It’s hard to believe that 2018 is almost over.  As we approach the Christmas season, my prayer is that we will stay focused on the greatest gift that we could ever receive – forgiveness and salvation through the sacrifice of God’s only son, Jesus Christ. An eternal blessing!!  God loves us so much that He continues to bless each and every one of us throughout the year, so that we feel His daily presence, the assurance of His love and the anticipation of our future with Him. Truly a “gift that keeps on giving.” As we take the time to reflect back over this year, we are thankful for how richly God has blessed the Tres Dias ministry with over 5,000 new pilgrims/candidates furthering their walk with Christ.  Additionally, over one and a half million hours of servant leaders’ time were devoted to directly supporting those new pilgrims/candidates through preparing for the weekend and conducting the weekend itself.  This does not include the endless hours spent behind the scenes in each community by pescadores contributing their time, talents, treasures and thoughts to the goal of supporting the ministry itself.  Love in Action! It is also the time of year when we balance our reflections on the past year with anticipation for the new year and, let’s be honest here, LOTS of resolutions of “I’m going to do this . . .” Steven Covey, a renowned author of the book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, is quoted as saying “The main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing.”  For a lot of people, “the main thing” has become the “weekend experience.”  But that is just a small part of why Tres Dias exists.  I challenge you, to reflect back and ask yourself if you have truly furthered your walk with Christ to include all that Christ wants it to be?  Are you putting your fourth day into “Love in Action” as a humble servant leader in your church, family, and community, by putting your piety, study, and action into motion?  Are you paying forward, the blessings you have so richly received from our Lord, so that those blessings are a gift from God that “keeps on giving”? Christmas is about love.  God’s eternal love for us and a time for us to focus on loving others as well as loving God.  Not just family and friends, but also those we are less familiar with and those who are in need.  As we are told in Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  While we should be doing this throughout the year, I urge you to put an emphasis on having God’s love and grace shine through you to those who barely know Him or do not know Him at all. May you and your family have a blessed and joyous Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year! Merry Christmas, Denny Farkas