If you are like me, your heart is not only heavy with the remembrance of 9/11, but also with grief for Charlie Kirk and his family. But it isn’t just his death that saddens me. It’s the violence that has unfolded over the past few days.

My mom-heart has been crushed at the thought of people cheering for a life taken. I cry for his children. As a wife, I cry for his wife, Erika. How would you feel if someone you loved with all your heart—the father of your children—was murdered, and people celebrated it afterward? It shouldn’t matter if you agreed with this man or not; we should all be grieved at a life taken in hate.

Charlie loved to debate. His whole platform was to show how people could disagree and still do so respectfully. Instead, someone chose to kill him out of rage and hate. I don’t want to go political—I don’t care which side you are on—because this is uncalled for.

Last night, as I held my daughter, my heart broke for Charlie’s family. His daughters will never again get a goodnight hug. They will never have their dad walk them down the aisle. Erika will never again feel the comfort of her husband’s arms around her as she cries. But God…

This morning in prayer—my usual scattered ADHD prayers—I asked for safety, for peace, for understanding of how this could happen. And God spoke to me, reminding me of a verse He gave me when my son died eight years ago:

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

He whispered: I do not bring fear. That stopped me in my tracks. In a fearful world, God reminded me once again that fear is not from Him. Who does bring fear? The Bible tells us plainly:

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

The thief here is Satan—false teachers, evil, the enemy of our souls. And over and over again, Scripture warns us that our Christian walk will not be easy. That’s why the road is narrow. That’s why it is hard. That is why we must carry our cross daily.

I want to encourage you: our children are growing up to be the next Daniels, Esthers, Abrahams, Peters, Pauls…

“For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)

We are not living in the wrong time. We were not born in the wrong place or era. God has a purpose for each of us. Tragically, Charlie’s life ended here, but even that was within God’s purpose.

Let this be a wake-up call: one day we too may have to choose to stand for Christ, even if it costs us everything. WAKE UP. Jesus is coming. Pick up your Bible. Prepare your heart. For we do not fight against flesh and blood—we are fighting a spiritual war.

Charlie himself once said in an interview that he wanted to be remembered for his faith, his family, and most importantly, for God’s work. And Paul’s words in 2 Timothy echo that calling for us:

“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.” (2 Timothy 1:8–11)

A human life matters. All life matters. To God, to me, and to Charlie’s family. Today, let’s pray not only for those mourning—but also for those cheering. May God have mercy on us all.

And we hold to this promise of hope:

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

With love and prayers,

Marli

Angel mom to Rhett, Rainbow mom to Selah