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I started this morning strong, but when I got home this afternoon, I got that ADHD brain freeze where I absolutely could...
24/07/2025

I started this morning strong, but when I got home this afternoon, I got that ADHD brain freeze where I absolutely could not launch Task Initiation Sequence. None of them. I felt that panic start in my chest, and initiated the "poke brain with a stick while begging it to do something" sequence. Then I got self critical. Because, duh. (It's not that hard, Erika. C'mon....)

I've been listening to a lot of hymns lately, and Fernando Ortega came on my worship playlist, singing Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us.

"Savior, like a shepherd lead us
Much we need Thy tender care"

True that. MUCH I need Thy tender care. Like, more than most people, probably, because I'm sinking and I'm not even experiencing trials and tribulations. I'm arguably in a better place than I've been in years. And yet, and yet...Much I need His tender care.

And THEN Ortega hit me with that

"Thou hast bought us
Thine we are"

And I felt that quiet nudge that told me I was bought at a price. The highest price. Those prices aren't paid for second hand discards or things that are simply cast aside when they fail or somehow outlive their usefulness.

Lifeblood is only paid for those most precious, treasured, and valued.

I was bought at a Price, that I might now be called Precious, Redeemed, Daughter of the Most High, all by a God who KNEW

My shortcomings
My foibles
My failures
My flaws
My sins

God knew. And He paid anyway.

Let that sink in.

I hope this knowledge changes your day, sweet friend, because it sure changed mine.

Short post this week introducing an upcoming series that I'm really excited about!Take a walk through your church's hymn...
23/06/2025

Short post this week introducing an upcoming series that I'm really excited about!

Take a walk through your church's hymnal with me. Let's talk weird word definitions, Scriptural basis, lives of the writers, and let me show you why I don't think the old standards can be beat.

You can subscribe on Substack to get links to this series directly in your email (even without creating a Substack account!) and I'll make sure to link them here as well.

Much love!
Erika

17/06/2025

Today was one of those days that found me anxious, frustrated, wound up, and having difficulty finding my "peace that passeth all understanding." So I reached for music, the old hymns of the faith that I grew up singing around the piano with my grandma.

I have very vivid memories of sitting next to her on the piano bench at church, singing "The Old Rugged Cross" to sing for special music. I couldn't even read yet, and so we sang it, over and over, until I had the words fearlessly memorized.

I think "This Is my Father's World" was probably the second song I learned in that fashion. I think this is one of those hymns that lives in my bones to this day, not just for the richness of the theology, the comfort of these truths (This is my Father's world, the battle is not done. Jesus who died shall be satisfied....) but also for the core memory that wells up inside me in the face of this tune, these lyrics, of a time warm at Grandma's side, when all was right in the world, and when my child-like faith felt simple, and easy, and assured, before a broken world got a hold of me and fractured my confidence, shook my tender faith, and grew me into a different person.

All is just as God intended. I'm thankful to be where I am, doing what I'm doing, and for all the steps that led me here, even the ugly ones, the hard ones, the ones I thought I couldn't take, all ordained by my Father's loving hand.

But I'm thankful for the ability to shorten the years that stretch between this me and the little girl sitting beside her Grandma, and thankful, too, to have been taught these great old hymns that sustained my spirit and my faith even in the days that were hard, like today.

I hope this brings you a little comfort and peace today, too, and if you didn't grow up hearing these hymns or find this one unfamiliar, I hope that the Truth reaches you wherever you are.

Be blessed friends.
Love, Erika

New Post available on Substack!
10/06/2025

New Post available on Substack!

Thanks For the Rain...New free post available on Substack.
20/05/2025

Thanks For the Rain...
New free post available on Substack.

20/05/2025

I started into Exodus yesterday and something stuck out to me, reading now as an adult.

I didn't realize how scrubbed clean and corners sanded movies like The Prince of Egypt were.

Film had my younger self believing Moses’ slaying of the Egyptian was near accidental, a heat of the moment mistake.

The Bible tells this story differently.

It was intentional. It was cold. It was premeditated.

“So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.” (Exodus 2:12)

Moses was a murderer who became the mouthpiece of God for an entire nation, yet when I fell short I let shame keep me from falling at the throne.

If you hear nothing else, please hear this: God’s mercy and redemption is more than sufficient for us.

11/05/2025

"And the path that is my portion
May be through the flame or flood
But His presence goes before me
And I'm covered with His blood"

"Have you given the horse strength? Have you clothed his neck with thunder?Can you make him spring like a locust?His maj...
03/05/2025

"Have you given the horse strength?
Have you clothed his neck with thunder?
Can you make him spring like a locust?
His majestic snorting strikes terror.
He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength;
He gallops into the clash of arms.
He mocks at fear and is not frightened;
Nor does he turn back from the sword.
The quiver rattles against him,
The glittering spear and javelin.
He devours the distance with fierceness and rage;
Nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet has sounded.
At the blast of the trumpet, he says 'Aha!'
He smells the battle from afar,
The thunder of captains and shouting."

-- Job 39:19-25 (NKJ)

03/04/2025

I've been posting to Tiktok again and I'm thinking I'll begin sharing those videos here as well, which means you can expect some new and slightly different content here on the page. I will still share excerpts and links to my long-form posts on Substack, and if you're more interested in my writing, I would encourage you to subscribe on Substack to get email updates, which doesn't even require a substack account.

Thanks for sticking with me in all the forms and formats Heartbeat has taken over the years and I hope y'all enjoy this season, too.

Here's a little rundown of all the things on my linktree to help you find exactly what you're looking for.

💜💜💜

PS I misspoke in the video, free posts drop to Substack on TUESDAYS, not Mondays. Sorry about that. 😘

New post available on Substack.Grab the link in the comments!
01/04/2025

New post available on Substack.
Grab the link in the comments!

New post available on Substack for paid subscribers. On fear and instinct and getting curious abour what those things te...
30/03/2025

New post available on Substack for paid subscribers.
On fear and instinct and getting curious abour what those things tell us.
Link on the linktree in my bio!

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