Capitalize on Christmas Break
Christmas vacation is just around the corner! Plans are being made, flights are being booked, and students are starting to pack their bags to head home for Christmas break. So, what are you planning to do over Christmas break? Are you planning anything at all? It’s easy to fall into the temptation of using our break to just sleep, work, and focus on ourselves. While it is important to rest up in preparation for next semester, it’s also important to use this time to grow yourself as a college student and as a Christian.
Set Goals for Break Before it Starts
It is far too easy to get to the end of Christmas break and have no idea where all that time went. By setting goals to accomplish during the break, you can increase productivity and prevent yourself from wasting valuable time. So, what do you want to accomplish over break? Read a book that has been on your list for months? Apply for summer jobs or internships? Clean your room like your mother asked you during the summer? Utilize your break to check these off your list. Don’t put it off until your break has started. If you put off setting goals, it becomes much harder to accomplish those goals over break.
Schedule Rest and Work
Break is a great time to catch up on some sleep, and it’s also a great time to get some extra work hours in. But both of these can get out of hand if not handled correctly. Catching up on sleep can turn into laziness, and overworking can wreak havoc on your health after a busy semester. Be careful not to slip into the attitude of using your break to only rest or, on the other hand, only work. Make sure you schedule a healthy amount of time to stay busy and to get sufficient rest. You won’t do anything for yourself or your education if you spend your break doing too much rest or work. Find the balance, schedule it, and stick to it.
Serve your Family and Friends
Break is a great opportunity to spend more time with family and friends. You can visit your friends, see your family, and not have to worry about looming homework. So don’t spend that precious time only thinking about yourself. Remember, spending the holidays with family and friends is a privilege you might not always have. That being said, use the extra time with loved ones to serve them as much as you can. Serving them can be in the little things like doing the dishes for your mom, keeping a good attitude in the craziness of the holidays, and doing your best to be an encouragement to those around you. It’s easy to focus on ourselves over break and expect our friends and family to drop everything for us. Your family and friends are also coming off of a busy season, so love and serve them with the time you have.
Spiritually Refresh
If we’re all being honest, it can be really difficult to stay consistent in our devotional life and walk with God during the school year. It usually involves waking up a little earlier or blocking out a chunk of time that seems hard to find in a busy schedule. But over break, you have the great opportunity to spend a little extra time in your devotions. Take advantage of the opportunity. Read a new devotional book. Spend extra time in the Word. Check up on your friends and their walk with God. Jump into ministry in your home church. Use the time over break to refresh yourself spiritually, not just physically.
Christmas break is an opportunity to better ourselves for the remainder of college, but also a great opportunity to love and serve those around us. Take this as a challenge to take advantage of the time we’re given for break. Don’t let it go to waste.