There are many reasons to mourn the assassination of Charlie Kirk, but at the base of this devastating loss for his wife Erika is the harsh separation from half of herself.
Marriage is so much more than a commitment to spend the rest of your life with someone of the opposite sex. It is more than supplementing your income. It is more than sharing the load of household duties and raising children. It is more than the sanctifying process of learning to commune with someone far different from yourself. Marriage is ordained by God to be a physical representation of the spiritual union He has designed between His Church and His Son.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are parts of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, as for you individually, each husband is to love his own wife the same as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. (Ephesians 5:25–33)
Patrick has been in Europe helping his mother move from Germany to Romania (he gets home tonight!). Whenever he is gone, I feel as though I am walking around half here. It is obvious that half of me is missing when I try to do basic life tasks that usually involve him. When he is absent, I lose my ministry partner, my pianist, my musical arranger, my choral accompanist, my worship team co-leader, my driver, my personal chef, my handy man, my technological support, my graphics designer, my counselor, my prayer partner, my therapist, my confidant, my best friend, my lover, and so much more.
Without my husband, the roles I typically play shift drastically, if not totally disappear. I am no longer part of a team or a helpmate, but rather I am flying solo through every event, big and small.
I realize that many people fly solo every day. Tragically, Erika Kirk must now don the mantles of widow and single parent. She is forced to forge ahead through every life task without the support of her loving husband. The world watching her might be able to comprehend the depth of this sorrow, but only fellow believers in Jesus Christ understand the spiritual strength He supplies in the physical loss.
In fact, when followers of Christ appear to be “flying solo” in this earthly journey, they aren’t. There is a Captain at the helm. There is a Lover of our souls. There is a Confidant and a best Friend. Jesus is our Fount of wisdom, our Joy in the journey, and our needs met.
When half of me is missing, all of me is held.
Liked this post? Follow this blog to get more.