Let the Children Come

We had a great visit with the grandkids. They are healthy, happy, energetic, loving, and so much fun. After coming home, I missed the excitement of being with them.

Then I turn on the TV and see images of Ukrainian children who are like our grandkids, who are walking long distances and some being carried, many crowded into busses - all leaving behind the security they have known. Leaving behind toys and friends and routines, their homes, and even their Dads. Children and babies clutched by anxious mothers who are fleeing terror into an unknown future. Then there are the orphans who have no relatives to care for them. They are all refugees. As I am writing this I see video of a maternity and children's hospital that's been bombed by a massive explosive. 

What is happening to Ukraine is evil. More than a million children are displaced from their homes and millions more may follow. Even millions more will be left behind, unable to get out of a country under military attack. Many will die.

Last night I listened to this seven minute Meditation on Ukraine of a personal account of how children are being received in Poland. It ends with a way we can respond in a spiritual way to support the children. I am taking up the challenge and also doing what I can, even in a small way, to financially support humanitarian efforts.

Jesus said, let the children come to me, and do not prevent them. Matthew 19:14. I can imagine Jesus gathering the children to himself, smiling and laughing with them, placing his hands on them to bless them.

I am grateful for all the children in my life and I thank the Lord for each one. May Our Lord bless the Ukranian children and make a way for them that they may have a future full of hope and peace.