There are a lot of tools we can use in ministry. There’s our church management system, our curriculum, our events. Each one helps us serve our communities and reach more for Christ every year. However, I think there is one tool that is invaluable for your ministry. One tool that if used correctly can extend your reach and find that elusive work-life balance we’re all looking for.

What is that tool?

Your calendar.

I used to never use a calendar. I could keep track of all the dates and times I needed to be somewhere and rarely made a mistake. However, as I and my ministry grew, things became more and more complex. It became near impossible to keep everything straight. The tipping point for me was one Sunday night, I triple booked myself. It’s hard enough to be in two places at once, but three? Impossible.

Thankfully the people in each of those meetings were gracious to me as I ran from one building to the next trying to keep everyone on task. But I knew this couldn’t continue. I needed to get serious about my calendar if I really wanted to reach the next level.

Since then, I’ve developed a step-by-step method for creating a calendar that you can leverage for success. I’m teaching it this Thursday at my Calendar Planning Workshop. You can sign up here.

But why should you use a calendar? Besides accidentally triple-booking yourself like I did, there are three major benefits to making and keeping a calendar for you, your ministry, and your family.

1. Your calendar lets you see where you're going

This is fairly obvious, but looking ahead is one of the original purposes of having a calendar in the first place. We can look into our future and put a meeting, an event, a family vacation, a goal, and then count the days until it arrives. We can look at the time we have left and create a plan to make sure the thing we’ve put there happens.

Whether you use a paper calendar, a digital one, or one of those giant wall calendars, think about what’s coming and write it down. Just getting it out of your head will create space for more creativity.

I like what Jim Wideman says,

“Your brain is for thinkin’, not rememberin’.”

If you write that thing down, you’re far more likely to get it done.

2. Your Calendar lets you see where you've been

Michael Hyatt taught me that when you’re planning the next year, look back at what you did the year before. There will be some variations, but for the most part, you’re going to take your vacation at the same time. Your VBS, camp, and missions’ trip will be at the same time. Your volunteer drives and training sessions will be at the same time. So instead of reinventing the wheel every year, look back at what you did the year before and add them to next year’s calendar.

Also, there may be sometimes when you don’t want to repeat what you did the year before. Going back and looking at your journey through the last year will remind you of your mistakes, what you learned, and how you need to adjust for the upcoming year.

3. Your calendar reminds you of what is happening

My biggest problem before I started calendaring regularly was that I would forget. As a result, I had to either scramble to make it or apologize for dropping the ball. People will be gracious once, maybe even twice, but three times? You’ve become unreliable. And no one will follow an unreliable leader.

One of the reasons I prefer a digital calendar is the ability to remind me of what I need to be doing next. As I put things in my calendar, I also set up automatic reminders. I’m not great at looking at my calendar every week, but when a reminder pops up in Outlook, it’s hard to ignore. Then use the gift my past self gave me and get to work.

You can do the same with a paper calendar, but then you have to discipline yourself to look at it regularly. It doesn’t do you any good to write everything down and then stuff it in a drawer; never to be seen again.

Having a calendar can be your most important tool not only for your ministry, but for you life. Whether you love planning or not, if you want to be successful and reach more people for Jesus, you need to have a plan. I like what Jesus said in Luke 14:28-30

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.'

We may not be building a building, but we are all building God’s kingdom. Using our calendars helps us count the cost.

If you’d like to see more on planning your calendar, you can read my blog posts here and here.

A few years ago, I hosted the biggest Easter Egg Hunt my church had seen to date. We had hundreds of kids and thousands of eggs. We saw many kids accept Christ and everyone had fun. It was all a big lead up to the next day, Easter. As I drove home thinking about the wins and losses, it hit me like a kid remembering his semester long project is due tomorrow and he’s done nothing. Easter is tomorrow.