Today I have Wendy Sparkes from England on my blog. Wendy has a children's book which would be great for Christmas.
Firstly thanks for
coming to my blog to focus on Christmas.
1. What do you most associate with Christmas
where you live?
Thanks for having me
here, Jenny.
The Christmas Lights –
it gets dark early here in the UK in December so having the lights on houses
& trees really lightens up a dark time. I love seeing the lights shining
(or twinkling as in some cases!) out dispelling the darkness, & it reminds
me of how Jesus came into a dark world to be our Light.
2. Do you have any special family traditions
you do at Christmas time?
One of our traditions is
to keep the decorations up until the day after 12th night. It started with my
great-grandmother. One of her daughters (one of my great aunts) has a birthday
on 12th night. My great-grandmother decided it would be good to keep the
decorations up for her birthday for her to enjoy, & then to keep them up
over 12th night in defiance of the bad luck keeping your decorations up on 12th
night is supposed to bring!
3. Do you have a favourite Christmas Carol
and if so do you know why?
I have 2 – is that
allowed? :)
Silent Night – it just
perfectly sums up the nativity scene & I feel like I’m there at Bethlehem
experiencing the wonder of Jesus’ birth when I sing that carol.
O Little Town of
Bethlehem - it wonderfully links the Christmas story to us today.
4. If you could spend Christmas anyway you
could how would you celebrate?
It would be with family,
& preferably somewhere where it gets dark early so I can enjoy the
Christmas lights!
5. Do you have any special memories of
Christmas?
I have lots of special
memories, all involving family. Over the Christmas week we’ve always met up
with extended family members & had lots of fun together.
6. What is a typical Christmas eve and or
Christmas day for you?
Christmas Day – We have
a special Christmas breakfast & exchange Christmas cards, then it’s out to
church for a short Christmas service. We come back to check on the dinner &
then the others will go out for a walk on the seafront while waiting for dinner
to finish cooking – as I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I have a rest at this
time. A roast dinner then clean-up, & then it’s present opening time! We
will then have a light tea together in the lounge & look over our presents
& just enjoy being together. (Jenny
Here sounds fun. The walk on the seafront sorry you are unable to go also. It’s
interesting commonwealth countries seem to go to church on Christmas day. Wow
you are good to wait til after dinner for presents.)
7. Do you have any
Christmas movies or Christmas books you like to see or read each year?
Books: The Protector by
Dee Henderson (I love her whole O’Malley Series, but always get this audio book
out to listen to during the Christmas period), A Fairytale Romance by Melanie
Panagiotopoulos, Christmas Peril by Margaret Daley & Debby Giusti &
Holiday Illusion by Lynette Eason. New this year I’ve listened to an audio
version of Karen Kingsbury’s The Bridge & that will now be added to my
Christmas favourites! I also enjoy the devotionals Christ the Light of the
World by Thomas Kinkade, The Art of Waiting by Wendy Bray & Mary’s Diary –
An Advent Journey by Emily Owen.
Films: The Christmas
Card starring Alice Evans & John Newton is my absolute favourite Christmas
film to watch.
8. Do you have a
Christmas message for my readers?
I would like to wish everyone
a happy Christmas, & to those who are grieving or ill at this time, I pray
that God’s comfort & love will surround you & uphold you.
One Starry Night -
Christmas carols are playing, mince pies are cooking, and wrapping paper is
everywhere! Yes, it's Christmas Eve. Jude and Annie are enjoying getting ready
for Christmas. With a walk on the beach in the dark and a special bedtime
story, they feel God's greatness and find out how much God really loves them.
Books by Wendy Sparkes: Come along with Jude
and Annie as they discover the meaning of Christmas in One Starry Night, find
out more about heaven in Snowfall, and learn about praising God in everything –
yes even when things go wrong in A Sunny Day.
Visit my website
www.WendySparkes.co.uk to get sneak peeks of the stories & illustrations!
4 comments:
Hi Jenny - I hadn't considered that about commonwealth countries...interesting point!
Waiting for our presents when I was a child did seem like torture sometimes, but now it's part of the tradition!
Although I can't do the walk now, I have lots of memories of Christmas Day seafront walks from when I was younger!
Thanks for sharing, Wendy. I enjoyed reading your responses.
:) Thanks for joining me here, Lyn.
Hi Jenny! Could you send me your email address so I can end you Undercover Cowboy from International Christian Fiction Writers? I can't find it. :-)
Thank you!
Lisa Harris
contact (dot) harris (at) gmail (dot) com
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