Last week, the leadership team at MCAG attended a two-day conference in Atlanta called "Catalyst". This is the second time Justin & I have been able to go, and every year we are blown away with what an amazing event it is. The line-up of speakers was incredible - Rob Bell, Malcolm Gladwell, Dave Ramsey, Louie Giglio and many others. But one speaker who always impresses me is Andy Stanley. I think one of the key things that make him such a great speaker and leader is that he asks profound and insightful questions. This year he asked a question that I've been turning over in my head since I left the conference. The question was - "whose mark are you trying to make?" His point was this - we all want to leave our mark, our legacy. We all want something that makes us feel like our lives are meaningful and significant. That's our human nature. But God is asking us to turn those desires over to him, and to give ourselves and our lives to be used for His purposes. Instead of trying to leave our mark, allowing God to use us to leave his mark.

Maybe you've heard some version of this before. Maybe it sounds a little cliche. But I challenge you to spend some time really exploring what that means. It means dying to ourselves. It means letting go of our own wants and desires. It means it's not about me.

Would you take some time to think and pray about how God wants to use you in this next year? How does God want to use you to leave His mark? What are the things you need to let go of so that God can use you for His greater purposes? What are the things that God wants us as a church to turn over to Him so we can truly advance His Kingdom?

I pray that as we explore these questions, God will begin to use our church for new and exciting purposes - and that we would see Him glorified.

Hannah Fratt
Children's Ministries Director