I want to applaud Karoline Leavitt’s decision to step down as White House press secretary to prioritize her family—namely, her two young children.
Think about what she’s walking away from. White House press secretary is one of the most visible, influential, and coveted jobs in American politics. It offers extraordinary access, influence, and a front-row seat to history.
And yet, there are some things more important than career or status.
We talk a lot in conservative politics about being pro-family. We advocate for policies that strengthen marriage, support parents, and protect children. Those are important commitments. But being pro-family isn’t only a policy position. It means actually ordering our lives according to those priorities, even when doing so requires sacrifices in career or status or even other ministry.
Scripture presents family as one of God’s great gifts. Proverbs tells us that “he who finds a wife finds a good thing,” and Psalm 127 describes children as “a heritage from the Lord.” Husbands and wives have unique responsibilities to one another, and mothers and fathers have unique and irreplaceable roles in the lives of their children.
No title, amount of influence, television camera, or office—even one inside the White House—can replace that.
This is particularly important in a culture that has spent decades telling women that success means proving we can “have it all.” But the point for women isn’t to have it all. It’s to do what matters.
That doesn’t mean women can’t have meaningful ministries, careers, or positions of tremendous influence. Of course they can. Karoline has already demonstrated that.
But every meaningful choice involves priorities. Time is finite, and childhood is especially fleeting. Recognizing that your children need you more than a career does isn’t stepping backward.
It’s putting first things first.
And this principle applies to men as well. A husband and father who succeeds professionally while neglecting his wife and children hasn’t fulfilled his responsibilities simply because he provides financially. The biblical vision of family requires sacrifice, presence, and priority from both mothers and fathers.
Christianity offers a fundamentally different definition of success from our status-obsessed culture. The world asks how impressive our résumé is, how large our platform has become, or how close we are to power. Scripture asks whether we are faithful with what God has entrusted to us.
There will always be another political battle, another news cycle, another election, another opportunity, another title.
Your children will only be little once. You won’t get more time to be faithful to your family.
That’s why Karoline’s decision deserves recognition. It’s relatively easy to say family matters when it costs nothing. It means much more when that conviction shapes the choices we actually make.
Being pro-family cannot simply mean supporting the right legislation, supporting other’s decisions, or even just “supporting” your spouse to carry the family. It means believing that God’s design for marriage and children is genuinely good—and living accordingly.
Family isn’t merely something we campaign on. It’s God’s design.
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