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Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young

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How to talk to your kids about COVID-19

My 8-year-old arrived home last week in tears. Lip quivering, she came to me with a heap of questions about the coronavirus.

“Is my daddy going to get coronavirus because he’s Chinese?”

I looked at her dumbfounded – my heart walking a thread-bare tightrope between sadness and anger.

“Who told you that, Baby?”

“Oh, kids at school are saying all different things. One kid was running around at recess saying he had the coronavirus.”

I prayed. Oh Jesus, give me the words.

I took my blond baby-girl into my lap, and looked into her almond-shaped, dark eyes. “What are your questions?”

We worked through them one by one. I held her close.

I tried to be honest, but also reassure her with the truth of how disease spreads and how we could be cautious with washing our hands and staying out of big crowds. We talked about the most vulnerable in our circles. We took deep breaths together.

Frankly, the news on this pandemic and how it impacts us and our neighbors has changed daily. My kids have lots of questions. Misinformation swirls around us. As an Asian-American family and as Christians, we can’t ignore the racism that is spreading across the world faster than this virus. We don’t always have answers, but it’s important to talk to my kids and navigate it together.

These are some ways we can help our kids and ourselves as we navigate all of this:

Pray and breathe. When we are filled with fear, we need to pause and pray. When I was a little girl my mama had me memorize and pray Scriptures when I was afraid. One of my favorites:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 1 Timothy 4:7 (NKJV)

My daughters can recite the words now, too. We choose faith over fear. We can lead our kids, our families, and our churches in praying for those who already have the virus. We can pray for those who are most vulnerable and have compromised immune systems. We can pray for Asian-American brothers and sisters who have endured racism and accusations. We can pray against a spirit of fear.

Reach out. People are urging us to socially distance ourselves from each other. Maybe it’s a good idea to stop shaking hands and touching each other’s faces, but let’s not let the enemy have the upper hand in isolating our hearts. Let’s do what is counterintuitive in the face of fear. Let’s lean in emotionally.

We can lead our kids to speak with words of compassion and kindness. We can model for them patience in grocery stores and local businesses. We can check in on our grandparents, our friends, our neighbors. We can make a phone call or send a text to those who might be vulnerable in this situation.

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 1 Peter 3:8

Jesus modeled this spirit for us. He reached out to the most vulnerable in society as his mission. He talked to women who were outcasts, touched lepers, looked into the eyes of ethnic minorities, healed children who were sick, grieved alongside people enduring loss, and invited the poor to be blessed at his table.

Educate. This is an important time when we need to make sure we have correct information and quell rumors before they spread. We have an opportunity to educate our children – not just in how to properly wash their hands and sneeze into the fold of their arms, but also in how this virus does not discriminate. It may have started in a certain part of the world, but it doesn’t mean that all people of a certain race or skin color have it and spread it.

Lament and comfort. We need to give ourselves permission to feel deep sorrow over this spreading pandemic, to mourn what is lost and will be lost, and to cry out to God against the injustices. My little girl needed me to hear her, cry with her, and comfort her instead of sweeping her confusion and grief under the rug.

The Western Church is not as accustomed to making space for lament and grief because we often don’t have to, but this virus levels the playing field. We all need to come to the feet of Jesus, who also welcomed the children.

Love your neighbor. Now, more than ever, we have the opportunity to obey the second greatest commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39) This may mean sharing food and toilet paper with our neighbors. This might look like helping our kids stick up for their friends who are singled out because of their ethnic background and alienated in the lunchroom. This could look like ordering from a local Chinese restaurant or buying a gift card to eat there in the future as a small act of solidarity to support a local business and say, “We are not afraid to eat with you.”

In Galatians 6:2, Paul urged us to carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. As I sit at the dinner table with my family, we brainstorm ways we can love our neighbors and be agents of healing in this time of uncertainty. We pray for our friends, our school, our country, our world, and those most affected. We cling to hope because this is the peace offering we as believers have to offer the world today.

Sometimes we have to look fear in the face and speak truth. As moms and dads, it’s vital that we collect the facts and filter it through our spiritual lenses. That’s the best way to help our kids navigate the chaos of this world with a deeper perspective of Kingdom living and an eternal hope.

*I love to connect more personally with my readers. I’d love to send you my weekly Glorygram, which includes a word of encouragement and recommendations for my favorite podcasts, recipes, reads and videos. Subscribe at www.DorinaGilmore/subscribe

*This article was originally published on The MOPS blog.

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March 19, 2020 Categories: GeneralTagged: COVID-19, family life, fear, kids, parenting, struggle, transitions

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Meet Dorina

Aloha, friend! If you love stories, you are in the right place. I write about grief, glory, running, food, and more. I hope these words inspire you to chase after God’s glory in your life today!

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🥳 I’m celebrating this little book baby is 11 years old and just came out in its 8th printing! Whaaaaat?! A huge thank you to all of you who have...

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Jan 28

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🥳 I’m celebrating this little book baby is 11 years old and just came out in its 8th printing! Whaaaaat?! A huge thank you to all of you who have given Cora Cooks Pancit wings by sharing and buying her for your people! 📚
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Today I got to do one of my favorite things: read my picture book to a room full of kids! And even though we were on Zoom, I still felt the warmth of their smiles and delicious curiosity.
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We talked about our favorite ways to prepare noodles, the music we can hear in the kitchen when we are listening to the ingredients, and what we discovered about the story through the illustrations.
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I was reminded anew that this is why I write -> for my readers! Sending a big shout out to @localpassportfamily who is inspiring cultural exploration in kids of all ages. More of that please!
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👉🏽If you don’t have a copy of Cora Cooks Pancit, she’s back on Amazon (finally!) or you can support a local bookstore!
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👉🏽Tag a friend or teacher who might like this story! 
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👉🏽If you know of a school class, homeschool group or reading club that could use a guest speaker, send them my way! Booking online visits for the 2021!
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#coracookspancit @leeandlow #multicultural #filipino #kidlit #yum #kidscancook #pancit #bookclub #aapi #filpinofood #globalchildrensbookclub #pandemiclife #zoomlife #aapifamily #representationmatters
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🎧 It’s podcast day! 🥳 You don’t want to miss this episode all about REST! That’s right, rest is important for walkers, runners, and all of...

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Jan 27

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🎧 It’s podcast day! 🥳 You don’t want to miss this episode all about REST! That’s right, rest is important for walkers, runners, and all of us!
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Today we are interviewing my friend and fellow author Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith. She is an amazing woman who is a national and international media resource on the mind, body, spirit connection. She has been speaking and publishing in so many places, including CNN, Women’s Day, CBS.com, MSN.com, to name a few! 
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Dr. Saundra is an internal medicine physician and the author of Sacred Rest, which we talked about in our interview. She lives in Alabama with her ultra-marathon running husband, Bobby, and their two sons.
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We chatted with her about:
👉🏽the 7 types of rest
👉🏽the gift of rest created by God
👉🏽tips for resting from technology
👉🏽how to incorporate rest in your weekly rhythms
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🎧 Listen to the Walk Run Soar podcast, Season 2 Episode 3 today! Connect with Dr. Saundra at https://ichoosemybestlife.com/ and check out her Rest quiz there!
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#podcast #faithpodcast #walkrunsoar #rest #restmentor #podcastersofinstagram #runningismytherapy #runnersofinstagram #christianrunners #flourishing @drdaltonsmith
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“The LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still...

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Jan 26

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“The LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still and quiet waters. He refreshes and restores my soul (life); He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”
-‭‭Psalms‬ ‭23:1-3‬
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Meditating on these words this morning as I stare down a busy week full of projects, speaking events, meetings, and more. This amplified version of Psalm 23 is a sweet reminder of all the ways the Good Shepherd cares for me even on a Tuesday in January.
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I’m imagining the still and quiet waters this morning. He leads me there to a place of refreshment and restoration.
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I love this quote from my new Bible study,  Courageous Simplicity: “We cannot expect to experience the simple life by merely offering a nod of acknowledgment to Christ before moving on with our own agendas. We must focus on Him and courageously seek His wisdom as we remove unnecessary distractions and make difficult decisions about what you keep in our lives.”
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This is the constant challenge for me in the mornings. I always feel pulled in so many directions from the moment I open my eyes. The call is to rest in Him near the quiet waters first before I step into the rushing stream of my day.
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💭What about you? What is a distraction you regularly battle that leads you away from the still waters?💭
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#psalm23 #chosen21 #faithblogger #devotional #courageoussimplicity @incourage #heleadsme #restore #jesusgirl #womenoftheword
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I grew up in the kitchen with my mama and grandmas and aunties. My mama was not afraid to let my brother and I make a mess. She taught us her tricks ...

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Jan 25

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I grew up in the kitchen with my mama and grandmas and aunties. My mama was not afraid to let my brother and I make a mess. She taught us her tricks and techniques.
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I loved swirling the meat sauce in the pot with my Grandma Sara and rolling lumpia with my Grandma Cora. The kitchen had a centrifugal force in our family. It was the place where the best stories (and probably the best arguments) unfolded.
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One of my treasures of these strange pandemic times has been more time in the kitchen with my family. Especially on Sunday afternoons after home church, we love to make up a big feast and linger long at the table.
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Yesterday we “traveled” to Italy with my parents. My mama’s family hails from Calabria, Italy. We dreamed about going there together one day. This menu included: Caprese kebabs, homemade focaccia, stuffed-spinach shells, salad, and my all-time fave dessert tiramisu!
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Italian food is my comfort food! How about yours? What do you find yourself craving on a rainy day when you miss your people?
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#globalglorychasers #comfortfood #italian #italianfood #yum #foodie #foodiesofinstagram #foodiefamily #traveltheworld #tiramisu #familytime #sundaysupper #kidscancook
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🥂Shawn and I celebrated our fifth anniversary this weekend with another epic running + foodie adventure. 🏃🏽‍♀️This time we stayed ...

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Jan 22

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🥂Shawn and I celebrated our fifth anniversary this weekend with another epic running + foodie adventure. 🏃🏽‍♀️This time we stayed closer to home and hiked three waterfalls - Red Rock Falls and Corlieu Falls on the Lewis Creek Trail and the new-to-us Chinualna Falls at Yosemite National Park!
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The weather was pretty amazing for January! ☀️ Grateful to live so close to all this glory and for some much-needed quality time with my hot hubby! 🏞 
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We were reminiscing about the fun anniversary running adventures we have had through the years together: {Swipe left for a few pics from the past!}
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4️⃣ Along the Embarcadero and piers in San Francisco
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3️⃣ Up to the top of Airport in the Sky on Catalina Island
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2️⃣ Along the Pacific Coast to Fiscalini Ranch in Cambria 
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1️⃣ Across the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii Volcanos National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii
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0️⃣Around the Colosseum in Rome, Italy!
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Yes, we are crazy! In love! 💞 Friends, we are not promised tomorrow so date your spouse, get outside, and chase His glory today! 
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#anniversary #memories #dateyourspouse #5years #covidadventures #chosen2021 #sanjoaquinrunning #christianrunners #runnersofinstagram #runningismytherapy #runningmotivation #epic #runcouple #glorychasers #walkrunsoar
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