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Our lives are brimming with little miracles. This Hanukkah, let鈥檚 take the time to notice them.

Hanukkah, which begins Sunday night, Dec. 22, and continues through Monday, Dec. 30, commemorates the victory of the few who stood for freedom over the many who stood for tyranny. It is the victory of the tiny light over the darkness; the victory of hope over despair.

While the holiday is called the Jewish Festival of Lights, we don鈥檛 commemorate it with a large bonfire or a display of fireworks. Instead, we light single candles on a menorah. They remind us that the miracles that brighten up our lives can be very small.

We can find such little miracles in our own lives, if we look carefully enough.

My wife Feigie and I are from large families, and we yearned to have many children of our own, but our journey was not to be as straightforward. After two children, we embarked on the tedious path of tackling secondary infertility. After five years of treatment and surgeries, we were finally expecting a miracle: We were having a baby, due just a week before Hanukkah 2016.

However, running on Jewish time, our baby decided not to stick to the schedule. Instead, he hung around while we prepared for our Chabad 蜜柚直播 community Hanukkah celebration.

Hours before the event, my wife鈥檚 contractions began and she rushed to the 蜜柚直播 Medical Center. They checked her and sent her back home. 鈥淲hen should I come back?鈥� she asked. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l know,鈥� was the reply.

We continued preparing for the event. As we were about to head out to the venue, my wife said, 鈥淚鈥檓 staying behind. You go. You need to be there with the community.鈥�

As I joined 200 蜜柚直播an Jews at our Hanukkah party, I kept straining to hear whether my phone was ringing over the lively music.

Hours passed, and no call or text from my wife. And then the first little miracle of the day: right when the music stopped, my phone sprang to life. 鈥淐ome home NOW!鈥� read my wife鈥檚 text message.

I grabbed my daughters, jumped into my car, and rushed down Speedway, where I experienced our second little miracle: we caught every green light. At home, my wife was ready at the front door.

When we got to the hospital, we were sent to triage. We asked the nurse where to go, and she directed us to a bed she said they had just cleaned. And then we experienced our third little miracle: over that one bed, the monitor had a photo of a Hanukkah menorah with gifts wrapped in blue and white.

And a short while later, at 9:40 p.m., our biggest miracle took place, as my wife gave birth to our son Mendel. We felt that the little miracles were a bit more visible than usual that day.

Life doesn鈥檛 always work out as planned and world events don鈥檛 always provide us with hope. But Hanukkah reminds us that we all have little miracles 鈥� perhaps some big ones 鈥� to be grateful for in our lives. And the more we celebrate the blessings in our lives, the more blessings we have to celebrate.

Case in point: this past month, right before Thanksgiving, my wife gave birth to our fourth child, a baby boy. Dovid is our family鈥檚 latest miracle.

Our lives are brimming with little miracles. This Hanukkah, let鈥檚 take the time to notice them.