A Fellow Widow & CEO Reflects On Erika Kirk’s Faith, Strength, and New Role Leading Turning Point USA
Watching Americans, from all walks of life, process the assassination of Charlie Kirk over the past couple of weeks has been heart-wrenching. Wondering if this tragedy could have been prevented constantly runs through my mind. But what wakes me up at night is this: how is Erika Kirk coping? Is she able to mourn the loss of her precious husband while being a mother to two little children? Her appointment as CEO at Turning Point USA will give her purpose, but my prayer is that those closest to her will give her time to grieve. Seeing her give the eulogy in front of approximately 100,000 attendees and millions around the world shows her incredible courage and strength, and she is no doubt going to be a tremendous leader for the organization her husband founded and ran until his untimely death.
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Erika Kirk’s courage after Charlie Kirk’s death
Leading a national conservative organization is challenging even on the best days. I speak from experience, as the CEO of Save the Storks, a ministry that supports young women facing unplanned pregnancies with our fleet of mobile medical clinics and partnerships with pregnancy health clinics across the United States. It is a role I didn’t feel ready for when I took on this responsibility in 2021, but one that God had been preparing me for my entire life.
My journey as a widow and CEO
My journey has been vastly different from that of Erika, but I, too, was a young widow. At the age of 44, I lost my husband of seven years, not to an assassin, but to a rare malformation on his brain stem. Suddenly, I was not only a widow but a single parent to a teenager we had recently adopted out of the foster care system.
Faith and perseverance through tragedy
I will continue to pray for Erika daily, as a fellow female CEO, a widow, and a young mother. The first year, especially, will be unbearable at times, and yes, some will convince her to keep busy and focus on her important job leading TPUSA. I will pray that those in her closest circle will recognize the enormous support Erika will need.
The odds might be against those of us who are widows at too young an age, as less than 12% of women under 50 lose their husbands, and only 5% of CEOs in America are women.
It takes a unique act of courage to step out in faith as a widow, but I know Erika will get the strength she needs from our Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit.
When we walk in faith, God will work miracles in our lives. He is preparing each one of us for His will, as I know firsthand.
I was adopted as a baby, then sadly lost my adopted mother to cancer when I was just eight years old. I fractured several vertebrae in my neck and upper back and was nearly a quadriplegic after a freak boogie board accident at the age of 50. But these and other life experiences taught me about perseverance. We read in Romans 5 that “we glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance builds our character; and character produces hope.”
A prayer for Erika Kirk’s new leadership
I pray for perseverance for Erika, and I grieve with her. And I thank God that He chose her to fight the good fight.
Seeing Erika publicly and bravely forgiving the assassin should be an example to all of us.
This phenomenal young woman is choosing to walk in love.
Let us all follow her beautiful example and follow Jesus. Let’s choose to walk in love from this day forward.
