ow
I’ve b
een
left here an
d th
ey’v
e forg
otten
all about m
e” she th
ough
t. T
he
day
s p
assed b
y an
d th
ree trees
forg
ot
all ab
ou
t th
eir
dream
s. T
hen
, one n
ight, a p
recious b
aby w
as wrap
ped
in clo
th an
d
placed
in th
e wo
oden
feed b
ox to
sleep. P
eople cam
e and
bow
ed d
ow
n to
th
e bab
y,
anim
als gazed
in
w
ond
er an
d a
gleam
ing star sh
ow
n d
ow
n o
n h
im. A
ll of creatio
n seem
ed to
sing fo
r joy. T
he w
ind
whisp
ered an
d th
e trees rustled
. In th
at
mo
men
t, the first tree k
new
that sh
e was h
old
ing th
e mo
st
valu
able treasu
re in all th
e wo
rld!
One d
ay a g
roup o
f tired trav
elers gath
ered o
nto
the sm
all
fishin
g b
oat. O
ne o
f the m
en fell asleep
as the b
oat d
rifted o
ut
onto
the w
ater. The rain
started to
fall, thun
der crash
ed an
d
win
d to
ssed th
e wav
es. Th
e little boat ro
cked
back
and
forth
. Th
e se
con
d t
ree
was
sca
red. S
he
was
not
big
en
ou
gh
or
stro
ng
eno
ugh
to
kee
p t
he
trav
eler
s sa
fe d
uri
ng t
his
sto
rm.
Sudden
ly,
the
man
th
at w
as a
slee
p s
too
d u
p.
He
stre
tched
out
his
han
ds
and
co
mm
anded
the
wav
es t
o S
TO
P!
Th
e se
a an
d t
he
win
d
ob
eyed
. A
ll w
as a
t pea
ce.
It w
as t
hen
th
at t
he
seco
nd t
ree
re-
aliz
ed s
he
was
car
ryin
g t
he
gre
ates
t K
ing i
n a
ll o
f h
eaven
and
eart
h.
On
Fri
day
morn
ing,
the
thir
d t
ree
was
yan
ked
har
shly
fro
m a
wo
od
pil
e an
d n
aile
d t
oget
her
. A
n i
nju
red
man
pic
ked
her
up
and
car
ried
her
acr
oss
his
ble
edin
g b
ack.
He
carr
ied
her
dow
n
a ro
cky p
ath,
thro
ugh a
cro
wd
of
angry
peo
ple
. T
hey
yel
led a
t
the
man
and s
pit
on h
im a
s th
ey p
asse
d.
Sh
e w
as h
orr
ifie
d a
s
sold
iers
nai
led t
he
man
’s h
and
s to
her
, th
en s
too
d h
er u
p i
n
fro
nt
of
ever
yone.
They
hu
rled
insu
lts
and
mo
cked
the
man
.
Th
e tr
ee f
elt
asham
ed a
nd
co
nfu
sed
as
the
man
hu
ng t
her
e to
die
. B
ut
then
, so
met
hin
g w
on
der
ful
hap
pen
ed.
Su
nday
morn
-
ing c
ame,
the
gro
und s
ho
ok a
nd
th
e ea
rth
rej
oic
ed!
The
man
that
h
ad b
een nai
led to
a
tree
w
as al
ive!
H
e h
ad d
efea
ted
dea
th a
nd
chan
ged
ever
yth
ing.
Th
e tr
ee k
new
that
fro
m n
ow
on
, ev
ery t
ime
som
eone
loo
ked
at
her
th
ey w
ou
ld t
hin
k o
f
Go
d.
A C
hristm
as T
ale
1 2 3
became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only
Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
1 John 1:14
became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the
Father, full of grace and truth.
1 John 1:14
The One Who Made Us Has Come To Live With Us!
The One Who Made Us Has Come To Live With Us!