F O R S T A R T E R S

f r o m D o u g F i e l d s

TRENCHE SI N T H E

YOU T H LE ADER T RAINING ON T HE GO

TRAINING on the GOWhat’s something you wish

you had more time for in a

typical day?

What steals your time away

from those things?

Christy was a single mom, had a full-time job, and was involved in our youth ministry. She was devoted to her kids and lived a balanced life. She was someone who really loved teenagers, but she had limited time to give.

She was a great volunteer, and as the youth pastor, I really wanted her to be involved because she was so good with students. I kept asking for more, and she kept rejecting me. She knew her priorities and couldn’t give me the time I hoped for.

At fi rst my pride was hurt because she continued to reject me, but ultimately (when I grew up) I realized that she was right to maintain her priorities no matter how much I begged. She was a poster child of health. Because of her priorities and her courage to not overcommit, she became a long-term and valuable volunteer. Her spiritual growth and her kids came fi rst. And even though she did not have a lot of time to give, she made a huge impact on students and other volunteer leaders—by living a balanced, Christ- honoring life and not feeling guilty about what she couldn’t do. How are you like or unlike Christy? How can she be an example to you?

To be a good steward of the time, talents, and responsibilities God has given you, it’s vital that you fi gure out how to manage your time and ministry priorities. Th e main reason? Well, youth ministry never stops. Without any time management, you won’t survive the marathon of youth ministry. You might have a strong, short sprint for a semester or a year, but you won’t be around to watch students graduate. Healthy youth volunteers recognize that teenagers don’t need more sprinters, and they learn how to pace themselves to become seasoned marathon runners.

Th e fi rst step in managing your time is defi ning your priorities. What deserves your best time? Your relationship with God? Family? Th ink about your top priority and ask yourself, What does that time look like? Is that priority getting left overs because your day is so full? If you don’t take the time to determine what matters most in life, it’s very easy for the small, menial, and oft en unimportant things to consume you.

Consider designing a time budget; it’ll help you identify time for what’s most important. In my own life, I’ve found it helpful to organize each day of the week into several blocks of time. Compartmentalizing my life this way helps me to be more strategic about maximizing time, streamlining my life, and giving my most energetic part of the day to what’s most important. Now, I realize that as a volunteer you might not block each day around your commitment to youth ministry, but it’s helpful to see how many hour blocks you devote to your ministry to teenagers.

Organizing your daily life into blocks, like doing a fi nancial budget, will reveal if your time is over budget or under budget. As you write each day’s activities into blocks of time, you’ll see if you are doubling eff orts, wasting time, or switching priorities from what’s most important to what’s easiest. Time management will not only make you a better volunteer but also make your entire life more manageable.

What follows the setting of priorities is rearranging the way you spend your time so you can experience your priorities. Warning: You may need to make big changes in order to focus on what matters most to you. You may need to cut a few good and worthy uses of your time for the sake of being healthier and more balanced. Take time to identify what is important, and then make room for those priorities. Do you have some shift ing to do? Are there areas of ministry you may need to give up?

As a volunteer, you need to understand that time management and life balance won’t happen overnight. It’s a lifestyle—a diffi cult, ongoing process of growth that requires constant attention and evaluation. Finally, keep in mind that God adds only the things that are life-giving—never life-depleting.

M A N A G E Y O U R P R I O R I T I E S A N D T I M E

MA K E I T P ER SONA L

CONNECT to God’s Word

Permission to photocopy this handout granted for local church use. Copyright © Doug Fields. Published in Youth Leader Training on the Go by Group Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 481, Loveland, CO 80539. www.youthministry.com and www.simplyyouthministry.com

T O T H E PO IN T

M A N A G E Y O U R P R I O R I T I E S A N D T I M E

T R Y I T

• Learning to manage your time is a process.

• Defi ne what is important to you.

• Don’t be afraid to shift things around so your time is spent on the essentials.

“For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest , a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest .” —Leviticus 25:3-5

According to these verses, work is good. God

created the land and humans to work the land.

However, even the land has been given boundaries

by God. Even the land has a stopping point. If God

designed the land to need rest, how much more do

you think he designed you for rest?

• What seems out of control in your life? What

seems to be missing from your life?

• What might God want you to take out of your

schedule? to increase in your schedule?

Write a response and prayer to God here…

Design a time sheet for your monthly personal commitment to youth ministry. Do you know how much time you spend on programs (Sunday school, midweek Bible study, and so on), talking with students, going to meetings, and other commitments? Once you’ve quantifi ed your time allotment, set specifi c goals for things you would like to see happen during the time you can give that month. Use alone time to honestly assess what you’ve done and what you’d like to do. Be realistic, but also write in an amount of time for each ministry goal so you can make your ministry more effective while still maintaining your priorities.

Here’s an example:January: Spend a one-on-one relational time with each girl in my small group.

February: Big month at work—youth minist ry should focus on l student tim and more not , e-mails, and hone calls. No me ings this month.

March: Write a Bible study according to the needs of my group—enlist students to help.

April: Att end mi ion trip with youth group.

May: Finals are a roaching—no weekly me ing. Dinner at my house; we’ll cook tog her.

June: Family vacation month—no ext ra minist ry commitments this month!