As college students, we are always looking forward to the occasional day off or the longer breaks we get from school. There are a few one-day holidays throughout the Fall semester but it is not until Thanksgiving arrives that we truly get a significant taste of freedom. Thanksgiving marks a five-day break in which most people are able to return home and see their families… perhaps for the first time. Thanksgiving break means a chance to take a break from school without having to worry about homework or tests. However, then you arrive back at your dorm on that Sunday afternoon not exactly sure what to do with yourself (that's me right now).

I am certainly thankful for the opportunity I had to see family and friends, to watch football and eat turkey, and to have a break from school - but now it is back to reality. Now Thanksgiving break is over and the hardest part of the semester is here. That short break feels like a tease- it allowed me to taste Christmas break but then covered that sweet taste with the taste of homework, tests, and worry. Yet the more I think about it, the more I realize that perhaps this sequence of events is metaphorical with life in general. Perhaps this two week season of our lives is a test from Jesus.

Jesus does not call us to live a comfortable life in which we coast through the holiday season, but instead calls us to expand our comfort zones and press into all that he has for us. Accept this challenge. Dig in like you never have before. Start your mornings with Him so that you can have peace in the midst of adversity. Study for your tests harder than you have studied all year. Make use of your resources. Find a way to be successful in the midst of a season where it would be easier to just be lazy and try to survive until the month-long break. I cannot promise you that everything will go how you want it to. Yet, it rarely does, so that might be too high of an expectation in the first place. However, I can promise you that there is joy out there that we all have access to. No matter how broken and defeated or how successful and accomplished you feel, choosing joy during this time period means that you do not depend on any of those feelings for your identity. Choosing joy means that you rest upon the promises of the only One who never changes in the midst of a chaotic world in which things are changing constantly. Choose joy during these two weeks, and in fact, let that joy infiltrate your life so that it overflows into your lifestyle forever.

It can be so easy for us to look ahead to the Christmas break because it is so near, (and there are plenty of reasons to be excited about it) but don't look so far ahead that you miss out on these next two weeks. God has something in store for each stressing college student during this onslaught of waves, but that means that we must choose to enjoy today instead of dwelling in the future. There is nothing wrong with thinking about the break ahead and planning things you might be interested in doing but don't become so dependent on the break that you neglect the opportunity that is right in front of you. This is such an amazing opportunity to be thrown in the fire and to come out stronger. You may not notice it because you are running on life's hamster wheel, but there is another in the fire with you. There are two options facing you. You can let the fire burn you, or you can extinguish the flames day after day by giving life everything you have over the next few weeks. I do not know what will happen over the next few weeks in my life or in your life, but I know that I am a child of God and that everything will be okay no matter the outcome. As I fight this battle alongside each of you, I hope that you each get the results you desire. Remember, you will almost always receive what you put in. You purchase tomorrow's results with the work you put in today. Leave your "survive" mentality behind and embrace a "thrive" mentality. The time is now.