Three Days and Three Nights

Three days and three nights...Tres Dias...or as some know it... Walk to Emmaus or...Cursillo. What ever the name, these weekends are a concentrated three days and nights of seeking to know and expereince Jesus in a deeper and fuller way.

I remember when a friend from Bible study shared with our class that she was going to a Walk to Emmaus weekend. Immediately my mind pictured her furiously walking up a hill completing some physical task that had spiritual implications. Funny how we can so quickly form opinions or ideas about a thing before we have any true concept of what it actually is. My friend came back radiant, but she didn't share a whole lot about the weekend. Good for her I thought - rather judgmentally.

A year or so later our good friends, Dave and Carrie Reid, attended a Tres Dias weekend in Birmingham. Fully expecting to hear about every detail of the weekend, I was sorely let down when Carrie rather tight-lipped said that it was good and eye-opening, but didn't expound on any of the details. How could she not share this with me...if it was so good then why didn't she tell me more?

They invited Brad and I to go to a Tres Dias weekend in the early Spring of 2003. At first I was really excited. Brad went without hesitation. The smile couldn't have been slapped off his face when he returned. Yet, once again...I couldn't find out any specifics about the weekend. Okay...what's going on here. Hardness was forming over my heart. The weekend I was once so eager to attend was now a thorn in my side. I was not going to go. Brad said I was. All the more reason for me to not want to go - rebellious and stubborn. He said there was no choice in the matter - he'd pack my bags for me, but I was GOING! Whew I was so mad that Thursday when I left for Tres Dias. I mean fuming mad!

Sitting by myself on the pew of the church where we all gathered before making our way to Pine Eden campground for the weekend retreat, I began to pray..."Lord give me a willing spirit...break this pride that has reared it's ugly head in my heart. I know You have a purpose for me being here, and I know that You have something for me to receive from You this weekend - I don't want to miss it - I don't want to miss You!" I didn't sleep much that first night and really just wanted to go home, but I knew in my spirit that God was there and had something to reveal.

The teachings I heard were really not anything new or different. While it all lined up with Scripture, there was an air of something deeper - a transparency in presentation - a vulnerability - an openeness that beckoned..."Go deeper with me, Jami...deeper..." I don't exactly know how or when or what happened, but by Sunday morning I was a glow with the Spirit of the Lord like I never had been before. (The smile couldn't have been slapped off my face either.) Something happened over the course of those three days and three nights that caused me to be immersed in the grace and love of Christ like I had never perceived before. God revealed Himself to me in a unique and special way over that weekend that has created in me a hunger and thirst and desire for more and more and more of Him.

I cannot share specifics. Not because I cannot, but because it would not benefit those who have not yet come on a Tres Dias. For instance, even though the 10 other ladies and I that attended my specific Tres Dias experienced all the same teachings, chapels, and meal times, we each received something totally different. We were all in different places in our walks with the Lord so in turn we all received something different that was unique to where we were and what we needed. It think that is what is so special about these weekends. While they are cookie-cutter in outline, they are anything but in application as the Spirit pours Himself out on each one present and willing and receptive.

Tres Dias is not an emotional experience - while many emotions may be experienced over the course of our 72 hours together - it is an experience with truth - capital T-Truth and little t-truth. It is a weekend that the walls come down and grace runs free. A weekend of unconditional love and accpetance no matter where you are or where you've been. A weekend of no expectations - just openness to what God wants to reveal.

Once I returned from my weekend, Brad and I were able to share the things we both experienced on our weekends and how they meant different things to each of us or how they ministered in similar ways to us both. Tres Dias has been an experience that has given us something we can share together - a unifying tool that we love to share with others.

Carrie and I (as well as other friends who have been to Tres Dias)have also been able to share. We have talked in great detail about every aspect and event of the weekend. It is so neat to hear about how God revealed different things to each one of us and has drwan us deeper into Himself as a result.

There is nothing exclusive about Tres Dias or any of these weekends - nothing secretive - nothing hidden. There is however much preparation and prayer given to each weekend and because of that these weekends are limited in the number of people who can attend each time. Humbled...I was so humbled the first time I served on a Tres Dias weekend. All the prayer and care that went into the weekend blew me away. And it's like that every time. Months and months of time given and preparations made and prayers lifted up in order that several hand-fulls of people may come and enjoy God's presence in a way not possible in the hustle-bustle busy-doing 21st century in which we live.

I love Tres Dias, but I love Jesus more. Tres Dias is merely a tool used mightly by God for the building up of HIS Church. Our lives have been enriched by our involvment with Tres Dias. We have not and will not ever place Tres Dias over our local church. It is for the building up of the local church that these 3-day movements were created. Tres Dias is an enhancement and compliment to the local church and should not ever be placed ahead of involvment with the local body.

Tres Dias is not sponsored by any one denomination, but made up of a governing "board" (Brad and I serve on our local community "board" called Secretariat)of Bible-believing, Christ-honoring men and women. You can read the Tres Dias statement of belief at www.tresdias.org by entering the site and clicking on the "Constitution" tab on left hand side of screen, scrolling down and clicking on 2.0 "purpose of Tres Dias and Statement of Belief."

We invite you to come on a Tres Dias weekend. Chattahoochee Valley Tres Dias which offers it's weekends at Pine Eden Campground in Hamilton, Georgia is the community that Brad and I are involved in. Each year our community has 4 weekends, 2 for the men and 2 for the women with one set of weekends in the fall and one set in the spring. April 3-6 (men) and April 10-13 (women) are the upcoming set of weekend for the spring. Just let us know and we can get you signed up and ready to go. It is an awesome weekend!

Pictures I couldn't insert in the other posts

Bo enjoyed his oreo cookie icecream pie. It is so hard for me to believe that he is already a year old - sitting at the big table - walking - saying ma...ma...da...da - eating big people food...it's crazy how fast time flies by. God teach us to number our days!

Bo's first birthday - Happy Birthday Bo!!! The Big ONE. I love that all my children were excited for Bo to celebrate his birthday...they helped put the candle in the pie and blow the candle out and remove the candle and get the gifts and open the gifts and play with the gifts...and all the while Madelyn was helping keep things calm - What a blessing!

The Old Lady in the Shoe and her peeps...Getting this picture taken was quite interesting if you could imagine...At a certain point in the picture taking process you really could care less if everyone if looking or smiling...this one turned out good though...and the Old Lady was happy about that!

Tuckered-out...Sara Joy had had all the excitment she could take for one morning. Notice the jamma's and bright white and pink Dora shoes! She is precious! I got a picture of her the other night sleeping on the kitchen floor...now that is TIRED!




Little man Bo getting in on all the Christmas action. He makes me laugh always smiling and getting into something. His laugh seems to get frozen in the flash of the camera...

I told you Sydney got enough make-up to last the rest of her natural life...Madelyn, Sydney and Sara Joy all "dolled" up. James took this picture. I had NO idea what they were doing in Madelyn's room. The girls LOVE...L-O-V-E the make-up!

James, AKA Brandon Cox. He and Riley would wear their AU uniforms 24/7 if they could! You should see them outside all playing ball together. It is a riot! He's actually a good kicker and puts a pretty spin on the ball when he passes it That was one of the things Brad said last night to James..."I am so thankful for James that I get to play football with him."

All the children on Christmas morning after the blitz...showing off their new "jamma's" (as Sara Joy calls them).
Aren't they so sweet and cute and handsome!

Riley's one request - SpongeBob hat...I have two other pictures that I will spare you of his SB umbrella and SB gloves. He was so SO EXCITED about the gifts!

This is the Year...

Just a few days before the new year rolled around I told Brad, "This is going to be the year. I just have a feeling about it." We were invited by a friend and his wife along with several other couples to cheer on the Auburn Tigers as they took on the Clemson Tigers in the Chik-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta for New Year's Eve. What an adventure! Our whole crew had a blast! The highlight of the evening...seeing the winning play (Auburn crossing the end zone securing a win) from the eighth row on about the 20 yard line. Adrenaline, cheers, yelps, high-fives, flashing smiles and camera's...a night to remember. Leaving the game I looked at Brad again and said something to the effect..."2008 is the year." A friend overheard what I said and asked something like what did I mean or why. No definitive answer to give, just a smile and a confident reply that I just felt like 2008 is going to be a great year - an exciting year.

Exiting the last flight of stairs (that was an anxiety-packed few moments) in the Marta station, I overheard a teen-aged girl reply to her friend, "I don't know what I am doing tomorrow...Daddy, what (she had planned to ask her Dad what the aganda for the next day was, but looking around the girl noticed her Dad wasn't where he was when she last looked)...Where did Daddy go...he and Mama know what I've got planned even before I do." Then she asked her friend, "What time are you going to the movies?" Lost in contemplation over what this young girl said - I mean what she really said beyond the words she spoke, the noise around me went quiet. Her trust in her parents and reliance on them so strong that she didn't even give a second to thought what the plans for the next day would be; her parents had it all figured out. She wasn't anxious or concerned. What I heard her affirm through those few words..."I know that my Mom and Dad love me and have great plans for me what ever that may look like and I trust them with every day of my life."

I think that is a part of what I sense about 2008. I don't know what lies ahead. "Change" - the word keeps coming to mind. "New," "different," "unity;" all words that come to mind as I think about this new year. "Trust" - that's the biggy and I almost forgot it...Trust...do I so trust in my Dad that I can let go of the anxieties of today and worries of tomorrow and just live in today trusting that His plans for me are ALWAYS GOOD - no matter what that looks like. Honestly, I have to say that I don't know if I am there yet in experience - yet I can look back over the last 9 years as I have been walking with the Lord and see that He is fully Trust worthy and faithful. I know it as truth in my heart and in my head, but it is as if the two haven't fully meshed together. What's that all about????!!!!???

Bo is crying to get up from nap and since today is his birthday I guess I need to get the little fellow up so we can have a little family celebration marking his first year. Hold those thoughts and I'll be back to blogging sometime later in the week.