Growing in Grace Together
Our Passion, Our Mission
It's a humbling thing to be a broken vessel, and yet be called to useful service. This is exactly what the Lord asks you and I to do. There are no expectations that we are supposed to have everything figured out.
It also brings great comfort to know that we don't have to do things in our own power. In fact, it's when we try to do things our own way, in our own strength, that things get wonky.
In 2020, God called us to join the Weekend To Remember marriage retreat volunteer team for the greater Cleveland, Ohio area. The experience of serving on the team and seeing the transforming power of God change the hearts of husbands and wives toward each other was life-changing.
We both speak from experience when we say that it is so easy to be complacent in marriage. Put it into gear and just drive. We have experienced this in our late marriages as well as in our current marriage. Without regularly scheduled service, our pistons begin to knock, fluids turn to sludge, and we find our marriage drifting off the road of oneness into the ditch of isolation.
God's design for marriage brings incredible connection and fulfillment. His GPS (God's Plan of Salvation) keeps us on track. His Holy Spirit guides us into all truth when we humbly acknowledge His way is best.
Just as it's not easy for men to ask for directions, it's not easy for husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. It's also difficult for a wife to respect her husband when he continually takes a wrong turn.
We hope that as we share from our own experiences, from the trips where we made it safely to our destination, and also from the ones where we got lost or turned around, just know, you're not on the road alone. It's wonderful cruising along while holding hands, but it's also okay to stop for refreshments or to even pick up a map or ask for directions.
It's not a race, it's a journey.
Our hope and prayer is that you are encouraged to Grow in Grace in your Marriage, that you would be inspired to schedule regular service appointments (connect daily, date weekly, retreat annually), and that your marriage would impact your family, your community, and our world.
-Aaron & Laurie Eckard