Up until attending college, I'd always gone to a Catholic school.

We wore uniforms, sang in Mass, and had an entire class dedicated to learning about Jesus. To some, it might sound extreme. But it was my norm.

My family was never super religious. We kind of aligned our beliefs with the whole have-faith-in-God-and-treat-other-people-well mentality, which was OK with me. When my school told us that skipping Mass was a one-way ticket to hell, I always sat back in my seat and nodded half-heartedly.

I just had a feeling deep down that God cared more about the kind of person you were than how many times a week your butt sat in a pew.

Then I went off to college and I made friends who weren't Catholic, or Christian, or even religious at all.

I learned how to think critically and realized that while I did believe in some of what the Church preaches, there was a lot of it that I didn't think was right. The conversations that my school would have about how 'immoral' birth control was, how divorce was a sin, and if you were gay you needed to live a life of solitude in order to remain a good person in God's eyes, were things that didn't sit well with me.

I didn't understand how the very place that taught me to love everyone equally could so easily turn its back on people who didn't fit the mold.

I felt like it was wrong of me to cherry-pick. Where did we draw the line between which passages in the Bible are just 'dated and not meant to be taken literally' and then those that are just plain hateful and cruel?

Around the holidays, this can be a little difficult. I love the spirit of Christmas and probably always will. But is it wrong of me to hang lights on our Christmas tree when I have no idea if I believe in what the Bible teaches?

Do I instead pull an Ebenezer Scrooge and sit in the corner, sulking over how 'stupid' Christmas is, all to prove a point that I'm not a hypocrite?

Am I a hypocrite?

I've always taken Christmas and the holidays as a time to be grateful for my family and friends.

I look forward to going over to my nana's every year and laughing at old stories with my parents, reminiscing of the days when I was so little that a Barbie Dream House was all I wanted in the world.

But is it wrong if this is the main reason why I'm celebrating?

Personally, I think that it isn't. That's why I'll continue to wear a Santa hat and sing along to Christmas music until it becomes no longer an appropriate time of the year to do so.

This time of the year, it's just important to be grateful for all the blessings that you do have.

Whether you believe in Jesus or God, you can look around at your life and see something beautiful that you can celebrate. My family and friends have been constant supports in my life and continue to amaze me with their kindness and understanding. I'll celebrate them this holiday season. I'm going to celebrate how lucky I am to have a loving family to go home to when I know there are many people who do not.

I think that, despite your religion, you can agree with me that that's the true spirit of the holidays.