Heartbeat on the Prairie

29/09/2025

As believers covered by the blood of the Lamb, we no longer stand accused, but sometimes conviction can carry the same sting as accusation.

But while accusation seeks punishment, belittlement, and “putting you in your place,” conviction beckons you to lay aside the sin that encumbers you, and step forward into something more, something better.

Accusation tears down, while conviction builds up. Don't let your pride confuse the two.

If you love this content, I'm talking conviction and submission in our premium chat on Substack. You can join us at heartbeatontheprairie.substack.com

22/09/2025

Sometimes I think presenting to the Gospel to our nation is like trying to describe the ocean to someone who has only ever lived in the sands of the desert.

"From Desert to Ocean," new post available on Substack.

20/09/2025

God has been reminding me lately that work is supposed to be hard.

We live in a society that worships ease, that glorifies efficiency.

But there is no shortcut when God puts something before us. How many heroes of the Bible begged God for another way? Jesus Himself begged that this cup might pass from Him. And God said no.

This is the path. This is your cup.

Something being hard doesn’t mean that you aren’t doing it right or that you’re moving in the wrong direction. In fact, we are promised in the Bible that we will face difficulty….and also that we would be given a Comforter to guide us through the hardship. (In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world…)

This week, I’ve been trying to just embrace the suck. No, I don’t like doing dishes, or folding laundry, and yes, I get overwhelmed by how endless it is. There’s never the satisfaction of feeling like it’s “complete” because there’s always more tomorrow.

There is no hack to make it easier. And I’m not called to be doing something else. I was given this family, these children, in this day. God says steward them well, work joyfully as unto the Lord, and all the yield is His.

God has been reminding me that He doesn’t want my results, my success, or my accomplishments. He’s not grading me on whether the kitchen was spotless or all the laundry was folded and put away. He just wants me to work at it diligently, consistently, joyfully. He wants my labor, and most of all, my surrender.

The results are His. I’m only called to keep showing up.

19/09/2025

A reminder, and a plea for today.
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.
Lead us in truth, and teach us.

16/09/2025

15/09/2025

What Am I?

I am little more than a compilation of the people who have taught me.

New post available on Substack.

15/09/2025

We’ve all read Psalm 23. Some of us even know it by heart. But today as I read through the passage, a stark contrast stuck out to me.

“He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”

immediately followed by

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me.”

God leads us in paths of righteousness, yet we also walk through the valley of the shadow of death….

Walking in righteousness does not mean being spared from walking through the shadow. These two are not mutually exclusive; in fact, sometimes, they are the same path. We live in a fallen world, we exist in difficult times, we have an enemy prowling about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour… (1 Peter 5:8)

Throughout the Bible, we are told we will face trouble, and difficulty, that the world will hate us. This psalm isn’t a reassurance for an easy life, it’s comfort in the midst of the chaos.

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”

“Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.”

Even in darkness, in difficulty, and uncertainty, God leads, He provides, and He comforts.

We shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Amen.

14/09/2025

We're living in times that are tumultuous and uncertain. It would be wise to wonder what we should be doing. In one of the early Bright Hearth podcast episodes, Brian and Lexy talked about doing the next thing the Lord has for you. They were talking about homemaking and raising children, but this is true on a much wider scale, too.

What should we be doing? The next thing God has for us.

For some of us, that will mean showing up to work tomorrow, working hard, working well and diligently as unto the Lord. For some of us, it will mean folding the clothes and cooking the food and bathing the kids. For some of us, it will mean writing sermons or blog posts, or working horses, or building things with our hands, or whatever our vocation is. Remember, EVERYTHING is Kingdom work.

If you find yourself uncertain of what God might be calling you to next, I would encourage you to sit down and open your Bible. Take the time to sincerely pray for an open heart and an open mind to receive a word from God. So often, we complain that God doesn't speak to us, but that's like having an open line, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and refusing to pick up the phone. You HAVE a Word from God. Read it. Meditate on it. Submit to it.

Then lift your eyes, pick up whatever is in front of you that needs to be done, and do that. Do it well, striving for excellence, and praising God for an opportunity to serve. Look again, and do the next thing. Lather, rinse, repeat. Good job, you are doing the Lord's work, and those who are faithful with a little prove themselves worthy to be faithful with more.

Go in peace, friends, and serve faithfully, wherever you are.
Much love,
Erika

11/08/2025

It's been a while friends, but God really smacked me between the eyes with this one. I hope it speaks to you deeply.

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.

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