Spread the Christmas Joy with Elizabeth Maddrey | Day 19

Joy from Elizabeth Maddrey

When I was growing up, Christmas always started with the fifteen (or so) hour drive from where we lived to my grandparent’s house. This was back in the day before mandatory seat belts and car seats – so my sister and I spent the bulk of the drive reading and playing games in the far back of our full sized van in a nest of blankets and luggage. Once we arrived, it was a reunion of cousins and aunts and uncles and noise and exclamations of “Oh, look how you’ve grown!” And then before long, it was Christmas Eve.

Rather than going to church, we’d gather in the living room of my grandmother’s house (a room that had a piano and an organ and was so rarely used that if I ever walked through it I always felt like I needed to tiptoe) and someone would read the Christmas story out of Luke 2. Then my dad and his siblings (seven in total) would sing and there’d be little group ensembles of this or that duet or quartet or solos. Then the grandchildren would take turns on the piano or flute or whatever other instrument they’d brought. And then we’d all sing the Christmas hymns together. For the longest time, this is what I imagined a choir of angels would sound like.

My grandparents are gone now, but whenever I think of them, it’s most often in the context of our Christmas gatherings and the glorious music that would fill the room. It’s a tradition we’ve continued – though now my parents are the grandparents. And I hope that my boys will always remember that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus with a glorious and joyful song.

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Elizabeth Maddrey began writing stories as soon as she could form the letters properly and has never looked back. Though her practical nature and love of math and organization steered her into computer science for college and graduate school, she has always had one or more stories in progress to occupy her free time. When she isn’t writing, Elizabeth is a voracious consumer of books and has mastered the art of reading while undertaking just about any other activity. She loves to write about Christians who struggle through their lives, dealing with sin and receiving God’s grace.
Elizabeth lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. with her husband and their two incredibly active little boys. She invites you to interact with her at her website www.ElizabethMaddrey.com or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ElizabethMaddrey

Purchase her book here: Serenity to Accept