Well, that is enough of the negative because I want to share the positive reasons why I love this time of year.

1) Thanksgiving Day –

This is a special day and it would take a lot of ink and paper to tell all the reasons why. Each year I am reminded of all the years that have gone before. I cannot control what happened, but I have learned to grow through the trials and difficulties that life presented to my family and I.

2) Run-up to Christmas

I do enjoy watching the joy on the faces of my little girls as they watch yet another poorly written and horribly acted Hallmark movie. Of course, I think identical bad scripts and bad acting (just like last year’s selection) goes along with Christmas like…well, like eggnog and chocolate chip cookies, or a nice frappe and mince pie, or like hot chocolate and another round of specialty cookie tins, or like…ahem, I think you get the picture!

Another pleasure of this season is being able to go and find gifts for my family. My girls also get excited as they huddle in their rooms and make “plans” for what they are going to make each family member.

They then try to be secretive while they fish for clues about what others want so they can then “borrow” some money from me or their mom in order to get some store-bought things as well.

Yes, I like the pictures that come with each new batch of falling snow here in Wyoming. I enjoy hot chocolate or tea while listening to various types of Christmas music or while watching re-runs of Bing Crosby in “White Christmas” or of Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

3) Christmas Eve and Day

Each Christmas, we spend extra time reading the real reason for the First Advent of Jesus Christ. This includes not just His birth, but about His perfect, sinless life, as well as His death, burial, and resurrection. This is the true message of Christmas and we would be remiss if we forgot this in favor of gifts, tinsel, trees, and too much food.

We have a tradition in our family where we take time to reflect on the years that my wife, Violet, and I have spent together as a married couple. We gather the family around and share what happened every single year. Funny anecdotes are shared along with painful memories of those who have departed this world.

4) Wedding Anniversary

This year, my wife and I celebrate 29 years of marriage. I would be lying if I said that they have been easy years because they have not. We have weathered trials, deadly illnesses, pain, tears, and even arguments on three different continents.

Yet, through difficulties, we are constantly reminded that there is only One Who is sovereignly in control. He is the One Who has sustained and kept us each step of the way. Every year that passes is a reminder of what some believed would never last.

5) New Year’s Eve and Day

Ah, staying up late is getting harder and harder for some of us who tend to turn back into a pumpkin around 9–10pm. However, the extent of New Year’s celebrations in our house includes staying warm, another cup of hot chocolate or hot apple cider and trying to keep our eyes open as long as possible before normally retiring around 10:05pm.

Reflecting on the old year allows me to rejoice that a new year is about to begin. It will have 365 clean, white pages representing days that have never been travelled. Each of those days comes with 24 hours, or 1,440 minutes that can be used for good or for bad.

Each day will be filled with joy and wonder or it may be filled with grief and sadness. In fact, there is no guarantee that any of us will even be here to enjoy the transition from 2018 to 2019, much less from 2019 to 2020 a year from now.

A few things are certain though about this 2018 holiday season.

I will enjoy each day as though it might be my last. I will give thanks for all the blessings that have been given to me, but I will also ask for strength to give thanks for the hard times for they help to shape the character. I will remember the joy of family and friends and take time to remember what each person means to me.

Wishing you and your families a most wonderful time of the year.

Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or Christmas or none of the above, we can all still work to be thankful for the days given to us. They are a precious gift!

Originally written for “Live Your Life on Purpose” on Medium.