“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’”
This is perhaps one of the boldest and most terrifying things to request of the Lord. Most of us probably feel like Bilbo Baggins at the beginning of The Hobbit. We may feel the call to obedience and adventure in our hearts, but the lull of a quiet, comfortable, and seemingly safe existence in our hobbit holes is often much more palpable.
Isaiah 6:8 — “Here I am! Send me” — was Charlie Kirk’s favorite Bible verse. He embodied God’s call and commission with bold obedience, even to the point of his own death.
Charlie’s wife, Erika, is answering that same call, showing tremendous courage and fortitude since the terrible assassination of her husband three weeks ago. She wowed the world with her speech two days after the assassination, and she wowed the world again at Charlie’s memorial, where, in an act of grace and obedience to the Lord, she forgave her husband’s killer.
Just who is Erika Kirk, the amazing, godly woman behind this great man?
As a young woman, Erika played basketball — a sport that both she and Charlie loved — and was even briefly an NCAA player. In 2012, she was crowned Miss Arizona. When she met her future husband in 2018, she was running her own Christian clothing company in Manhattan. While interviewing for a position at Turning Point USA, Charlie told Erika after three hours of dialogue over burgers that he wasn’t going to hire her but that he would like to date her.
That first dinner led to many more dates. Charlie and Erika were married in 2021 and started their family shortly thereafter. Charlie himself described his wife as “super far-right” and commented that she became even more conservative after they had children, which is normal. At the time of Charlie’s murder, Erika was hosting a daily devotional podcast and running her Christian clothing company, Proclaim Streetwear, whose stated purpose is to spread the Gospel. In other words, this couple was united in their love of Christ and their desire to courageously proclaim the hope of salvation.
On September 17, Erika was selected as the new CEO of Turning Point. Charlie had been intentional and vocal about his wishes should an event happen like what transpired on September 10, so for the board members of Turning Point, it was an easy and unanimous “Yes” for Erika.
The Turning Point Board has unanimously elected Erika Kirk as the new CEO and Chair of the Board.
In prior discussions, Charlie expressed to multiple executives that this is what he wanted in the event of his death. pic.twitter.com/PazORgiHWP
— Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) September 18, 2025
Last week, Erika appeared on Charlie’s podcast and revealed that he had left behind a blueprint for her to follow with plans for the company up until the year 2030. She told her co-hosts, “We have our marching orders. And we are just remaining humble and grateful to God. And we’re remaining just stewards to what God has blessed us with. And I know Charlie is going to continue to guide us, and the Lord will continue to guide us.”
Erika is a remarkable woman and very much aligned with the life priorities of her late husband: God, marriage, and kids — in that order.
Many rags on the Left, like Parade and CNN, published condescending pieces introducing Erika to their audiences. Both insinuated that she is a hypocrite for adhering to the God-marriage-kids life model, even while being a businesswoman herself. They criticized her because they have no idea what the Bible has to say about godly wives.
Proverbs 31 describes the archetype of a godly wife. She takes care of her husband, their children, and their home. But the passage also says:
16 She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.
20 She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.
In other words, a godly wife is also an entrepreneur. She works for the good and prosperity of her family. “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.” (v. 28)
Leftists take issue with Erika’s use of the word “submission,” which is unsurprising. For the Left has raised up a generation of women (and men) that refuses to understand the role of submission both in faith and in marriage.
In Ephesians 5:22-24, the Apostle Paul says: “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.”
Leftists stop there and point with shaking fingers, as if this idea proves that the Bible reflects an antiquated and repressive religion rather than the divinely inspired words of God. But if they kept reading, they would see that vv. 25-27 define the man’s role. Men have to put in an equal amount of sacrificial love: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”
The husband’s job of loving, sanctifying, respecting, and protecting his wife is just as important as the wife deferring to her husband as the head of the household. It’s a coequal arrangement.
Erika’s stepping into the role of CEO at Turning Point USA is an act of faith. She is clothed with “strength and dignity” (Proverbs 31:25) as she takes on a calling that she promises to turn into a bigger movement than ever before. As she proclaimed in the wake of her husband’s murder, “I’ll make Turning Point the biggest thing this nation has ever seen. The movement will not die. I refuse to let that happen.”
Even in death, Erika is loyal and ready to defend her husband’s legacy. She is, to continue The Hobbit analogy, stepping out the door of her home. And as Bilbo himself famously said, “It’s a dangerous business … going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
May we be so honored as to help her along her journey. God bless you, Erika Kirk. You are greatly admired.
