‘Tis the Season for Finals

Before it was Halloween, it was Christmas.

Before it was Thanksgiving, it was Christmas.

Before it was Christmas, it was Christmas.

Thanksgiving was apparently the day the world deemed fit to break out the holiday tunes on every radio station and every department store.

And I beg: Can’t we just wait ONE MORE DAY?!?

Don’t get me wrong; I LOVE Christmas–when it’s actually December. Not October, not November, but December. The month our world declared acceptable to behold Christmas.

But how am I supposed to enjoy the winter festivities and the days of Advent when tests, papers, and finals are thrown in my face, blocking out the sunny, joyful rays of the Christmas season?

A vision of my room at the moment:

A spice candle is burning, a cup of coffee is at my right side, and my window’s blinds are open, letting the muted, sunshine-y rays inside. 

But this is the polar opposite of my feelings currently.

At this time, I am both mentally and physically exhausted. My body craves sleep, and my mind yearns for a moment when nothing is due the next day.

I have two papers, two tests, and five final exams on my plate (which I should be working on right now, but instead opted for a “study break”). I have never understood the school system’s need to pile as many tests and projects as possible upon the student body all at once; as if we don’t have anything better to do than study. All it does is drain people like me of all energy and motivation.

Two weeks. Two weeks and the semester will be over, the papers will be turned in, and the exams will be done with (for the time being–can’t forget about those spring finals! *insert crying incessantly emoji*). Then I will be able to truly take a deep breath, without omission.

I guess that’s what life is–all go, go, go, stretching everything to the max and cramming in as many things as possible before time runs out.

And why do we push ourselves to the breaking point of exhaustion? Well, if you’re a student like me, you push yourself academically because you want to get accepted into a good college and settle into a good career and, ultimately, a really good life, free of financial troubles.

If you’re a hardworking single mom, you push yourself because you must feed your child, you must pay that bill, you must make a living in order to support your kid so that kid can have an amazing life.

If you’re an athlete, you push yourself to reach the highest possible skill level and to be the best soccer player, golfer, boxer, football player, gymnast, etc.

I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 

Pslam 118:13-14, ESV

I feel as though I am being pushed hard. I feel pressure from all corners of life; that if I don’t study hard and ace this test and get this scholarship that I will drown. Pushing myself and being pushed by another are two very different things, yet I feel as though I am experiencing them as one in the same.

But I know that I am not alone. I know that mere exhaustion from studying will not be the death of me, and I know that I am going to be alright. It is simply the journey to that peaceful point, though, that is so strenuous. But we can rest assured that whatever God has in store for us will be worth the pain and the tears.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 

James 1:2-4, ESV

Take a deep breath now, knowing that the Lord is our strength and our salvation. Knowing that someday, we will be complete, living in a world where Christmas is everyday (and it is socially acceptable to celebrate everyday) and finals are a fear-figment of our imaginations.