Erika Connolly’s Story of Trusting God Over Olympic Glory
Show Notes
Perseverance, surrender, and faith—these are the foundations of Olympic swimmer Erika Connolly’s journey, both in and out of the pool. In this episode of the I Am M.U.C.H. Woman podcast, Erika opens up about how her deep connection to Christ has guided her through triumphs and trials. After a career-threatening injury in 2023, she leaned into her faith, turning to Scripture for comfort and strength. With a renewed focus on honoring God over personal success, Erika’s story is a testament to the peace that comes from trusting in His plan. Tune in to hear her inspiring story of faith and surrender.
Episode Highlights:
(2:28) When Erika became interested in swimming
(6:45) How faith in Christ has strengthened Erika as a woman
(11:36) Erika’s journey to the Olympics
(16:34) Erika’s back injury and how it tested her faith in a new way
(21:34) What helped Erika maintain her faith in such a trying time
(24:57) How Erika’s faith has increased since the Olympics
(29:40) Advice Erika would give to women to embody the M.U.C.H. philosophy
(32:21) What it means to Erika to be a M.U.C.H. Woman
Links Referenced
Erika Connolly on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erikajadebrown/
Erika Connolly TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@erika.jade.brown
Transcript
Erika: I am not kidding, I have never been just so excited in that piece because I knew that if it was meant to be, the Lord would provide a way, and he did.
CortneyJo: Hello. MUCH Woman podcast listeners, we are so happy to have you with us here today. I am thrilled, very thrilled, excited to introduce you to our very special guest, this incredible and beautiful lady that you see sitting next to me. Her name is Erika Connolly, and she is an Olympic medalist. I cannot wait for you all to get to know her, and learn more about her story, and just how God has just been so incredible to her in her life. So, I’m going to just share a little bit about it, Erika.
Erika was born in Modesto, California, in 1998 and attended William A. Hough High School in Cornelius, North Carolina, where she excelled as a swimmer. She was a four-time North Carolina State Champion, winning in the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay events. Erika continued her swimming career at the University of Tennessee, competing from 2016 to 2022. During her collegiate career, she earned an impressive seven gold, three silver, and four bronze medals at the NCAA Division I championship, and she was named SEC’s Swimmer of the Year for three consecutive years starting in 2020.
She graduated with a degree in kinesiology in May 2020, and Erika represented the United States of America in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where she won a bronze medal in the women’s 4x100 meter freestyle relay, and a silver medal in the women’s 4x100 meter medley relay. Most recently at the Paris Olympics in summer of 2024, she secured another silver medal in the women’s 4x100 meter relay. Oh, my goodness, congratulations, Erika. You are incredible, and we are so excited to have you here today, and I’m excited for our listeners to get to learn so much about you. Thank you so much for being here.
Erika: Thank you for having me.
CortneyJo: Thank you. So, can you tell us a little bit about your journey? When did swimming start for you?
Erika: So, I started swimming when I was ten years old, so 16 years ago now, and I was living in Wichita, Kansas, at the time. My family had just moved, and I tried about every sport that the YMCA had, and I was not good at any of them [laugh]. To be honest, when I tried swimming, I wasn’t good at swimming either, but the coach at the time asked if I would just keep at it for two weeks. I think he just saw something in me, and I’m very grateful for that because after two weeks, I went from—there was a glass window—I went from begging my mom to let me get out—just ten more minutes—to really loving it.
And after two weeks, I just fell in love with the sport. I loved how I could get that competitive energy out, there was always something new to be working towards, and the friendships I made. And moving to a new state is hard, so that was just like an immediate friend group I was able to have. So, that’s really how I got started. And then my love for the sport just grew from there, and the Lord really provided a way for me to be successful.
CortneyJo: That’s incredible. I love that you shared that the Lord provided a way for you to be successful. When you and I first met, I was so pleased to learn that you and I both identified as Christians, and women that were believers and followers of Christ Jesus. So, I wanted to know if you would be willing to share more with us about your salvation story. When did you make the decision to receive Christ Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? And to just explain that a little bit further for our listeners, according to scripture in Romans 10:9-10, if you believe in your heart, and you openly declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, that means you will be saved. When did that happen for you?
Erika: Yeah, so it sounds pretty crazy because I was so young, but I remember when I was three years old, I remember my mom would always take us to church—and we lived in California at the time—and I remember exactly where I was in the church. It was called Calvary Chapel, and I knelt down at a chair, and I gave my life to the Lord. And being so little, looking back now, I wonder, how do I remember that, and how is that so special? But I think that’s just a testament to the Holy Spirit, and what happens when you accept Christ into your heart. And I remember that moment, and since then, I’ve always had a really strong desire to honor the Lord. And my mom will tell me too, like, “It’s just always been in me since that moment.” And I just think that’s a special testament to the Holy Spirit. And even though I was so young, I know that’s the true moment that I really gave my heart to the Lord.
CortneyJo: That’s incredible, and that you remember that. Like you said, it was just such a pivotal moment for you in your life, what a special way to receive him. But also, you say your mother had you in church. Your parents took you to church, and so you were just getting that every Sunday, and throughout the week.
Erika: I was. And we weren’t perfect. You know, we moved around a lot, so we did get to a point where we weren’t in church. When we moved to Kansas, we were trying to find a church, and we just really couldn’t find a good fit, and somewhere where we felt the Lord was leading us to, and we got out of church for a while. And we would still—we still loved the Lord, and I was always taught those values, like, it was always God, others, self growing up.
So, I always had that in me, but I definitely went off track, especially when I got to high school, and then my first year of college. I was making decisions that I knew were not right, and I think that’s just that conviction within me, the Holy Spirit, convicting me. But, like, I wasn’t reading my Bible, I didn’t know my Bible. And so, that’s something that it took me growing up, and just that constant desire in me, I had to get to an age where I just decided to, you know, take those actions on my own.
CortneyJo: I love that. So, I love that you share, like, taking those actions on your own. So, since having faith in Christ Jesus, how would you say that strengthen you as a woman?
Erika: In so many different ways. When I think of how it how Christ has strengthened me, I think of spiritually, emotionally, physically. I am so confident in who I am, and I… growing up, I was this way, too. You know, there are always going to be temptations of the world and people trying to draw you in, and for the majority of my life, I was never tempted. In fact, I was probably a little judgmental, and that’s something that I’ve had to work on, and still work on because I just didn’t want to be of this world.
And so, I feel like my faith in Christ just gives me true purpose and allows me to know who I am. And I love this verse in John 15:5. “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me, and I in him, will produce much fruit.” And I just think of that, like, what a blessing it is that we don’t have to be in control all the time. The Lord is in control of our lives, and when we surrender to Him, he gives us purpose. He gives us everything we need, and we’re just the branches, you know? We can honor him, and we don’t have to carry that burden. And so, that’s one of the big ways that he strengthens me, just by giving me true purpose in this life.
CortneyJo: Amen. John 15:5 is one of my favorite scriptures as well, just staying connected to the vine. And there’s been times where I’m like, am I just standing next to the vine, or am I connected to the vine? But you are so right, being connected to the vine, the source of life, you know, the Lord will definitely strengthen us and give us what we need, and we will bear fruit just trusting him. I love that you shared that.
Moving to talking about dealing with adversity, so you’ve shared how you know, staying connected to the Lord, reading your Word, praying, I’m assuming is how you stay connected to the vine. How do you deal with adversity through that?
Erika: Well, you know, the Bible is clear that we will deal with adversity, and that’s just a part of this life. We live in a broken world. And so, the Lord gives us strength and hope through that. Just knowing to expect that, and to know that he will carry us through, and we might deal with pain, and we might deal with sadness, but to trust Him through that, reading those words in the Scripture, you know, the breath of God that has given me just such confidence in what I believe. This past year-and-a-half, I’ve had to deal with a lot of adversity in my own life, and family, and friends, and I’m so thankful to know the Lord because I couldn’t imagine going through those things without him.
There’s so much darkness in this world, and I don’t know where we would find hope without him. Another verse I love is in James 1:2-4. “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy, for you know, when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So, let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” And I just think that’s beautiful because when we face trials, it’s so easy to focus on ourselves and get down in the dumps and think negatively, but Christ can give us new perspective, and knowing in the end Christ wins, that just gives me immediate joy and immediate peace.
And I love that it says, “You will be perfect and complete, needing nothing,” because when I think of being strong and full of strength, I think of lacking nothing. And the only way we can reach that is with Christ. We will never reach that on our own.
CortneyJo: I couldn’t agree with you more, Erika, and I believe that the Lord is really interested in the process of our development. So, when that scripture says, “Consider it all joy when trials and tribulations come your way,” because it does develop that character, it does develop endurance, but it’s not an overnight thing, right? It’s not overnight. It’s not something that is just going to happen. It’s a process. It’s a process, and it can be a series of years.
So, with that, let’s talk about your journey a little bit to the Olympics because this is incredible. But before you talk about that, I just want to just share with our listeners, just in case you all don’t know, the odds of making it to the Olympics are so slim, of the world’s population, the likelihood of someone competing on the world’s largest stage is 1 in 500,000. 1 in 500,000.
So Erika, you have got to tell us about this. There’s a process through there. There’s something I want to know—we want to know everything, and tell us as much as you are comfortable with sharing with us. Your journey to the Olympics, what took you there? I know you shared with us a little bit how you got into swimming. You had your coach when you were younger just say, “Just keep trying,” and he saw something special in you. What made you decide I want to go after the world’s largest stage?
Erika: Yeah, it was definitely a long process, but like I said, I was competitive, so from the beginning, I wrote out that goal. I wanted to be an Olympian. As soon as I got into the sport of swimming, I set my goals high, and my parents encouraged me to believe that I could accomplish anything, don’t set boundaries. And the Lord has been a part of that this whole time. I remember when I was little, I would pretend to write my autograph and I would write SFJ, Swim for Jesus.
So, he’s always been a part of this, and I think that is where I’ve gotten a lot of my confidence because I was raised not to believe in just myself, you know? It’s really, the Lord has provided a way. So, when I was ten years old, I started out with that Olympic dream, and I worked really hard. That was a big thing. I knew I had to work hard.
And my parents provided every opportunity possible. I would go to swim camps. I remember growing up, I really wanted to go to the University of Texas, the other UT [laugh]—
CortneyJo: The other UT [laugh].
Erika: —so my parents would take me to swim camps there. And I have memories of those athletes that I looked up to and how kind they were, and little things like that encouraged me along the way. And my career, really—I got better and better until I was about 16. I moved to North Carolina, and I was really at the top of my career so far. I’d made my first junior national team, and I didn’t make the travel team, but I made the relay team, so I was just right, right there at the cusp.
But when I got to North Carolina, I started to actually give in to those distractions that I had never wanted to my whole life, which is, some are just normal parts of kids life, like hanging out with friends, and I never—I just wanted to swim my whole life. And so, I had distractions that took me away. And I got to college, and I really struggled that first year. I was really homesick, making decisions that I knew were not who—not right and not who I was, and I felt strong conviction about that, but I didn’t know how to get out. And I started reading my Bible and just crying out to the Lord, and he really provided a way.
And I knew my husband because we swam together, but the following year, we started dating, and he loves the Lord. He grew up Catholic, so we had some disagreements there, but we really got to grow in our faith together. And that really helped my swimming, just coming back to the Lord and changing my perspective. Like we talked about earlier, we’re going to go through adversity, and Christ really helped change my perspective, and to choose joy in moments that a lot of people would choose negativity. And from there, I really took off.
I became an SEC champion in three events in three consecutive years. I became an American record-holder. So yeah, my career really took off from there. And my senior year Covid happened. So, I was really—I was now at the very peak of my career, and I was set to make an Olympic team. But Covid happened, and it got delayed a year, and that was the first time in my swimming career where I really had to just trust that the Lord was going to provide a way if it was supposed to happen, and he did.
I was never more nervous than I was at that Olympic trials, but he provided a way, and I got second in that event out of lane eight, which means I was eighth, so I barely made it into the final heat. Yeah, something amazing, and how I know it’s the Lord providing is, you know, if you ask anyone in the swimming world, they wouldn’t pick me. And I’m okay with that. I’m okay with that because the Lord has always provided an opportunity to show His glory, and that’s really what it is. I don’t believe that, when I get behind the blocks, my confidence is not fully in myself. I know that if the Lord is going to allow me to swim fast, he’s going to do it.
And that might sound crazy to some people, but when you know Christ, think you have an understanding of that. So, after that, I got to make the team, and I swam that event individually, and I got to swim two relays. And then for the next three years, I was planning to, you know, hopefully, achieve new goals and swim even faster to make the next Olympic team. But actually, I injured my back in January of 2023. So, that was a new challenge, and a very long process of healing.
And you know, I’d never been injured before, so I thought, okay, I’ll just, you know, relax for a few months, and then we’ll get back into it, and that’s not what happened at all. So, here I was, my faith had been tested, I’d been brought closer to the Lord, but this is really something that brought me down, and in a new way, a new challenge. That was a much longer healing process than I originally planned for. And I remember I would go swim and I wouldn’t do as well as I wanted. And you know, every time I swim, the Olympics is getting closer and closer, and I would just pray that God would be honored in some way. God would get the glory.
And I remember getting out of the water every time and swimming slow and just praying, “Okay, I don’t understand, Lord. This is where you’ve called me to, but I’m going to praise you anyway.” And I think that’s—looking back now, that’s exactly what he was wanting, and I see how it brought me even closer to the Lord. It caused me to really get into my Bible and understand His Word and grow closer to Him. I’ll tell you about the Olympic journey, if that’s okay because—
CortneyJo: Yeah, please, please.
Erika: Okay, so for Paris, at Olympic trials, I had not been anywhere near my best time, so I had been swimming two seconds slower than my best time. And in swimming, you know, it’s tenths and hundredths that make a difference, so two seconds is a lot. So, I really went into trials with the mindset of, okay, God, I’m going to let you do whatever you want to do. Just let me be your vessel, and whatever your plan is, I’m okay with, and I’m thankful for it. And I swam the 100 free, and I made it to semi-finals.
So, how it works is we have prelims, semi-finals and finals. We swim three times. I made it to semi-finals, then I tied for eighth place to get into the final. So, how we fix that in swimming is we do a swim-off. So, I had to do a swim-off. And I’m not kidding, I have never been just so excited in that peace because I knew that if it was meant to be, the Lord would provide a way. And he did.
I swam my fastest in-season time. I broke 54 seconds, which that whole season I just—you know, I got feeling pretty down at some points, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to ever be able to do that. So, I made it into the finals, and then I tied again. And how it works is usually the top six make the team, and I ended up tying one of my best friends that I train with. And that was hard. That was another challenge.
But through that process, I really just prayed that whether she made it or I made it, that the Lord would get the glory. And it all started making sense to me why things were happening towards the end. And I competed in that race, and I won by just hundredths. And you know, that was the most special—it’s amazing to make another Olympic team and have that experience, but to be able to look back at the last year-and-a-half and see how the Lord has worked in my life, and how that prayer has been answered because he did get the glory. And it’s not often you get two swim-offs, and for an Olympic team, I don’t think that’s ever happened. And that just shows, like, that it is an answered prayer. And when we align ourselves and our desires with God, he really provides a way.
CortneyJo: Oh, Erika.
Erika: So, I know that’s long, but—
CortneyJo: No, it was incredible, and I have so many follow-up questions for you, and I’m trying not to cry all these tears of just happiness, and just listening to you, and it’s just beautiful. I want you to know I watched that final swim-off. Oh, and I had my kids watch it. We watched it over and over. It was so amazing.
So, it was so funny. When I watched it first, and then I was, like—I had the kids come in my room with me and watch it with me, so they didn’t—I knew you had won, but they didn’t know. And I was like, “Let’s watch this.” And they were, “Ahhh,” screaming.
Erika: [laugh]. Thank you.
CortneyJo: And so, it was so incredible. And so, I want to ask you a little bit more about that season, just that journey, especially from the 2003 when you hurt your back. Typically, you know, sometimes when we go through difficult things, you know, we can—we have two—not we don’t have two choices, but sometimes we can, either, like, move away from what we know or what we believe, you know, our trust in God, or we move closer. What helped you make that decision to say, “Lord, I’m going to cling even closer during this time,” and also what was like a daily routine for you?
Erika: Yeah, I’ve been really blessed in this season because swimming is my career. It was my job—still is my job, thankfully—so I had a lot of free time during the day. So, instead of having to worry about going to work and trying to make an income another way I could spend time at home, and that really gave me a chance to dive into my Bible and read the Word. And you know, when we have these feelings of disappointment, and sadness, and just not understanding, there’s always an answer in Scripture. And so, I spend time in the Word and just understanding that God is a patient God, and he’s faithful, and he’s loving.
And when things happen, it’s not because he wills it to happen. He allows things because we live in a broken world, and he’s the answer. And I remember reading in Scripture, Romans 8:28, before I left for trials, and it’s, I believe it’s, “All things work together for the good of those who love Christ and are called according to His purpose.” And I remember reading that and thinking, “Okay well, I know it’s taken out of context a lot, that if you just believe in God and you believe in Christ, good things are going to happen.” And that end, it just really stuck with me, it’s for His purpose. It’s not for our purpose.
And that gave me such peace. Even though I knew that through the process, and I was in prayer about it, you get beat down after a while. You know, it’s over a year of the same result. So, I know the truth, but that gave me such peace going into that meet knowing that whatever happens is for His purpose, and there are going to be things that we just don’t understand, but Christ gives a peace that surpasses all understanding, he truly does. And just reading that verse and going into that meet I had complete peace. I felt that peace.
CortneyJo: I love that so much. You’re so right. But again, with that scripture, it says all things work together for your good as well. So, you know, it’s his purpose, but it does benefit us, right? It did benefit you.
So, I love that you said you had time throughout the day, and you were able to read your Bible. You could have been binging Netflix, or did you ever have times when you felt like I want to do something else, and you said, I’m going to just, you know, I’m going to pick up my Bible instead.
Erika: Of course. I’ve always had times where it was hard to pick up my Bible, but as soon as I pick up my Bible, it’s hard to put it down. And I’m like, why does this happen? It’s the enemy, you know, tempting you into other things to distract you. And I really—it’s amazing how quickly I can forget how good his Word is because as soon as I pick it up, I don’t want to put it down, I want to keep going. And I just always discover more when I’m reading.
CortneyJo: That’s amazing. It truly is an active in living and breathing Word of God. Like, it’s truly active, so I love how you say it, even though maybe you could have decided to do something else, as soon as you picked up the Bible, it’s like, I’m so glad I did this. I’m so glad I did this. Yeah, thank you for sharing that.
So, how has your faith increased since competing in the Olympics? I know that it wasn’t easy preparing for it, and it’s, you know, just not easy feat—easy—there’s—it’s no easy feat. So, how has your faith increased? You’ve talked about that a little bit, but share with us some more.
Erika: Yeah, I think I’ve always had a strong faith growing up, but I’ve never fully surrendered. And I like control, and that was the one piece I think that was missing in my life, is I would always try to control things, in my relationships, in my swimming, and even my relationship with God, you know, I say I fully believe, but if you fully believe in your heart that Christ is king and he’s ruler over your life, that includes surrender. And that’s a piece that looking back now, I can see why God allowed all those things to happen, and why I was disappointed over and over again because that led me to true surrender to Christ, and I’m so grateful for that now looking back. Because I something I’m not very good at is patience, and he really worked on that in me. And I completely had to surrender to him, and his plans for my life, and had to be in constant prayer about it.
And I think that’s changed me as a person. I notice the difference of when I’m not fully surrendering and focusing on Christ and living for Him. I don’t like the person that I am when I’m not doing that. And it’s just a constant check within myself, and a desire, and I think that’s the biggest way my faith has increased, is just truly surrendering to the Lord. And it’s an amazing feeling, you know? It’s weird that we want to control everything naturally because it’s a lot more stressful, and it’s not fun [laugh].
CortneyJo: Say that again. Say it for the people that are back, Erika [laugh].
Erika: It’s just so much better way to live, to fully surrender. But we slip back into that control so easily. So.
CortneyJo: It’s because it’s what we know, right? If you’re comfortable in a space, like, this is how you feel, like you know how to operate, and when you’re having to learn to operate differently, it’s a little uncomfortable initially, right, surrendering. Could you give us an example and share whatever you’re comfortable with sharing of what surrendering looked like, something that, you know, practically what surrendering looked like for you?
Erika: I think in swimming, it was really apparent because I’m somebody that could go swim a race and be pretty confident in where I was going to be at that day, the time, the feel, I could make it happen. And with that injury, that was really out of my control, and I got to the point where—I’ll just be completely honest—in 2023, I went to a meet in Irvine, and I never get emotional, but I had to leave the meet early. I was so broken down. I was so disappointed. I couldn’t understand why God had kept me in the sport and not allowed me to succeed.
I felt like maybe I was just supposed to start a family. Maybe he was calling me in a different direction. I wasn’t sure, and I was so disappointed, I couldn’t keep it together. I was emotionally broken down, and I had to go home. For me, I think it’s okay to be that emotional, but I think when I got home, I realized that swimming had become too important in my life, and I had to figure out a way to stay in the sport or leave, but make a commitment to Christ that I was going to honor him.
And that’s really where it switched for me. And from then on, I just really chose to—I made a commitment to see it through trials and just choose to honor him, and give him glory, and have that perspective switch: choosing joy. If I was going to get in and not swim well, I’m going to get out and say, “You know what? I had an opportunity to swim. I swam without back pain. What a blessing.” You know? And so, that was a really pivotal moment for me that I’ll never forget. That really strengthened my faith, and I think that’s something I can carry with me forward.
CortneyJo: That’s incredible. Thank you so much for sharing that. So, this podcast celebrates the MUCH philosophy, MUCH being Measured, Unafraid, Captivating, and Heroic. And I’ve shared a little bit with you about what each of those terms mean, encouraging women to live according to God’s high standards. So Erika, based on your personal journey as a woman of faith, what advice would you offer to inspire other women to embody these qualities of being measured, thinking about being deliberate, and praying about issues before making them, being unafraid, being bold, moving forward without fear, captivating, leading with confidence and grace, and then heroic just facing challenges no matter what.
Erika: Yeah. When I think of these qualities, I really think of them as qualities that are only developed through the Holy Spirit. It’s really hard to do that on your own because we are human, and we will fail. At some point, you’re going to fail, and you’re going to disappoint yourself. And so, I would really just encourage women to open your Bible and read the Scripture.
And it can be intimidating. I remember that there was a point in my life where I felt like I just had to memorize everything and know everything, and that’s really not the case. Just open your Bible and read it, and pray for discernment. Pray that the Lord would speak to you through His scripture, and he will. And when you read Scripture and you get closer to the Lord, he changes your heart, and he creates that fruit in you, and out of you, and those qualities will come from the Holy Spirit.
CortneyJo: Amen, I couldn’t agree with you more, and I thank you so much for just sharing that. Like you said, just open your Bible and read it. It’s not about memorizing it and feel like you have to know every scripture by heart or anything like that. It’s just literally opening because it is living and because it is active, and it is sharper than any two-edged sword, it will definitely do the work that you may not realize it can do. But first and foremost, just simply opening our Bibles and reading them, whether we’re physically opening a Bible or, you know, if you have one in your hand or using your phone or device or something like that, read the scriptures.
Erika: Even, I love now we have our iPhones, we can listen to it. When we’re driving, it’s so easy now. And there’s so many podcasts, if you don’t understand, I really struggled with the Old Testament, and sometimes I still do, but there’s a lot of podcasts out there that really break it down. I’ve learned a lot from that. So, we have so many resources now to help.
CortneyJo: So, many resources. You’re so right. So, many resources to help understand about, you know, just living for the Lord, and just understanding his Word. And I couldn’t agree with you more, it’s just having that personal relationship with Him, praying and connecting with him daily, and reading His Word and understanding it is really life-changing.
So, being a MUCH Woman is more about than just the labels. It’s a lived experience and a commitment to faith and excellence, as we’ve been talking about. From your own life as a woman of faith, what does it mean to you to be a MUCH Woman, and how have these ideals influenced your approach to challenges, opportunities, and daily living?
Erika: To be a MUCH Woman, to me is to really always put Christ first and to have him at the center of your heart, your relationships, your life. And when I wake up every morning and I choose, it’s a choice. You have to think about it, you have to be in constant prayer. And so, I catch myself sometimes, you know? We’re not perfect. And I’ll finish the day, and I’ll think, okay, I didn’t pray enough today. In this moment, I was probably being selfish.
And when I am living as a MUCH Woman, I’m always putting Christ first and at the center of my life. And there’s just such goodness that comes from that and joy. It’s amazing the difference I feel on a day that I’ve really kept Christ at the center of my life, and days that I’ve allowed distractions to get in. Those days are harder, and I’m not as happy, and so that’s really what I envision as a MUCH Woman when I’m living those characteristics: it’s putting Christ first in all parts of my life.
CortneyJo: Amen. And sometimes putting Christ first, it means making some decisions that are hard to make. Would you agree? I know that for me, just quickly over the summer, I made a decision to forgive, and as I felt like the Lord was just, you know, impressing upon my heart, like, you need to forgive. And it was really, really hard, but I remember once I made the choice—as you were just saying, it’s a choice that you make—once I made that choice and I did it, I felt a freedom that I didn’t know could exist, I didn’t even know I could feel. It was like a weight lifted off of me. I had been carrying around, like, some bitterness and some resentment for years—years—and I chose, through a series of events, the Lord was just speaking to my spirit to make that decision, and I did, and I just felt light as a feather [laugh] after that.
Erika: It’s amazing because we can get so caught up in this life and just the desires of our flesh. I know I struggle with forgiveness too, and that’s hard in the moment, and then when we think about eternally, the difference it makes. The little things in this life that hurt us and affect us are so insignificant in God’s eyes, you know? And that forgiveness is huge and… I’m so glad to hear that that’s a weight off your shoulders because that’s not something you want to carry.
CortneyJo: No, absolutely not. I mean, we definitely—we need to get it out of our bodies, right? Like, you got to get it out of your body. I think we don’t often understand how, even if we don’t recognize or realize that we’re maybe holding on to something that’s not good for us, we don’t realize how it does impact our bodies, impacts how we feel, you know? Different things like that.
So, oh my goodness. So, this has been phenomenal. I have enjoyed learning more about your story. It has been incredible, and I’m so excited and thrilled for others to learn more about you. Is there any final things that you’d like to share about, just what the Lord’s teaching you, anything that you got coming up on the horizon you can share with us or anything?
Erika: [laugh]. Well, I just want to encourage people to stay close to the Lord. And even if you’re in a season that’s difficult right now, he provides a way. He’s faithful. He’s always faithful. And times can seem so tough, and just stick with it and stay close to him because he’s good.
CortneyJo: Oh, amen. I couldn’t agree with you more. I couldn’t agree with you more. Erika, if we want to stay connected with you, where can we find you on social media, so we can follow you and learn more about your story, your journey and what’s to come in your life?
Erika: Yeah, I’m on Instagram, ErikaJadeBrown, and I have TikTok now. We’ll see how that goes [laugh].
CortneyJo: [laugh]. Okay.
Erika: Erika.Jade.Brown. I’m not a huge fan of social media, but I’m trying to be on there more, and the Lord’s given me a bit of a platform, so I want to honor Him through that.
CortneyJo: Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. Erika, we could not be more happier—I could not be more happier—to have you on our show, on this show. I thank you so much for your time, and everything that you were willing to share with us. It means the world to me, and I do believe that God has not only gotten the glory from your story, but he will continue to. Thank you so much. You are indeed a MUCH Woman.
Erika: Thank you.
CortneyJo: You’re welcome. Thank you for listening to the I Am MUCH Woman podcast. Stay updated with our latest episodes at muchwoman.com, and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever fine podcasts are available. We’ll see you next time.