Charlie and Erika Kirk will never celebrate a five-year wedding anniversary, but their brief marriage is a moving example of why marriage, rooted in faith, is the fount of joys that last beyond our own lifetimes and can change the world.     

The clearest and sweetest way for marriage to change the world comes from raising children, and anticipating grandchildren and descendants through generations who will blaze trails beyond our imagination. The Kirks were blessed with two children, and it is evident they delighted in parenting.

But even in marriages where children don’t come, mutual devotion enriches both spouses’ lives because it multiplies what is possible. For Charlie, it is the promise of a devoted wife who will build on his work and keep it thriving.     

“Everything that Turning Point USA built through Charlie’s vision and hard work, we will make ten times greater through the power of his memory,” Erika said Sunday at her husband’s memorial service. “Chapters will grow; thousands of new ones will be created. TPUSA Faith will add thousands of new pastors and congregations.”

She could go do something different. But when something is important to your husband or wife, it should be important to you, too, and to Charlie, sharing the Gospel of Christ with young men was important.  

“Charlie passionately wanted to reach and save the lost boys of the West,” Erika said. These are the boys and young men who feel they have no direction, purpose, or reason to live, she said. They lack faith, are “wasting their lives on distractions,” and are “consumed with resentment, anger, and hate.”

He wanted to reach men like the one who allegedly shot Charlie and point them to a better life, she said.  

We have all met such “lost boys.” Reaching them is a needed mission. With every lost boy who finds a better life, the trajectory of our society will change for the better. It will change our world.

This is what a strong marriage can do. They can save people from hell on earth and in eternity.   

When Erika made the home an oasis of comfort and encouraged him, she was supporting his vision and making him a better father. When he sent her weekly love letters and provided for his family, he was supporting his vision and making her a better mother. Nurturing the marriage relationship strengthens everything around it.

“Charlie and I were united in purpose, his passion was my passion, and now his mission is my mission,” Erika said.

She was an accomplished woman before they met, a bona fide beauty queen — the former Miss Arizona. She started a nonprofit and, later, a clothing company. She holds several degrees, including a doctorate in Christian leadership. He was brilliant, too, but didn’t attend college. Charlie and Erika came from different places but were heading in the same direction, using the Bible as their roadmap.   

Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.