6-year-old girl teaches bible verse to her brother to ease his coronavirus fears
Mother of four Sheletta Brundidge on the importance of faith over fear during the pandemic.
A Minnesota mom's timely post about choosing faith over widespread fear surrounding the coronavirus outbreak is capturing the hearts of many.
Sheletta Brundidge, a comedian and mother of four, shared a video of her 6-year-old daughter teaching her brother a Bible verse to help ease his fear after seeing the hysteria on the news about COVID-19.
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"My son Brandon has crippling anxiety because of his autism diagnosis," she told Fox News. "We watch the news every day and he was watching it and was taking in all the fear and panic...it just made him so scared."
His sister, Cameron, noticed him tensing up and quickly grabbed his hand. Facing one another, Bandon, 7, repeated after Cameron, phrase by phrase, as she said, "But God did not give me a spirit of fear, but power, love, and a sound mind."
Her mom says she prays for everybody and remembered the verse, 2 Timothy 1:7, after learning it at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Minneapolis.
The siblings hugged as everyone exclaimed, "Amen!"
"While the world is stocking up on toilet paper and mayonnaise, jars of pickles and bottled water," Brundidge said with a laugh, "She realized -- at 6 years old -- that it was only his faith that was going to get him through this."
Cameron, 6, and Brandon, 7, pose together. (Courtesy of Sheletta Brundidge)
When Cameron told her brother she wanted to teach him something that will stop him from being afraid, the mother of three kids with autism said the moment changed something for her and her family.
"Just from the mouth of a child to another child, it transformed the way I looked at it," she said. "We don't have to be afraid of this. There's been worse. We just have to rely on our faith, take the precautions we need to take and continue to live our lives."
Inspired by her daughter, Brundidge wrote on Twitter: "Stop letting your fear of coronavirus be bigger than your faith in God. Plead the blood, pray and wash your hands. Amen!"
She told Fox News, "We are a family of faith. we just believe in faith and we believe in Jesus and we're not afraid to say it. She has autism, too, and for her to remember that -- that was just amazing and a blessing to me."
Sheletta Brundidge wrote a children's book about her daughter, Cameron, a first-grader who is diagnosed with autism. (Courtesy of Sheletta Brundidge)
The proud mom is releasing a children's book at the end of the month about her called "Cameron Goes to School," designed to empower young boys and girls who have autism and educate their classmates.
"I'm so proud of her," Brundidge said. "She didn't just tell him to believe in God, but she gave him a Scripture, and not only that but the right one."
The comedian, who hosts the "Taking Authority Over Autism" podcast network on SHElettamakesmelaugh.com, said her favorite verse is "The joy of the Lord is my strength."
The Brundidge family: Shawn, 54; Sheletta, 48; Andrew, 13; Brandon, 7; Cameron, 6; and Daniel, 5. (Courtesy of Sheletta Brundidge)
"We choose to laugh. We choose to be happy, and laughter and joy has gotten us through a lot of dark days before, so we spread that," she said.
While her kids are on Spring Break, and with other schools closing, she said her house has been full as she is helping her neighbors, single moms who have to go to work.
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"We have to stand in the gap for one another."