We are taking a few days off to celebrate our anniversary. This short get away has us crossing the northern border of Texas onto Oklahoma.
I am looking forward to spending a couple nights away from it all with my beautiful bride lounging at the pool, sleeping in, and eating some great food.
See you when we get back!
Last week I began telling you about how I am going about planning for the 2010-2011 school year. I suggested checking out Nelson Searcy’s Planning a One Year Personal Growth Plan and set out to give you some of the highlights of my planning sessions. Today, let’s talk about how to Abandon Annually.
When it comes to planning your Fall calendar, what does it mean to Abandon Annually? Often our planning starts on the microlevel- What must I do today or this week? The tyranny of the urgent has us staring at the handful of trees in our vicinity. When we fail to see the entire forrest we miss so many things and often, we over schedule and double book ourselves.
When you begin your planning by looking over the course of an entire year you can schedule your non-negotibles and then plan accordingly. You also can intentionally lay out the next 365 days and dedicate them to God. There is a calming freedom in looking at a blank calendar and saying to Father, “Everyone of these days are dedicated to you.” My Personal Growth calendar will begin on August 1, 2010 and will end on July 31, 2011.
Searcy suggests that you plan your vacations first (abandon, get it?). He says that while this may seem self-serving, planning your vacation time gives you time to rest and a rested leader is a leader who is free to serve, lead, cast vision, spend time with family, and connect with Jesus more fully. He also suggests putting down your conferences or specific learning opportunities. Finally, Searcy suggests that you schedule a day or two one year from now to planning next year’s calendar.
What does this- Abandoning Annually- look like for me?
Vacations- Beyond traveling to see family during the holidays we have a big plan for our 2011 vacation. Next summer, we will celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary. It is our hope and plan to travel overseas for a week of vacation at the end of the summer. I know that we must begin planning today in order to make this plan a reality.
Conferences- Since 2003 I have traveled to Atlanta, GA for the Catalyst Conference. This is, hands down, my favorite leadership event and I can’t wait for October. For Catalyst, I have to schedule the better part of the week away. There are other leadership opportunities that may be online (The Nines) or local (Echo) and that do not require must preparation but I still need to put them on the calendar.
Youth Ministry- For the ministry, I would encourage you to find out and schedule in your calendar the following:
Review- July 25, 2011 has been designated as the day I will sit down and do this all over again.
Now you- take a look over the next year, Dedicate the next 365 days to growing closer to God each and everyday. Ask him to give you guidance, wisdom, and discernment over the next 12 months. Then set about marking in the most important an non-negotiable dates for this next year.
Remember: Control your calendar or it will control you. Next, we’ll look at how to Measure Monthly.
Today, I want to talk about some Youth Ministry Basics and there is no better place to start than with Fall Planning. Youth ministers often get a bad wrap on their organizational skills and I try to avoid that stereotype like the plague! Over the last few weeks I have been working on the next 12 months- scheduling events, planning my teaching, and even gearing up for Summer 2011. This week, I am putting the finishing touches on our Fall calendar and I hope to deliver the finished product (Aug-May) by August 1. Fall planning isn’t just for your youth ministry. Sure you have stuff planned for your teens but what about you and your family? How are you going to rest? How are you going to learn? How are you going to grow?
This year, I used some suggestions from Nelson Searcy concerning my personal planning calendar. While some of these suggestions have always been a part of my planning I really appreciated the concise and creative approach Nelson and his team uses when it comes to helping others plan their year. Maybe some of these things will help you as you look at what God can do in your ministry over the next 12 months. This year, on a personal level, I am intentionally committing to spiritual growth. I want to be FAITHFUL and FRUITFUL.
Nelson suggests that to be intentional about personal spiritual growth you need to look at your calendar from four perspectives. You need to…
Tomorrow we’ll look at taking the longview and committing the next 365 days to God through Abandoning Annually.
Summer is almost finished and that means that my reading schedule can get back on track. This is a picture of the stack of books sitting on my desk ready to be devoured.
What are you reading? What should I be reading?
Our youth group just returned from our Mission Trip to Memphis, TN where we worked with inner city children through Memphis Urban Ministry. We had an absolute blast serving these kids and I hope to share more pictures and stories throughout the week. One of the coolest things that happened to us this week was that we had an opportunity to be interviewed on Elvis Radio for SiriusXM while visiting Graceland. Big props to Morgan, one of my students, who captured the whole thing on video for us. Check it out:
(if reading in RSS please click through to see the video)