Latest / The Don't Pastor Alone Podcast / Block Calendaring
Transcript
- Bob Bumgarner: Welcome to the Don't Pastor Alone podcast, where we connect pastors and churches with trusted people and practical resources so they don't pastor alone. I'm Bob Bumgarner, and I'm here in the ministry garage with JimBo Stewart. JimBo Stewart: Hey, man, glad to be here. Glad to jump into another podcast episode with you. Bob Bumgarner: Me too. What are we talking about JimBo Stewart: today? Today, we're gonna talk about something that sounds super exciting. Oh. But I, no, I actually think this is a, a very helpful thing that a lot of pastors need to consider. Block calendaring, a simple way to build a fence around your priorities before ministry fills every available space. If we don't tell our calendar what to do, it'll tell us what to do. And so Bob when people hear block calendaring, they may in their mind picture a really rigid schedule where every minute is perfectly planned. But what do you mean when you say block calendaring? Bob Bumgarner: Well, block calendaring is a practice. It's a discipline. It's not a silver bullet, but it's a practice of assigning a purpose to a section of your week before other things demand or claim it. So it's a matter of sitting down at some point, and you know you're gonna have so see, here's what typically happens. You put meetings on the calendar, you put appointments and, and The big rocks don't get put in because you put so many little rocks on it. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: So what we're saying is a block calendar puts time for prayer. It puts time for exercise. It puts time for family or f- focused work. Like h- when are you best during the day? Mm. Uh, when is it, when should you be doing routine work? What about meals? If you're in j- if you're in Northeast Florida in First Coast, there's travel time, and it's getting harder and harder to get from point A to point B. So block calendaring is simply a way to name the activities you're gonna do during the day based on the priority that they are for you. JimBo Stewart: I think one of the things you said was really helpful is when you think about focused work, what, what part of the day are you mentally sharpest? And try to figure that out. If you don't know that, kind of a, before you even jump into block calendaring, you may wanna consider is at the end of each day, tr- try to look back and journal, like h- how many hours have I spent doing ... Like, give yourself a time audit. When did I feel most mentally fuzzy? When did I feel sharpest? What did I spend the, my time doing? Because we, if, if you're not calendaring in some way you're just gonna answer to the tyranny of the urgent, and it's, and it's one of those where you probably don't even realize how much time you spend doing things that are not as productive or high priority, but it's just what's kind of in the immediate versus what you really And then you, all the good stuff gets squeezed out. Yeah. That's it. And, and so, why does the week get away from us so easily as pastors? Bob Bumgarner: Because we wanna be available. You know, we because we feel the need to to respond to everything that's happened. A- and everything does need responded to eventually, but everything doesn't need to be responded to- Right now. Here, here's the deal. Your calendar, when you look at it, should show what matters before your week gets crowded. So for instance, if, if your wife looks at your calendar or a teammate looks at a, shared calendar, they oughta know what's important for you for that week. And so the, one of the things that I, I think is why it's difficult in ministry is because a quick phone call that somebody wants turns into a 30-minute counseling session that you- Mm-hmm never really intended for it to happen. A, a cup of coffee, if you don't know how to land that plane, can become a two-hour meeting. And, um, you know, sermon preparation and hospital visits all those kinda things come with a great degree of regularity. And so you gotta y- you have to create the space for you to do those things well. JimBo Stewart: So if a pastor were to start doing this, what, what's actually gonna change for them if they start doing this? Bob Bumgarner: Well, they're gonna be frustrated at first- ... because you've never prioritized things. Yeah. And here's the interesting thing. If you go to the Book of Acts and you go to Acts chapter 6, that there's, in verse one, the Grecian widows are being neglected in the daily distribution of food. Like, I want you to think about this with me for just a second. Like, how complicated is that really? To... I- it's not super complicated but obviously the way they were doing the work, it wasn't getting done well. What what I'm suggesting is if you look at that Acts chapter 6 passage, they did a form of block calendaring. They said, "Hey, we're not gonna set up the chairs anymore. Someone, uh, we're gonna delegate that." So they've gotta, they're teaching somebody to delegate. They're gonna give their time to pr- quote, verse four, "prayer ministry and the Word." JimBo Stewart: Yep. Bob Bumgarner: A- and so there's block calendaring going on there because here's the f- here's the JimBo Stewart: reality- Just a prioritization, right? You, you- Yeah, I'd say this is the th- these are the things that God has called us to that we're responsible for. Bob Bumgarner: And so think about that. Acts chapter 6 is the ultimate things. Now you gotta figure out how you're gonna do it in daily life. So the week will be shaped by something. Your week will be shaped by something. The question is whether it'll be shaped- ... by calling or by reaction. So here's the thing. If you're running 50 people today, and you pray and you witness in God and you're running 80 people next year- Your weekly priorities will be different. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: It, and what's really strange about this is if you don't change, you ultimately kinda start getting mad at the very people you're supposed to love because they're the ones that are in the way of you- Yeah doing what God wants you to do. But if, not if you keep the priority, not if you keep pri- prioritizing. JimBo Stewart: Yeah, you can't build off of just what people's expectations are in the, in, in the moment. Yeah. One of the best pieces of advice somebody gave me early on in regards to this was, uh, a church member's 11:00 PM marriage crisis does not actually have to be solved by you that night They'll still be in a marriage crisis tomorrow morning. Yeah, they will. And, they're not gonna get divorced tonight. Yeah. Um, it takes a little while. And and it's, it is not only okay, it's healthy to say, "Hey brother, man, I'm gonna be praying for you tonight before I go to bed, but I'm about to go to bed." Bob Bumgarner: Yeah. " JimBo Stewart: And let's schedule an appointment tomorrow." You don't have to drive over to their house- ... that night and deal with it. But it's so easy as a pastor to feel the expectations to do that. And it can feel rigid to kind of go the other direction, 'cause pastors do need to be available. So how, how do you keep block calendaring from making a leader inflexible or completely unavailable at the same time? Well, how, how do you balance that tension? Bob Bumgarner: The thing that I have found from practice is that that the Holy Spirit can help me plan as well as He can help me react. And so if I have a rhythm that I am working toward, number one, it helps my wife, my family understand why I'm busy. And if it has to be interrupted, then they seem to be more patient because I do have a plan that's gonna bring me back to, to, to health. Uh, I do think that there's several things here. I, I do say you'll be frustrated at first 'cause you haven't prioritized, but it will help you protect your best energy. You'll be surprised at how much you can get done when you're not sleepy. Y- you know, there are some things that just are, you're, that are okay for you to be a little sleepy while, or a little bit tired while you're doing it. You should be moving around during those times. It, I, I think it, it helps you measure. If you're falsely accused of not being with people, well, your block time calendar, you can go back and you can say, "No, I'm, I'm giving this much time to to that." And here's what I found. To your point, if people know that you're available on Thursdays to do something- JimBo Stewart: Yeah Bob Bumgarner: Then that's okay. I mean, they'll they will acquiesce to that most of the time. It also stops you from doing what I call the Saturday night special- JimBo Stewart: Mm ... Bob Bumgarner: where you do stuff for the church people all day, and the day that your, your family needs you, which is Saturday night, you've gotta actually do the things that should've been in a block. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: Because there is a sermon tomorrow morning that needs to be, that needs to be done. JimBo Stewart: Well, I think it's the key thing is recognizing- i- if you say yes to a bunch of tyranny of the urgent things- Yeah ... you will by default say no to something. Bob Bumgarner: Yeah. JimBo Stewart: And it's probably gonna be your family. Bob Bumgarner: So there's a couple of like cliches, I guess, that they're helpful to me based o- that like one is every time you say no to something, you need to have a bigger yes that you're saying to. JimBo Stewart: Yes. Bob Bumgarner: So, "Hey, I can't meet tomorrow at 3:00 because that's when I do my sermon preparation." So I'm saying no to tomorrow at 3:00, but I'm not saying no to the 7:30 breakfast on Wednesday, right? Yeah. So, m- it helps with that. The Eisenhower Matrix, the important-urgent, urgent-important or not important, not urgent- yeah that mental model of how to decide on some of these things we'll put that in the show notes as well. That's a super helpful another little gadget, tool, a hack to help you know what you should do when. The, the real idea is this: God's given you a real job. Give your best energy to that work. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: A- and give your best energy to the time that requires your best thinking. And don't fall into the trap that, you know, there are some businessmen that go to our churches that they think anybody can pastor a, a church. JimBo Stewart: Just work one day a week. Bob Bumgarner: Just, just work one day a week. You know, go ahead and honor yourself. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: Honor not honor, value what you do by giving you time to actually do it well. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. You mentioned the show notes. I wanna point everybody to the show notes. We're gonna put in a link to a First Coast Churches block calendar document, and link to a blog article you've written on this. And so let's walk a little bit through the First Coast Churches block calendar. Mm-hmm. Kind of a 15, 20 minutes of weekly planning that maybe a pastor could take to start building this out. Uh, what should a pastor do if he were to take 15 to 20 minutes each week and just kinda plan some, some blocks out? What should he do in that 15 to 20 minutes? Bob Bumgarner: Yeah. Pray and name the week. You know, so pray, get pray and then figure out what the ... This is, for me, it'd be the week of the collective. This is, you know, or this is go to the North American Mission Board week or whatever. A- and really you're asking, what is God asking you to be faithful in this week? Then write the three outcomes for the week that matter the most. Then go ahead and place whatever your fixed commitments are for that. So if there's travel, if there's sermon prep time, if there's a personnel meeting on Tuesday night, whatever the fixed things are. But make sure you add family commitments, appointments travel deadlines, those, those kinda things. Protect protect yourself. Protect the ... Like, it's okay for you to say, "I have a meeting at 8:00," if that's when you have your quiet time. You know, if you're gonna be s- in solitude from 7:00 to 8:00, it's completely okay to tell the chairman of deacons, "Hey, I've got a meeting at that time." So protect your, protect yourself. Match the work to the energy. The, you know, so when do you need to be your sharpest? When are you at your highest energy? Which goes to what you said about the time audit. When do you feel the most energized? And listen this is where diet comes in. Mm-hmm. You know, you can feel energized more often if you're eating right. Batch people in administration. So for me- Well, I, I don't do that so much here, but when I was in a local church, I would do my mental work in the morning. JimBo Stewart: Mm-hmm. Bob Bumgarner: That's when I'm at my best, or sharpest, and I would batch my administrative work and my, uh, relational meetings with people in the after- in the afternoons. And one of the things I did as well, uh, and this is if you, if you have a, if you're at a church plant where you have a lot of volunteers depending on you, or you have a staff where you have volunteers don't do your administration at the end of the week. Do your admin early so that you're, so that that mobilizes your people. Yeah. Like, like, don't make your people wait on you to get what they need that they could be doing all week long. Does that make sense? JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: Yeah. So, um, so batch people and administration I think is a helpful tool. Leave margin. Now, this is hard for me because I kinda like rolling in hot. I mean, there's, there's something It's wrong. Uh, so please hear me. This is wrong. But I, but I really like, like I actually feel most alive when I'm doing about 120% of what I should be doing. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: So I have to ... Like, I have to build in the margin. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: And so, uh, g- so leave margin, and then at the end of the week, review and adjust. I said I would share something personal. Like, we've just come through a ... we have, my wife and I have octogenarian parents, and my wife's mom is over 90. So we have, we have some challenges there. And we just came through a super busy summer and a successful August, and September didn't slow down. And I said to, I said to my sweet wife, I said "It's gonna slow down a little bit." She just looked at me, she goes, "You know it won't." And, um, so what I am what I had to do was to physically show her how it would. Yeah. You know, I said, "Okay, so we're gonna do the ... I'll do this, this, and this." And so, so that block calendaring helps that. JimBo Stewart: Yeah, our friend Andy Addis says, you know how we always say like, "Oh, it's just a season"? Bob Bumgarner: Yeah. JimBo Stewart: He said, "Yeah, it's winter in Narnia." Yeah. And Christmas isn't coming. Bob Bumgarner: That's, that's winter in Narnia. That's really good. JimBo Stewart: So as somebody's thinking through this, what are the things that belong, what categories should pastors consider as they look at the whole week of to block in? Bob Bumgarner: So whatever your spiritual habits are, uh, scripture reading, prayer, solitude friendship, listening to other, your mentoring people, those kinda things. Personal reflection, journaling if you do that. Exercise and health. I would say do some kind of do your steps every day. Do two or three days of of weightlifting or whatever you do for muscle development. Family and personal commitments. Try to make it to when you come home at night, your phone goes on the counter, and unless your boss's special ring rings, you don't, you know, you don't touch it. Make sure your high priority work Is, uh, in the, high priority and high profile work is getting the time that it needs. And I would say this. If, um, if you're finding that there are some things that that just take... So for instance, in seminary I was taught that you weren't worth your salt as a pastor if you weren't spending 20 to 25 hours a week- on a sermon. Yeah. And, and I'm not gonna fuss at the seminary professor for saying that. I just wondered if he ever pastored a church in a mill town where- ... you know, where... Anyway, so, so here's my point. What amount of time do you need to give to sermon prep that you can be faithful to the text- JimBo Stewart: Yeah ... Bob Bumgarner: and be halfway decent? JimBo Stewart: Have you read the book, uh, Eight Hours or Less? What is it? It's preparing... It's, it's a sermon prep book about how to- I haven't build into your... It's great. Has really good just ways to structure your week to kinda get it done in eight hours or less. Bob Bumgarner: I love that. A- and so what I was gonna say is find the hack for you. Like- Yeah ... find the way to cheat. And that's, um, that's good. I just bought a book yesterday. It's H.B. Charles' latest book on the Book of Mark. He calls them sermon skeletons. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: And so there's the title, the text, the intent of the author for that piece of it, the, the transitional sentence to get you in, and then a, not an annotated outline, but, like, a, a basic scriptural outline. That's good, but the best part of the book is the paragraph before that. The paragraph before it says, H.B. Charles, you probably know H.B., the prince of preachers. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: He says he's not good at outlining. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: And, and so he said that what he's done, and his father w- did not like him doing it, but he says, this is his phrase, "I've always looked over the shoulder of pastors whose gift was outlining and structuring a sermon to help me be better at that so that I could... Because I'm good at the rest of it." JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: That was so freeing to me to know that my f- one of my friend's heroes- Yeah ... I mean, is just, he's like normal. Yeah. So whatever the hack is to be able to, the, to be able to do that, for sure. JimBo Stewart: So what are some mistakes that pastors should avoid? Like, what usually keeps block calendaring from actually being helpful? Bob Bumgarner: Not trying it. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: Yeah, I mean b- b- having your presupposed... and here's the thing. On the show notes, we've got we it was inspired by Carey Nieuwhof, s- so you'll see a little bit of that flavor there. We've customized it for us. But here's the thing if you're not a spreadsheet person, that's fine. Just get an old-time weekly calendar and and just write with arrows, "I'm gonna study during this time." So don't make it about the technology. You know, go go analog or with technology. Find find the, the, the rhythms, if you will. I will say this, one of the things that I have found that is so pleasing to me, when I come to the end of a week when I block calendared and I get done way more than I thought I would be able to get done- It's like God gives me the bonus of... There, there's an emotional satisfaction that it wasn't just me running the calendar. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: And in addition to that, if for some reason- It all didn't get done, but there was an emergency, I feel okay about that too. So it's not a matter of all the boxes getting checked. It's a matter of remembering that you're human and that you have limitations, and this is a way that you're trying to steward those limitations. I, I do think that if you don't block off the regular things, then you ... Like I, I was talking to a pastor just the other day who, when he started doing this, he realized he had his staff in too many meetings. If he wouldn't have written it down- JimBo Stewart: He wouldn't know ... Bob Bumgarner: he wouldn't have known, even though he was in the majority of the meetings. It didn't dawn on him, oh my gosh, that's 40%. I mean, that's ... It wasn't 40, it was 25% of their time. But w- they've gotta have more time than that to do their job. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. One of the things you said earlier was kinda come at the end of the week and look back and review. So at the end of the week, what are some questions that would help a pastor as he's looking back learn and improve the pattern as he's going and doing block calendaring? And I, I would add to that, just as a, a, an added bullet point to the previous question, in my life I've found one of the ways that it doesn't work is if you don't review. Yeah. If you, if you don't go back and go, "Hey, what worked? What didn't work?" And keep adjusting- Yeah ... and keep learning your rhythms better as you go, then it's not gonna work well. But as they're doing that, let's, they're, they're not gonna make the same mistake I made. They're gonna do the review. What are the questions they should be asking? Okay. Bob Bumgarner: I'm gonna be a little bit snarky- JimBo Stewart: Yeah ... Bob Bumgarner: at this particular moment. JimBo Stewart: Come on. Bob Bumgarner: Because here's the deal. I would say to you that doing block calendaring is more important than a master's degree or a DMin- JimBo Stewart: Oh, wow ... Bob Bumgarner: until, uh, for this reason: because you have to know yourself. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: Once you know yourself, then do your degrees. I mean, that, that's all good stuff. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: But in other words, it actually helps you be the you that you think God's calling you to be. And so, that's how com- that's how important I think it is to be self-aware. But where d- so to me, here's some of the questions. Where did I experience God's presence this week? So you might expe- like I was preaching at a church for the pastor's final sermon. He's, he was retiring after 26 years of ministry. And I can tell you that in that s- as I prayed that God would show me what to do, what to say, what text to use for that, like it was a super holy moment. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: I mean, I really did exper- i- and here's the thing It turned out, the sermon turned out great for the event, but what was amazing is I felt like I was a messenger. JimBo Stewart: Hmm. Bob Bumgarner: I wasn't a sermoner. I was a m- I was bringing a message- JimBo Stewart: Hmm ... Bob Bumgarner: to the church. But I wouldn't have had it if I wasn't taking note of what I experienced from God during the week. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: What received my best energy, who needed my presence. I'm reading a book right now, The, The Power of Mattering. And one of the things that, it's not a Christian book, but it's got a lot of Bible in it that they don't realize is there. Here, here's my point. People need to be seen. People need to be heard. People need to be valued, and people need to be cared for That's what presence means. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: So in, so there are weeks that my wife needs my presence, and there are weeks that my adult kid needs my presence. But there's a coup- there's weeks in a row where they don't, and so, but here's my point. I'm looking now for the people who need my presence. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: Block calendaring lets me look for them. I'm not hoping they don't want my presence . JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: If that makes- JimBo Stewart: No, as you said the mattering thing, I was thinking of there's a book. Man, I'm ca- I, the author's name escapes me. The name of the book is The Imperfect Pastor. Bob Bumgarner: Okay. JimBo Stewart: And he talks about doing mattering things in that book. What are some other questions? Bob Bumgarner: Yeah, so this is always surprising to me. What was left undone that truly did not matter? There's- Yeah, it JimBo Stewart: was fine. It didn't get- And Bob Bumgarner: there are some things that, that are like my h- hangout. JimBo Stewart: Mm-hmm. Bob Bumgarner: That are not the church's hangout, but I make them the church's hangout, but I, I let it steal the time that's, what matters enough to move intentionally to the next week. And, um, and, and here's the thing. If you're listening to this, hear my heart here. The goal is not a perfect calendar. I guess it's on my algorithm like on Instagram. Like I, for some reason, like I get these pictures, and it's usually artistic men and women who take their calendar and they write they draw on it, and they draw arrows, and it's- Yeah ... it's, it's a piece of artwork when they're done. This is not that. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: The, this is not that. The goal is a wiser, more faithful rhythm. Not a calendar that you'd be proud to show somebody else. JimBo Stewart: That's good. I think this is incredibly helpful. I- let's do some rapid fire questions- Okay ... and before we get to a final challenge. Uh, what's the, what's the best time of day for high priority work for you? Bob Bumgarner: It's in the morning. Yeah. It's, it's 9:30 to noon for me. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. How Bob Bumgarner: about you? JimBo Stewart: I would say the same. Yeah. What's one task sh- what's one task pastors should batch instead of checking it all day? Bob Bumgarner: I think that is email. JimBo Stewart: Yeah, I think so. Bob Bumgarner: Email and, yeah, email. And then it's close behind that would be texting, if it's not the ding or the notification from your family. Yeah. Try to have... so what's your rule? Is it a, is, are texts returned in 12 hours? It, emails within 24? Then live by that. Yeah. Give yourself that, that grace. JimBo Stewart: Our friend Jordan Rainer has a great book, Redeeming Your Time. We'll put it in the show notes. He came and spoke at a- Yes, he did ... at a quar- quarterly collective one time, and he talked about dissenting from the kingdom of noise. Yes. And- Yep ... and, and turning that stuff off. Uh, what's one block pastors most often leave off the calendar? Bob Bumgarner: The physical wellness, the physical- JimBo Stewart: Yeah ... Bob Bumgarner: exercise, wellness, that kind of thing. JimBo Stewart: How much white space should a healthy week have left in it when you're done block calendaring? Bob Bumgarner: I would, Let me say it this way if, if I was to put healthy white space and margin as the same thing- JimBo Stewart: Yeah Bob Bumgarner: I would say in a 40-hour week, there ought to be two to three hours that are think time let your mind rest time. JimBo Stewart: Mm-hmm. Bob Bumgarner: Uh, let it idle around s- important stuff. But so I call that white space. So it, it's unagended. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. A couple hours. Yeah. Again, in Jordan Rainer's book, he talks about circadian rhythms- Yeah of like, uh, 90-minute blocks of, of deep work, and then take 15 to 30- Yep ... of reset. And- And Bob Bumgarner: I would even say get yourself that... I've actually forgot about that. I've, I've got a desk calendar that I set for 90 minutes, tap it. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: And then, like, when that ding goes off, even if I'm still going strong, I get up- JimBo Stewart: Yeah Bob Bumgarner: get a drink of water, and... But yes. JimBo Stewart: Move around a little bit. Yeah. Are you a paper calendar or a digital calendar guy? Bob Bumgarner: So I don't know what you would call Remarkable. JimBo Stewart: It's a digital paper. Bob Bumgarner: Yeah, it's a digital. So I'm that. Like, I, um- JimBo Stewart: Yeah ... Bob Bumgarner: still like to write with my pen. JimBo Stewart: Yep. Bob Bumgarner: But I like having all of it together. JimBo Stewart: Yeah, I have it both, uh... I have it on Microsoft Outlook. Yeah, Bob Bumgarner: I have that as well. JimBo Stewart: And then I have... But I, I really live by what I have on my Remarkable tablet, yeah. Me too. Uh, what is one meeting you would shorten, combine, or remove? And you can't say this podcast. Bob Bumgarner: Of what sort? Wow. I was not ready for that in this particular setting. I would, I guess I would say Yeah, I don't know. JimBo Stewart: That's okay. Yeah. I can delete that. What's one block that consistently makes the rest of your week better as you block things in? Bob Bumgarner: It is it is connection however I do it. It's connection with Jesus and my wife. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: Those two things. And when I, I, I mean that in a in a not a check mark way, but in a soul-ish way, and it's, it's different. Like it's, you know, sometimes it's scripture reading. Sometimes a song will just break my heart. Sometimes yeah, but it, it's connection emotionally with another human being, and it's connection spiritually with Jesus. Yeah. I know those are the church answers. That's true. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. All right, final question to give us a final challenge closing out. A pastor listening today, they never used block calendaring, never really been intentional about their schedule, what's the, what's the simplest way for them to begin? What's the first steps they need to take? Bob Bumgarner: Download the calendar we put in- JimBo Stewart: Yes Bob Bumgarner: and cross out the things that are not you. JimBo Stewart: Yep. Bob Bumgarner: G- go ahead and start with ours as the basic idea uh, of that. Even the, the times for exercise and sermon prep and all that kind of stuff. So just start doing... Yeah, start with, start with that. Yeah. JimBo Stewart: All right, I got one more sneaky question I wanna throw in on you. Okay. Have you ever looked at your calendar, kinda looking back on review how the week went, and realized that it was telling the truth about your priorities before you even r- were ready to admit it? Bob Bumgarner: Oh, yeah. That's the confession for my life. That's when I was gonna- Yeah ... yeah, I mean, I was loving... I've loved life this summer. JimBo Stewart: Yeah. Bob Bumgarner: I was sliding in hot and- Uh, that's not what she needed. That's not... And here's the thing. Yeah. Before we had elderly parents, she loved that about me. Yeah. Like, in, in other words, we were in a season- Yeah ... the, uh, we were in a season where we could run wide open Well, and as empty nesters without people dependent on you. Yeah. And now you have people dependent on you again. Yeah, yeah. And- And it was, but it's ta- And if you're coming in hot, she's the one taking care of them. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. That's right. And so she's- Yeah ... she, she's wanting a little bit more presence and support, which is absolutely- Yeah ... acceptable. Yeah. So, yeah. All right. Close us out, Bob. Y- here's what I would, here's what I would say: Take a look at your take a look at your calendar and ask yourself "Is it controlling me, or am I controlling it?" And then make a commitment to whatever that percentage is, 60/40, 70/30, move it 10% more you're controlling it. Versus you can... And take that, take that baby step. Read Tom, read, uh, Raynor's book, Jordan Raynor's book. Do something from, And by the way, you can watch the video. Yeah. I put that on there as well. So Take the challenge, take control of your time, and live in an Acts 6:4 moment- ... where you're prioritizing for prayer and ministry to the Lord