Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada and have I got a neat gift for you today!

Welcome to "Joni and Friends" where we sure do love to pass on God's blessings. And sometimes those blessings are small enough to wear right on your wrist. The other day several children from a home school group came to visit our headquarters at Joni and Friends, and after they got a tour of the International Disability Center, they stopped by my office where I proceeded to show them where I work and how I type with a voice dictating program and so on. And then I invited them into my art studio – I love to show boys and girls my sketches and all the tubes of paint and how I'm able to draw with my mouth.

But a child almost never leaves my art studio without a gift – I keep a stash of Gospel bracelets in a box on the shelf and I love presenting each child with one. They’re just little rope bracelets… some of them come in leather… and on them, I explain to each child, there is a black bead to show our sin; and this red bead here represents the blood of Christ that cleanses us from sin; then see this white bead, well that represents God’s forgiveness; and this blue bead here shows being washed in His Word; and this little green one indicates that we need to keep growing; and the last bead, the yellow one, represents those golden crowns in heaven.

Well, I'm amazed how boys and girls get so excited when I give them a Gospel bracelet and they put it on their wrist. I tell them to be sure to explain to their friends what the beads mean… and by the time they leave my art studio I tell you what, they are on a mission! They’re already thinking about school coming up… and the kids in their neighborhood. It is so wonderful to see that spark of excitement about Jesus in their eyes! And speaking of exciting things, our Wheels for the World team this week is also giving out Gospel bracelets to disabled people with each wheelchair. Those bracelets really come in handy in places where there’s a high rate of illiteracy and people can’t read when we give them a Bible. Why, they’ve got the Bible story of salvation right there on their wrist with that Gospel bracelet, they do.