Join Suzanne Lynn weekday evenings from 7pm – 12am for Positive Hits and the voice of a friend who is Always Safe For The Little Ears!
Christmas In Australia
Christmas In Australia
Christmas on Bondi Beach
Christmas in Australia is normally a very hot day, a high of 100 degrees is pretty normal. Christmas shopping is often done in shorts and t-shirts. At many beaches you’ll see lifeguards and surfers dressed up as Santa.
The warm weather allows Australians to have their Christmas dinner on the beach. It normally is turkey with ham and pork and a flaming plum pudding for dessert.
Because Australia is such a big mix of ethnic groups like European, Middle East and Asia, the traditions are wide and vast. Australian Christmas’ consist of the traditional candles, trees and gift giving but the differences come through the wide customs.
For many, Christmas will begin with families attending a mid-night mass. 70% of Australians are either Catholic, Anglican or Lutheran. After the mid-night Mass, a little sleep is attempted. For many, the children in various households, wake up the family at dawn. Gifts are unwrapped and the joy of Christmas begins. For many with relatives and friends overseas, it is a mad scramble to get an early phone call to relatives worldwide.
On Christmas Day the people who live in the outback send Christmas greetings to each other over a special radio network.
To say Merry Christmas in Australia you may say ‘Ave a good one, mate.”
Join me each weeknight at 8:30pm through December 21st. We will travel to a new country to see how they celebrate Christmas. Listen online at www.zradio.com
Like my evening page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Z88.3EveningShow
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Christmas In Ecuador
Christmas In Ecuador
Part of an Ecuador Christmas Pageant
One of the highlights of Christmas in Ecuador is a pageant honoring the traveling Infant Jesus. On Christmas Eve, the all day pageant that is led by the guiding star and accompanied by angels, the Three Kings, shepherds, large floats and a huge number of children dressed in festive costumes. In addition to the pageants, there’s public gatherings of prayers and singing and religious poetry.
You won’t see many homes decorated with lights on the outside. Because of the big massive walls that separate most houses for protection, they wouldn’t be able to be seen, but another reason is excessive decorations is a sign of wealth and there is a humbleness to not decorating the outside of homes in Ecuador.
Families gather on Christmas Eve right at midnight to place the baby Jesus among the nativity scene. Then a big meal is served. It’s normally turkey and grapes and raising with rice and cheese and a fried flour dessert topped with honey.
The focus of presents is on the children. It’s not as common in Ecuador for adults to exchange gifts. Many families wait to place the presents for the children at the foot of the kids beds once they are fast asleep.
Merry Christ in Ecuador is said Feliz Navidad!
Join me each weeknight at 8:30pm through December 21st. We will travel to a new country to see how they celebrate Christmas. Listen online at www.zradio.com
Like my evening page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Z88.3EveningShow
Follow me on Twitter @suzlynn
Christmas in South Africa
Christmas In South Africa
African Christmas Ornament
Christmas in South Africa is a summer holiday, so much like Florida, people flock to the beaches. You’ll see lots of carolers on Christmas Eve traveling from home to home. You may hear them shouting “Christ is coming! He is near!
Before Christmas Eve dinner, families go out and play games in parks together, then go home for the big Christmas Eve feast. Christmas dinner in South Africa most likely takes place outside at a park, and yellow rice with raisins and plum pudding are likely on the menu.
On Christmas morning, people are woken up by carols. A typical Christmas tree, for example, is a palm tree adorned with lots of lights and bells.
Those who can afford it will generally give gifts at Christmas but the holiday is not nearly as commercial as it is in Europe or the Americas. Presents such as cotton cloth, soap, sweets, pencils, and books are exchanged. After presents are opened, the family goes to the morning a church service and is held in which the Christmas scene is enacted and hymns and carols are sung. Dinner is eaten outdoors with everyone sitting in a circle to share stories and make family memories. Then fireworks finish off Christmas night.
Merry Christmas in South Africa is said Geseende Kersfees!
Join me each weeknight at 8:30pm through December 21st. We will travel to a new country to see how they celebrate Christmas. Listen online at www.zradio.com
Like my evening page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Z88.3EveningShow
Follow me on Twitter @suzlynn
Christmas In Italy
Christmas in Italy
Italian Christmas Cookies
Traditionally, it’s celebrated December 24 – January 6 which is Christmas Eve through Epiphany. That’s when the three Wise Men gave Baby Jesus their gifts.
You will find traditional lights and decorations in most Italian homes. But the center piece of all the decorations is the Nativity.
One main difference between Italy and the United State is the lack of commercialism. For example instead of children making a list of the toys they want, the children write letters to their parents telling them how much they love them. The letter is normally placed under the father’s dinner plate and read after the Christmas Eve dinner has been finished.
A big meatless, seven fishes dinner is the Christmas Eve norm in Italy followed by a living nativity scene and midnight mass as a family. And of course at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City the Pope’s Midnight Mass is a big deal. And at noon on Christmas day the Pope give a Christmas message from the window of his apartment over looking the square.
Here are some other Italian Christmas traditions.
Ceppo: The ceppo is a wooden frame several feet high designed in a pyramid shape. This frame supports several tiers of shelves, often with a manger scene on the bottom followed by small gifts of fruit, candy, and presents on the shelves above. The “Tree of Light,” as it is also know, is entirely decorated with colored paper, gilt pinecones, and miniature colored pennants. Small candles are fastened to the tapering sides and a star or small doll is hung at the apex.
Urn of Fate: An old tradition in Italy calls for each member of the family to take turns drawing a wrapped gift out of a large ornamental bowl until all the presents are distributed.
Zampognari and Pifferai: In Rome and surrounding areas bagpipers and flute players, in traditional colorful costumes of sheepskin vests, knee-high breeches, white stockings and long dark cloaks, travel from their homes in the Abruzzi mountains to entertain crowds of people at religious shrines.
Merry Christmas in Italian is Buon Natale
Join me each weeknight at 8:30pm through December 21st. We will travel to a new country to see how they celebrate Christmas. Listen online at www.zradio.com
Like my evening page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Z88.3EveningShow
Follow me on Twitter @suzlynn
Christmas In China
Christmas in China
Chinese Christmas Oranament (Symbol of love)
We are so blessed to celebrate our Lord Jesus Christ and His birth! I thought it would be fun to take a trip around the world to see how other countries celebrate Christmas. So, jump on the Z – Plane with me, cause tonight we’re headed to China!
China has only around one percent of Christians, and most people there have very little knowledge as to what Christmas is even about. And the families that do celebrate tend to have very small Christmas trees in their homes, and their normally made of paper with modest home made decorations. The strange thing is that most of the world’s plastic Christmas Trees and Christmas decorations are made in China, but the people making them might not know what they are for!?!
Because of the commercialization, you’ll see many more traditional decorations in the big cities like lights and decorations in stores and on the street.
Some people do go caroling, But again, the story of Jesus is really not understood.
One interesting tradition happens on Christmas Eve. It’s when people give apples away. It’s not based on the gift giving as we understand it by the Wise Men though. People give apples on Christmas Eve because in Chinese Christmas Eve is called ‘Ping An Ye’ (which means quiet or silent night) and the word for apple in Chinese is ‘Ping Guo’ which sounds similar.
In Chinese Happy/Merry Christmas is ‘Sheng Dan Kuai Le.
Join me each weeknight through December 23. At 8:30pm on Z88.3, we will travel to a new country to see how they celebrate Christmas. Listen online at www.zradio.com
Join me each weeknight at 8:30pm through December 21st. We will travel to a new country to see how they celebrate Christmas. Listen online at www.zradio.com
Like my evening page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Z88.3EveningShow
Follow me on Twitter @suzlynn
Candy Cane Poem
Christmas Candy Cane Poem about Jesus
by Felicia Mollohan.
Look at the Candy Cane
What do you see?
Stripes that are red
Like the blood shed for me
White is for my Savior
Who’s sinless and pure!
“J” is for Jesus My Lord, that’s for sure!
Turn it around
And a staff you will see
Jesus my shepherd
Was born for me.
Follow me on Twitter @Suzlynn
Christmas Letters – Not a time to brag.
Did you ever get a Christmas letter in the mail from friends and have to check the return address to be sure it’s the same family? Cause what you know are the facts, have a “holiday spin” that closely resemble BIG exaggerations at best!
So as my husband and I consider putting together our first Christmas letter in over a decade, I’m trying to think of what a loving note would include, and NOT include.
Do you ever wonder what Jesus’ Christmas letters would look like? No? Well I have. I have to think it would be less filled with the Walking On Water thing and Calming The Storm, and more filled with love and concern of His reader. I believe it would be chock full of encouragement and loving re-connection. So I’ve put together a general guideline that we’ll be keeping in mind as we write up our letter this year.
1. Don’t Exaggerate – Your child getting an “A” on a test does not make them a straight A student.
2. Do Share Stories – Share warm family stories as close to the truth as possible. A few pictures are special to help tell the stories.
3. Don’t Be Negative – This isn’t the time to throw anybody under the bus, no matter what they did this year.
4. Do Be Interesting But Pithy – Don’t get hung up on details that seem important to you. The readers digest version is what we’re going for.
5. Don’t Brag – Just don’t brag. It’s really annoying.
@suzlynn Twitter
Surviving the holidays with “them” !?!
You know the ole saying “You can pick your friends but you can’t pick your family.” Your family struggles and frustrations can be exaggerated around the holidays, when the big gatherings happen.
Just the stress of knowing you’ll be in the same room for a while with “that person” is enough to set off little earthquakes with your kids and husband before you even arrive. If you mentally prepare ahead of time, maybe this year can be different. No need to fight or have bad feelings, but you may need to take a few steps to make this happen.
Focus on the positive – Realize that you will not change this persons thinking, so focus on their positives. Look at how the things that drive you crazy about them could actually be a good thing. Ok, let’s try it together, repeat after me. “Gee, your passion is contagious! I love how you really believe in things you’re on fire for.”
Don’t challenge – There’s no need to challenge someones statement. You don’t actually have to say everything you think. It took me years to learn this one and I’m still a work in progress. Just sit back and listen. You don’t have to be part of every conversation and speak your mind on everything. And if it’s your spouse that loves to goad, tell him ahead of time that you would appreciate if he would use restraint and resist those opportunities.
You’re not perfect - You don’t have all the answers either. This is a great opportunity to show your faith and confidence by being humble and self-depreciating. Sometimes the things you DON’T say, speak louder than comments that can be demeaning and argumentative. Try being loving and tender this year.
Life is so short, and family gathers are few and far between. Enjoy them! And take lots of pictures.
Contact:
E-mail me your thoughts.
@suzlynn Twitter
Raising Wise Children
Sm
art, compassionate, endearing, likeable, hard-working, thoughtful … these are all awesome traits to teach our children to be. But if I had to choose one characteristic for my kids to have, I would have to go with WISE. Wisdom covers everything. A wise person has the heart and mind to be strong in all the other important areas, like the ones I listed earlier.
Since I’m pretty sure no one thinks they’re “all things wise,” the question is, then how do we raise wise children? How am I qualified to take on a task that size? Gotta hit the bible up for a question of that magnitude! And here’s just a little about what I found that it tells us.
1) Be A Model – Help them to think things through. Help them with the deeper thought process, to pause and consider their choices and words carefully.
Proverbs 13: 13 – 16 – Those who reject what they are taught will pay for it, but those who obey what they are told will be rewarded. 14 The teaching of a wise person gives life. It is like a fountain that can save people from death. 15 People with good understanding will be well liked, but the lives of those who are not trustworthy are hard. 16 Every wise person acts with good sense, but fools show how foolish they are.
2) Teach Them Forgiveness and Humility -I am personally so unqualified to model this! So once again, we hit up the bible for better understanding.
Ephesians 4:31-23 - Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
What an honor to see a child live out Proverbs 19:20 – Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.
Facts Of Life to Survivor?
Maybe you saw that Lisa Whelchel, better known as Blair on the sitcom ”Facts Of Life” is now a contestant on Survivor. I have to be honest, I had a negative attitude about it since I’ve heard she was going to be on. Kinda felt like, yea, ok missy child star, being famous once wasn’t enough and now you can go and throw your name and status around. Maybe you won’t have to do as much labor and get more than you fair share of chocolate while you’re on the show. I know that’s terrible, but I’m being honest about my thoughts.
Well, I was stopped dead in my self-righteous tracks by the short 3 minutes of the show I saw tonight. Not only did Lisa NOT reveal about her star-studded past, but she was already sharing her faith and lovingly connecting with two young women as they all cooled off in the ocean. But most humbling was when Lisa said what she’s most excited about is feeling close to God during this experience, and listening to who and what HE wants her to be.
So, it was me being opinionated and judgemental … again. Seems to be just a “fact of life” for me that I need to seriously work on.
