As one who disciples others, do you believe in the power of the bible? Does it simply contain words that are nice to hear, that provide guidance to life’s issues, or is there something more to it? Enjoy this blog installment from my daughter.

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Have you ever had those verses that pop up everywhere you go? You just say, “Okay, God. I hear You, You’ve made your point loud and clear!” Well, there have been two verses that seem show up wherever I go. The first has become my foundation since the beginning of 2014. It’s Ephesians 3:14-21:

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever. Amen!

As I continue on this journey of leading my group of girls, my heart’s cry is that they will desire to love God with their whole lives, and to be hungry for His Word. I pray that they will not want to keep their faith to themselves, but will be a light for Christ to everyone they come in contact with. I want them to grasp that God’s love is for real, and that any friend, future boyfriend (yes, this is a normal conversation we have!), and even family, can’t replace how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.

I have to be careful though that I don’t get too caught up in wanting to “change” them, that I miss what God is wanting of me – which is , quite simply, me. He wants all of me. His heart’s cry is that I will desire to love Him with my whole life, and to be hungry for His Word.  He prays that I will not keep my faith to myself, but will be a light to everyone I come in contact with. He wants me to grasp that God’s love is for real, and that any friend, future boyfriend, and even family, can’t replace how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.

In my bible, the subtitle for this scripture is “Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Growth”, but it has now become “Madison’s Prayer for Spiritual Growth”. If there is no growth spiritually for me, then how are the girls expected to grow? I can only give to them as much I let the Scripture give to me. Fortunately, I have seen growth in myself this past year. I remember a year ago I would have to make up something and make it sound spiritual even though my heart wasn’t totally into what I was telling people. Through consistent time spent with Christ, I feel my words flow more naturally like they aren’t my own forced sentences anymore. This verse is a constant reminder to not let the growing stop there, but to totally immerse myself in scripture, prayer, and even discipleship – whether being discipled or doing the discipling.

The second scripture is Matthew 28:18-20, and it has not only been mentioned in recent sermons I’ve heard, but in the study I’m going through with my mentor, as well as in the book I’m currently taking my girls through, and in books I’m reading. I’m not kidding when I say everywhere! It says:

Jesus came and told His disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

All throughout scripture, God doesn’t give us options on how to live, He commands us on how to live. I don’t take these commands lightly – although I do struggle with some. When He commands to make disciples of all people, I plan on taking part in that, and I plan on teaching my girls these commands – whether they learn from my strengths or failures at obeying.

Not only does Jesus command us to go out and make disciples of all nations, He also encourages us. His reminder at the end that He is with us always is all I need to know to keep pushing forward. I don’t need to know all the answers to my girls’ questions, I don’t need to know what study we should do next, and I definitely don’t need to worry about past, present, and future moments of failure. God is a God who redeems, and He can make good come out of any failures. My parents and I were talking about this exact topic the other night – how God redeemed the Israelites even though they consistently lacked faith in Him. If God could redeem the millions of Israelites many thousands of years ago, He can definitely redeem me in 2014.

This year, 2014, is going to be a good year – with a firm foundation under my feet, the one and only Rock.

Madison

I’d like to introduce a new voice to my blog – the voice of my daughter. She has always been the writer in the family (I didn’t really start writing in any significant way until my late 30’s, she’s been writing stories since early elementary school) and at the age of 18, she has taken on the role of life-on-life disciple-maker. And although she is new to the journey, I believe that she has something to add to the conversation. So from time to time, I will be inserting her thoughts. I trust that they will impact you as she has me. These are her words, I have not edited them for content in any way. Enjoy the read.

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Recently the Eckert family went on a road trip down to Boston to spend a few days in relaxation, but also exploration. During the 9 hour trip, my dad’s mind tends to get creative. This trip, he came up with the brilliant idea to do a father-daughter blog. As someone who loves writing, it didn’t take long for me to jump on board – although I kept him hanging for a bit!

It’s going to be a journey for me, especially since I have just started mentoring three grade eight/nine girls on my own. I’m constantly asking questions, and wondering if what I’m doing is actually going to be worth anything – to them, or me. But my dad, being the veteran that he is, guides me as I make decisions, or am just flat out frustrated with how a meeting with the girls went.

Since this is the first blog from me on my dad’s blog, it only made sense to me to write about few things my dad has taught me about mentoring, or just about life in general.

Monotonous love
I tend to be judgmental at times of people, sometimes without even knowing. Dad not only constantly tells me to remember that everyone has a story, but he finds out about everyone’s story. He recognizes that everyone has a past, and everyone makes mistakes, making him understand that they need to be forgiven. He has this way of loving people beyond their mistakes. He won’t typically verbally tell you he loves you, but he will show you by sticking with you – week in, and week out.

Keep moving forward
When I first started meeting with my girls, I went in with high expectations – of myself, and of the girls. Dad taught me right away to be prepared to be disappointed, especially since none of us could live up to my expectations, including myself. But he also pushed me to keep going. Even though you get frustrated or angry that nothing is working, or that you feel you aren’t doing anything worthwhile, keep going. After the very first day of meeting the girls, I went home feeling all of this. Dad not only told me to keep going, but to give myself a small, achievable goal – if I were to walk away from this experience with only myself changed, it was worth it. I know, sounds harsh, but I can’t help the girls change unless they want to change themselves. This goal was my motivation to take the next steps.

You don’t need all the “spiritual” jibber jabber to prove your faith
Dad has never been one to talk all spiritual. I’ve always thought that was weird, especially since I would hear other friends talk like that and I would be in awe of their faith. I then often felt like I needed this talk to prove to my girls that I knew everything – which is so far from the truth! Dad on the other hand, is all about action. He doesn’t need to tell you how amazing God’s love is – he just shows it. He doesn’t need to constantly express the need to help the broken – he just helps in the healing process. He doesn’t share spiritual stories of how he witnessed the glory of God – he just goes wherever God tells him to go, not needing a spectacular story to tell about why he listened. So, no, you will never hear my dad talk super spiritually, but he has got wisdom and faith that is inspirational.

These are not the only things I have ever learned from my dad – I don’t think I could count everything he has taught me. Overall, my dad is the greatest man I know, and I’m excited to share part of his blog with him!

Madison