The tale of three trees is a traditional folk tale that beautifully depicts the mes-sage of Christ’s birth, ministry 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, reflect 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 out-lined 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

be-

gan

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

sa

il t

he

mig

hty

wat

ers

and c

arry

pow

erfu

l kin

gs!

I’l

l b

e th

e la

rges

t, m

ost

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 d

ow

n.

I w

ant

to s

tay h

ere

on t

he

mounta

in t

op 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

lo

ok u

p a

t m

e, t

hey

see

me

poin

ting t

o h

eaven

an

d t

hin

k o

f G

od.”

T

he

yea

rs w

ent

by.

Rai

ns

cam

e an

d t

he

sun s

ho

ne

on

th

e li

ttle

tr

ees.

They

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,

“This

tree is beau

tiful, it w

ill wo

rk p

erfectly fo

r me.” H

e swu

ng h

is ax

e and

the first tree fell to

the g

round. “N

ow

I will b

e mad

e in

to a b

eautifu

l treasure ch

est to h

old

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 sw

un

g h

is axe an

d th

e second tree fell to

the g

round. “N

ow

I w

ill beco

me th

e strongest sh

ip in

all the w

orld

!” thought th

e seco

nd 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 sw

un

g is ax

e and m

uttered

, “I don

’t need

anyth

ing sp

ecial, an

y 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 w

as cut an

d n

ailed to

geth

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 in

to a sh

ipp

ing y

ard. “M

y d

reams are co

min

g tru

e! I will b

e-co

me th

e mig

htiest sh

ip in

all the

world

! I will sail th

e great o

cean!” In

stead, th

e mig

hty

tree w

as cut an

d h

amm

ered in

to a sm

all fishin

g b

oat. S

he w

as no

t stro

ng en

ough

to sail th

e mig

hty

ocean

or b

ig en

ough

for th

e fast

river.

Instead

sh

e w

as tak

en

to a

quiet

lake

to catch

sm

elly fish

. T

he th

ird tree w

as sad. A

ll she ev

er wan

ted to

do

was g

row

tall an

d 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 lu

mber y

ard. “I w

anted

to p

oin

t peo

ple to

God

, now

I’ve b

een

left here an

d th

ey’v

e forg

otten

all about m

e” she th

ou

gh

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

sin

g fo

r joy. T

he w

ind

whisp

ered an

d th

e trees rustled

. In th

at m

om

ent, th

e first tree kn

ew th

at she w

as ho

ldin

g 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 fish

ing 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

w

oo

dp

ile

and 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 th

e m

an a

nd s

pit

on h

im a

s th

ey p

asse

d.

Sh

e w

as h

orr

ifie

d a

s so

ldie

rs n

aile

d 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

. T

he

tree

fel

t as

ham

ed a

nd

co

nfu

sed

as

the

man

hu

ng t

her

e to

d

ie.

Bu

t th

en,

som

ethin

g w

on

der

ful

hap

pen

ed.

Su

nday

morn

-in

g c

ame,

the

gro

und s

ho

ok a

nd

th

e ea

rth

rej

oic

ed!

The

man

th

at 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

o

n,

ever

y t

ime

som

eone

loo

ked

at

her

th

ey w

ou

ld t

hin

k o

f G

od

.

1 2 3

and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only

Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

and we have seen his glory,

glory as of the only Son from the

Father, full of grace and truth.

The One Who Made Us Has Come To Live With Us!

The One Who Made Us Has Come To Live With Us!