Article: There we were on a...
There we were on a chilly October morning a few weeks ago — Warner Faith publicist Andrea Davis, and I— passing out red gloves to all the people waiting to watch the filming of NBC’s Today Show in New York City, and someone asked the question.
"Why all the red gloves?"
"Because," we answered. "It’s Red Gloves Day in New York City!"
But of course, it’s so much more than that. Actually, this is a Red Gloves Year in the United States, and if you haven’t caught Red Gloves Fever yet, read on. In small groups and businesses, churches and schools around the country, people are rolling up their sleeves, donning red gloves, and getting to work.
"Red is the color of giving at Christmas," one reader told me recently.
And so it is.
Last year, many of you journeyed with me through the pages of my first Warner Christmas story, Gideon’s Gift. In that book, I shared with you the miracle of a sick little girl and an angry homeless man, and the gift that changed both their lives forever. And in honor of Gideon’s precious gift, at the back of that book I suggested several Red Gloves Projects for you and your friends and families.
In the hundreds of letters you’ve written me since then, I’ve heard one theme resonate loudly. You love the idea of the red gloves. Red for Christmas, red for a heart full of love and hope and Christmas miracles.
Red, the color of giving.
And because of that, I’ve decided to let the red gloves of Gideon’s Gift play a cameo role in each of my Warner Christmas stories. The Red Gloves Series, we’re calling it, and each book will have a new list of Red Glove Projects. As one of you told me last year, "I bought fifty copies of Gideon’s Gift to give to everyone I know. My prayer is that we’d see red gloves all around us in the coming years, that they’d grace the hands of the homeless and widowed, the children without parents and parents without hope. So that red gloves would forever be the symbol of Christ’s love at Christmas."
In that light, I bring you this year’s Red Gloves Projects.
1. Adopt an orphan through WorldVision or another international organization you feel is trustworthy. For usually pennies a day, you can make a difference in the life of at least one child and be to that little boy or girl a Christmas miracle every day of the year. Once you’ve chosen your child, send him or her a pair of red gloves. Then cut out the child’s picture and attach it to a red glove, which can hang in your home all year long.
2. Contact your local branch of Social Services and find out how many children in your area are awaiting families. Make a list of the names of those children and commit along with your friends or family to pray for each of them. Buy gifts for these children, along with several pairs of red gloves, and take the wrapped presents to the local Social Services office. Ask that they be delivered to the children waiting for families.
3. If you’re single and able to be more involved, check if your area has an organization that pairs lonely children with willing adults. Make a year-long commitment to a child and make your first gift to him or her a pair of red gloves with an explanation that red is the color of giving.
4. Talk to your local public elementary school or contact your church leaders and locate a needy family in your area. Purchase presents for the family and deliver them while wearing red gloves. Adorn the packages with red gloves for each of the children in the family.
I pray this finds you and your family doing well this Christmas, determined to mend broken relationships and let fall the walls that have come between you and those you love. God gave us the greatest gift of all that first Christmas Day. How much richer we — like the Maggie’s Miracle character Casey Cummins — are when we follow His example and give something back.
Especially something to a child.
Please check out my website at www.KarenKingsbury.com for more information about the Red Gloves Projects that have happened since last year. And leave me a note in my guestbook. As always, I’d love to hear from you and if you have a Red Gloves Project idea you’d like to share with me, please do. I’ll add it to my website and perhaps suggest it in my Warner Christmas story next year.
Until then, may God’s light and life be yours in the coming year.
In His love, Karen Kingsbury
Copyright © by Karen Kingsbury