My favorite Christmas song in the known Universe:Sufjan Stevens- Joy to the World

Sufjan Stevens gets a lot of shit for being a little too twee, or a bit too arranged, but when he brings his gift for melody to bear it is always a treasure. I love ‘Joy to the World’ because it’s about the good stuff, before the terrible stuff. This particular rendition always gets me all worked up, doubly so when we’re so far away from home. This has been my most Christmas-y Christmas in, gosh, 8 or so years? I don’t know what finally clicked, but. There it was. Thousands of miles from home and finally feeling like it was Christmas. God presents us with any number of strange personal challenges, this one felt particularly obtuse. But if there’s a lesson I’ve gleaned from our adventures over the past few years: Just say Thank You and be grateful for the good stuff, even if it doesn’t look like the good stuff. Anyway, pictures and videos are incoming.

TRIVIA: Sufjan used to attend our church in Brooklyn. One time Mary held to the door for him AND DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHO HE WAS. GASP.