Dance

Check out the dance that a few friends and I are doing for the talent show here at school...minus some of the hip shaking!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7AuQKFlhXI

Encouragement

Last night I had the privilege of hearing some missionaries from PNG speak. Sometimes I feel like God knows exactly what I need to hear...duh, He's God. But sometimes it's so recognizable as a gift, you know? This missionary was encouraging us not to give up. He wanted us to commit to the task at hand and go wherever we were sent. He kept saying how much potential we had and that God was going to do great things through us. He also told us that some of us would probably die on the field. I know this probably doesn't sound encouraging, but when you hear someone being completely upfront, honest, and real about what lies before you; I don't know, but it gives me a sort of peace. I sat in a room with about 20 other students committed to overseas missions. That's just awesome. We're going. The missionary kept saying that it was now up to our generation and I kept thinking, "I can't believe God wants to use me. Isn't that just amazing? Isn't God just so great. Thank You God, for working in and through me." My generation is the "driving force." And of course by that I mean that God is the driving force but He is using my generation as His empty vessels. How will I be a part of that? How will we all partner with God in what He is doing overseas? How will you? Will it be through prayer, earnestly lifting up your brothers and sisters to Him? Will it be through giving, being the vessel God uses to bring finances to the field in order to spread the Gospel? Will it be by going? All parts are needed. Where does HE want me? Where does HE want you? Whatever it is, we need to commit faithfully to whatever part God has given us in completing His task of every tongue and every nation praising His name. And isn't it so awesome that He wants to use us?? Our God is so good.

Quote

"Norman Bouty writes, 'If I am to be like Him, then God in His grace must do it, and the sooner I come to recognize it the sooner I will be delivered from another form of bondage. Throw down every endeavor and say, I cannot do it, the more I try the farther I get from His likeness. What shall I do? Ah, the Holy Spirit says, You cannot do it; just withdraw; come out of it. You have been in the arena, you have been endeavoring, you are a failure, come out and sit down, and as you sit there behold Him, look at Him. Don't try to be like Him, just look at Him. Just be occupied with Him. Forget about trying to be like Him. Instead of letting that fill your mind and heart, let Him fill it. Just behold Him, look upon Him through the Word. Come to the Word for one purpose and that is to meet the Lord. Not to get your mind crammed full of things about the sacred Word, but come to it to meet the Lord. Make it to be a medium, not of Biblical scholarship, but of fellowship with Christ. Behold the Lord.'"

The Complete Green Letters by Miles J. Stanford

I've been tagged by Stephanie in a little game called "Eights".

8 things I am looking forward to:

1. Seeing my family again. While I love school, it's always nice to see them.
2. Green Letters next week. It's one of my favorite days.
3. Next semester! I'm going to miss being here!
4. MTC. I can't wait for the next stage of training.
5. Getting a tan. I am incredibly white at the moment...
6. Our talent night on Saturday. I'm doing a dance with some friends and it's going to be AWESOME!
7. All of the weddings I get to go to this summer. I'm so excited for everyone!!
8. Being done with homework. I want to really get down and teach myself greek this summer...as well as so many other things. I REALLY want to make a comprehensive outline of the Bible...a very detailed one...

8 things I did yesterday:

1. Went to class
2. Had turkey meatloaf that was more like a baked salad
3. Ate hummus and liked it!
4. Went to youth group
5. Did an awful job speaking in youth group
6. Bought icing and angel food cake (to be eaten separately) to be my comfort foods
7. Practiced our dance for the talent show
8. Cried to my momma and daddy

8 things I wish:

I find that this is not a good thing for me to do. I try not to wish or dream in these ways so that I don't get myself disappointed or unhappy with where I am today.

8 shows I watch:
Man, I'm at Bible School! So...let me try to come up with some.

Fringe
House
American Idol
Lie to Me
Psych

Yeah, that's all I got.

I'm supposed to tag people, but I don't even know of 8 people who read this, so I'll just leave it at that. :) Love you all who do read!

Lessons

Within the past few days I have learned...

- Sunburns actually hurt. But mine turn into tan fairly quickly. :)

- I do not like sushi. The smell alone makes my stomach turn.

- I do not like caviar. They get stuck in your teeth and taste like fish water. Gross.

- Things get spread like wildfire at this school! And it's no fun for people to be talking about you, even if it's over something as small as the length of your paper.

- People are not perfect, but I'm learning so much to love them anyways! I'm not perfect either!!

- High school Musical Dances are not good for only three people to perform with no set. However, the dance from Slumdog Millionaire is fantastic, especially at a school focused on tribal missions. :)

- In the midst of trouble, my attitude is not perfect. I need to depend on Him for guidance and adopt His attitude and His way of looking at things.

Grace

When I was little, I thought that my father was the most amazing man in the world. I think most girls go through that phase. As I got older, I soon began to realize that he is not perfect. This was a big shock to me. My dad is supposed to be perfect!

Sometimes I think we have that attitude when we recall stories in the Bible. These great Bible characters: Moses, Jacob, Joshua, they were all such Godly men. We idealize them in our minds. Going through the Old Testament it is so nice to continue to realize that these men made mistakes. Mistakes they shouldn't have made. They would live lives full of faith until perhaps the end or maybe they would just have sporadic sin, but they were not perfect. Yet God is a God of grace. He doesn't expect perfection, but dependence and obedience.

There are times when I feel like I need to get something completely right, learn this lesson and never fail again. This is about me, not God. God will continue to teach me in His timing. The only thing that I need to concern myself with is my dependence on Him.

Meditation

I'm learning more and more. I'm watching God and His patience with me. I'm learning patience...no really, I am. I'm learning contentment with where I am. Key word here is LEARNING. I'm learning that I will not be perfect every timel I will walk in the flesh. But I'm recognizing more and more when I do and able to reconcile with God. God has truly blessed me to be here and I could't think of anywhere else I'd rather be than right where He wants me. I think I'm learning just as much outside of the classroom (if not more) than inside.

Today was the Day of Prayer. I love Day of Prayer...mainly because I have so far to go in that area of my life...just like every other area of my life. We got to go into the staff houses and pray for missionaries in specific countries. I went to the Keen's and prayed for PNG. There is something so encouraging about praying for missionaries...intentionally lifting them up in prayer and thinking about them and what they're going through. It's an awesome way to encourage our brothers and sisters in Him.

Speaking of prayer, my cousin just had a baby, Sophie Elizabeth (how cute!) and she was 5 week premature. Pray that she would continue to develop and be strong and ready to come home soon!

Thanks

Thank You for good friends that You have placed in my life, friends who are learning to love me and care about me no matter what, friends who are here with me experiencing the same things that I am.

Thank You for the adults that you surround me with, men and women who have a passion for YOU and for helping me as I grow in my understanding of You.

Thank You for the little things; phone calls home, emails of encouragement, being able to eat chocolate, etc. I could go on forever.

Thank You for my family. I'm learning to cherish them and see them through Your eyes. I'm learning how to really truly love them. And I do.

Thank You for Your patience. I don't always get it right. In fact, I fall flat on my face time and time again. I struggle with so many things, Father, but You are always there to love me and that love never changes. Thank You for that.

Thank You for Your grace. I know that I am accepted in You not on the basis of anything that I have done, but because of Your love and grace and what You did on the cross for me. That means that no matter what I do, Your grace was enough.

Thank You for the cross and loving me that much. I love You.

Relationship

Growing up in church, sometimes I think it's easy to get confused. What does that mean? Well, I've been in church my whole life. I've known the Bible stories, memorized verses (although not too successfully), gone on mission trips, and all of that. I've learned what true faith looks like and what attributes a Christian should be producing. These are all good things to learn, but I think they can also be dangerous. I know I'm being confusing, so let me try to explain. I knew what a Christian should look like; it's clearly shown in the Bible time and time again. I knew that I needed to have a relationship with God, but I don't think I ever fully understood what all that entailed. I know that's a shocking thing to say, but it's true. A relationship with God is often defined as knowing God and how do you get to know Him? Through the Word. So you read your Bible and that's how you have a relationship with God? Nope. It's not. But for a long time, that's really what I thought a relationship with God was...and to be honest, I was disappointed. I was left unfulfilled. I was trying to produce Godly qualities in myself because I didn't know any better. It was like no one ever fully explained to me that I really don't have to do anything, that I just (like it's so easy) need to be in constant communication with God and He will take care of it all. I need to be fully dependent on Him. I never quite fully understood that. And I know that I don't know either, but I'm learning to get it more and more. God is good. He is so good and He really wants this deep relationship with us. He doesn't just want us to know Him and try to produce good works on our own, because that is through our strength and we get the glory...and eventually, we will fail. He wants us to rely on Him, trust in Him, pray to Him with decisions, ask Him for help, depend on Him. He wants us to DEPEND on Him in ALL things. These are so many things that I think I've heard before, but never been practically shown or told how to do them. And honestly, I don't think I have a good enough grasp on them to explain it to someone...the step that goes beyond knowing about God and reading your Bible and praying to INTIMATELY knowing your Savior. It seems like such a subtle difference, but such a HUGE change occurs. I really can't explain it, as I'm sure you can see by this confusing post. I guess I just mean to say that it's not enough to read your Bible and to pray. There's more to life than that. There's more to a relationship with God than that. And nothing can compare to it. There have been times in my life when I've been in that close communion with God and they have been amazing. And then there are times when I haven't and I never really could figure out why I wasn't and what had changed. Now I know. It's amazing that it's all about Him. It's not about what characteristics I want to build into my life, good characteristics that are godly and glorify Him. It's about what HE wants to teach me and how HE wants to grow me and my dependence on Him through that. I'm falling more and more in love with Him every day.

Vision

Who am I? What is my heart? What are my goals, my passions, my vision?

These are all very good questions, somewhat introductory, sure, but they shape your entire life. So here goes. :)

My name is Elizabeth Eckard. I became a Christian when I was four and felt called to missions when I was eleven. I struggled with this at first, not wanting to give up my hopes and dreams for my life (I'm sure you can remember your aspirations when you were 11...I had lots), but God has slowly built a growing passion in my heart to reach the unreached. I had the opportunity to go overseas three times, each time to a different country in South America. Two of those trips were with an organization called New Tribes Mission. During these trips, I got to experience not only life in a different country, but I got to see the heart of New Tribes Mission. They exist solely to fulfill the Great Commission, specifically in the capacity of "to the ends of the earth." Their heart is reaching those who have never had the opportunity to hear, those tribal people who may have never seen a white person and who do not have a written language. This organization is committed to raising up and equipping men and women of God to bring the Gospel places it has never been and giving the church opportunities to join them in that. What an awesome thing.

What is my specific vision? God has placed on my heart a desire to go. Sometimes that's hard. It would be nice to live close to my family, or at least in the same country. It would be nice to have a financially stable job. But God calls us to lay down our lives. He is our owner and He gets to decide what we do with our lives and our time. That looks different for many different people; some people are called to live here and have a financially stable job and they have other sacrifices, equally hard, that they have to deal with. But God has called me overseas. There is a need and I am going. My vision is completely dependent on God and will change as He instructs. However, the vision God has given me now is to be a tribal church planter.
Where would that be? Right now I am looking at Indonesia or Papua New Guinea.
With what organization am I going to go with? New Tribes Mission. (To learn more about this organization, check out www.ntm.org)
What are the steps that lead to tribal church planting? First, I need a good solid Biblical foundation. New Tribes has a Bible Institute that incorporates missions into their Bible teaching and teaches students in the same process that missionaries will eventually teach tribal people. It does not just teach the Bible, it teaches life application as well as giving students the tools they will need to effectively teach the Bible overseas. Second, I will go to the next stage of training, called the MTC (Missionary Training Center). This is more practical application. There are classes that teach practical survival tips, some brief nursing/health care, linguistics (how to break down a language), and so many other practical things. It is a stage where you learn how to survive overseas in different conditions while being effective at what God has called you to do. Third, I will be sent to a country (the country where the tribe I will be ministering to is in) where I will learn the country's main language and culture and get involved in a city overseas. Lastly, after mastering the country's language, I will move into a tribe and spend time learning and mastering their language. After that is done, the Word of God can begin to be taught and hopefully, believers will follow which will lead to discipleship and eventually, a church will be established with tribal leaders. Those last stages vary in time and are much more in depth than I portray them to be. :)

Where am I now? Right now I am training at the Bible Institute, studying the Word of God for two intense years and learning so much!! Stay tuned to see what I'm learning!

New Song

It's a website full of new things! Here is the latest song I'm working on:

My Place
By: Elizabeth Eckard

Someday I will die. Take my place.
Someday I’ll no longer teach. Take my place.
Someday I won’t walk on earth. Take my place.
If you love me, take my place.

For my heart is for every tongue to praise my name
My heart is for everyone to hear my fame.

Someday you will die. I took your place.
Someday you will pound my nails. I took your place.
Someday you will stand before God. I took your place.
I love you; I took your place.

For my heart is for every tongue to praise my name.
My heart is for everyone to hear my fame.

Jesus has died. I’ll take His place. I’ll take His place.
For my heart is for every tongue to praise His name.
And my heart is for everyone to hear His fame.

And I will go tell of Him
And I will lay my life at His feet.
For He is my master; He took my place.
And His heart is for every tongue to praise His name.
And His heart is for everyone to hear His fame.
I’ll take His place.
I’ll take His place.

New Website!

Hello all! This is my new, updated website...apparently xanga is out and this is in! I'll be really writing shortly...stay tuned...