Loving the Children in 2025

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward. Psalm 127:3

In this new year I think about the children in our country and around the world. The children who have come across the U.S. border and are missing. The children in war torn places: Ukraine, Russia, Gaza, Israel, Syria and African nations. The lives terminated by abortion. I think about the declining health of children in the U.S. Chronic disease (asthma, allergies, autoimmune disease) is increasing. Autism has increased in the U.S. to one child in 36. 

Jesus demonstrated God’s love for children. We need to love the children.

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. Mark 10:13-16

As I look back to my childhood days, I believe that children were healthier in the 1960s. My own children had health issues that my siblings and I did not. My siblings and I had the measles and mumps (and recovered well) but we did not have the repeated ear infections that my children had. My parents encouraged a healthy diet—we did not have any food intolerances or allergies. Some of my children have a gluten intolerance. One of my children developed an autoimmune disease.

Eventually I began to consider the vaccines on the CDC schedule. I heard about Andrew Wakefield’s concern that the MMR vaccine could be connected to inflammation in the bowel and possibly autism. He was involved with a study initially published in the Lancet and then withdrawn. His observation of abdominal distress following the MMR injection matched what I had seen in my daughter in the weeks after she received the MMR vaccine. In 1982 I took my daughter to two pediatric gastroenterologists to discover what was causing her distress. She had inflammation but no diagnosis was given. We pursued dietary changes.

You can hear a recent interview with Andrew Wakefield here.

I am glad that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is raising the issue of vaccine safety. We need longer term testing of vaccines for safety. Data that compares the health of unvaccinated children against vaccinated children should be studied. 

Here is a study that indicates the need for further study. In this study, which only allowed for the calculation of unadjusted observational associations, higher ORs were observed within the vaccinated versus unvaccinated group for developmental delays, asthma and ear infections. Further study is necessary to understand the full spectrum of health effects associated with childhood vaccination.

Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future. John F. Kennedy

Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,
and the glory of children is their fathers. Proverbs 17:6

Please join me in praying for the children, their health and well-being.

Painting is Let the Children Come to Me by Carl Vogel von Vogelstein