Every year I have a conflict when it comes time to get a Christmas tree.  The environmentalist in me cries “no Way”, while another part longs for the smells and feelings that only a live Christmas tree brings.

One year I really wanted a live tree.  I tried to come up with alternatives.  Artificial tree?  No, that wouldn’t do.  Live tree in a pot?  Little bitty tree?  Not those either.  I finally came up with a compromise—I would “make” a “real tree from evergreen branches.  I didn’t have any evergreens in my yard, and I sure wouldn’t cut off any branches if I did.  Where could I find what I needed?

I decided I was going to settle all of this one afternoon.  Somehow I would make a tree.  I jumped up and went out to get in the car.  I was on a mission!  I had my hand on the car door when I very clearly heard in my head the words, “Walk down this street a block.”  I stopped, totally stunned.  What was that?  I’m very intuitive but I tend to sense or feel things.  I rarely “hear” guidance so clearly.  I shut the car door, took a  deep breath and said, “OK” to the voice, turned and began walking down the street.

About a block ahead I could see something lying on the sidewalk.  My heart leapt.  As I moved closer, I got goose bumps.  It was  large evergreen branch, almost as tall as me!  While I was excited, it jolted my reality a bit.  This was really happening.  Yet I felt that thrill I feel when I know I am connected to Spirit.  I gladly picked up the branch and looked around for its probable donor.  Sever large fir trees smiled (I swear!) down on me.  When I looked at them, I could feel their energy uplifted and happy at my discovery.

As excited as I was, it was only one branch, and I needed more to make a 6-foot tree like-*I wanted.  I thanked the trees, became quiet, and “checked in” as to what to do next.  Again I heard the voice.  I was told to walk toward the corner. “Turn right”, I heard.  I did.  I walked about 100 feet and stopped.  It didn’t feel right to continue.  “Now, turn around, “ the voice said.  As I began to turn to my left, I looked across the street.  A neighbor’s yard and sidewalk were peppered with fir limbs! I would not have seen them had I not turned around.  (I think it was a tree’s version of surprising me—kind of like humans do with “Close your eyes…”)  I started home, my arms full of branches, stopping to add even more to my heaping pile.  I’d thank the trees and see them smile.

Other trees in the area contributed downed limbs to my project that day.  I brought them all home, and —I’m still not sure how—built a Christmas Tree!  It was so realistic that my partner was convinced I had brought it at a Christmas tree lot.

For many years I would see those firs trees almost every day.  When I would remember to, I thanked them.  They always smiled.

Anne Cederberg https://ourmysticalnature.wordpress.com/Edit